MCP Reference Servers
by Anthropic
Official MCP reference implementations from Anthropic — the most starred MCP project
code Node.js Beginner Self-hostable No API key Verified Featured
⭐ 79.7k stars 📅 Updated: 1mo ago
Description
The official collection of MCP reference server implementations maintained by Anthropic and the Model Context Protocol team. Contains 7 production-ready servers that demonstrate MCP's core capabilities: Everything (comprehensive test server), Fetch (web content retrieval and conversion), Filesystem (secure file operations with configurable access), Git (repository history and diff tools), Memory (persistent knowledge graph with entity relations), Sequential Thinking (structured problem-solving framework), and Time (timezone conversions and current time). With nearly 80k GitHub stars, this is the most popular MCP project and the definitive starting point for understanding how MCP servers work. Each server is installable via npx and serves as both a practical tool and an educational reference.
✅ Best for
Anyone starting with MCP who wants reliable, official servers for common tasks and learning references
⏭️ Skip if
You need a highly specialized server — check dedicated alternatives for your specific use case
💡 Use cases
- Learning MCP server development by studying official reference implementations
- Reading and writing files securely from AI assistants via the Filesystem server
- Fetching and converting web content to markdown for AI consumption
- Building persistent knowledge graphs with entities and relations using the Memory server
- Exploring git repository history, diffs, and branches from AI workflows
👍 Pros
- ✓ Official Anthropic project — the canonical MCP reference with 79k+ stars
- ✓ 7 servers covering fundamental capabilities (files, web, git, memory, reasoning)
- ✓ Zero configuration needed — install any server with a single npx command
- ✓ Production-quality code that serves as educational material
👎 Cons
- ✗ Each server is intentionally minimal — purpose-built alternatives may offer more features
- ✗ The Everything server is for testing only, not production use
- ✗ No unified installer — each sub-server is a separate npx package
🔧 Exposed tools (10 tools)
| Tool | Category | Description |
|---|---|---|
| read_file | filesystem | Read the contents of a file from the allowed directories |
| write_file | filesystem | Write content to a file in the allowed directories |
| search_files | filesystem | Search for files matching a pattern in allowed directories |
| git_log | git | View commit history of a git repository |
| git_diff | git | Show changes between commits, branches, or working tree |
| create_entities | memory | Create entities in the persistent knowledge graph |
| add_relations | memory | Add relations between entities in the knowledge graph |
| search_nodes | memory | Search for entities and relations in the knowledge graph |
| think | reasoning | Use sequential thinking to break down and solve complex problems |
| fetch_url | web | Fetch a URL and convert its content to markdown |
⚡ Installation
Prerequisites:
- • Node.js v18+
Check Claude Code documentation to configure this MCP server.
💡 Tips & tricks
Start with the Filesystem and Fetch servers for immediate productivity. The Memory server is excellent for building persistent context across conversations. Use the Everything server to test your MCP client setup before adding other servers.
Quick info
- Author
- Anthropic
- License
- MIT
- Runtime
- Node.js 18+
- Transport
- stdio
- Category
- code
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Self-hostable
- ✅
- Auth
- —
- Docker
- —
- Version
- latest
- Updated
- Feb 28, 2026
Client compatibility
- ✅ Claude Code
- ✅ Cursor
- ✅ VS Code Copilot
- ❓ Gemini CLI
- ✅ Windsurf
- ✅ Cline
- ❓ JetBrains AI
- ❓ Warp
Platforms
🍎 macOS 🐧 Linux 🪟 Windows