MCP Servers

MCP servers give the agents you run in Athas extra tools, such as access to a database, a browser, or your issue tracker. Athas passes every enabled server to agents when a session starts.

Adding a Server

1. Open Settings > AI > MCP Servers.
2. Click Add Server.
3. Pick a transport:
   • Stdio runs a command on your machine, for example npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem ~/projects.
   • HTTP or SSE connects to a remote server URL.
4. Add any environment variables or headers the server needs. Athas keeps these in secure storage, not in the settings file.

Use the switch next to a server to stop passing it to new agent sessions without removing it.

Add to Athas Links

Server authors can offer a one-click install link. Opening it shows the MCP server dialog with the server filled in; nothing is saved until you review it and click save.

athas://mcp/install?name=<name>&config=<base64 JSON>

The config uses the same shape as an mcp.json entry and Cursor install links:

{ "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "~/projects"] }

{ "url": "https://mcp.example.com/mcp", "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer <token>" } }

Add "type": "sse" for servers that use the SSE transport.

GitHub and most Markdown renderers drop athas:// links, so README buttons should point at the https version, which opens Athas for the reader:

[![Add to Athas](https://athas.dev/badges/add-to-athas.svg)](https://athas.dev/mcp/install?name=Filesystem&config=<url-encoded base64 JSON>)

To build the config value, base64-encode the JSON and URL-encode the result:

printf '%s' '{"command":"npx","args":["-y","@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem"]}' | base64 | tr -d '\n' | jq -sRr @uri