Client setup

discord-mcp speaks stdio MCP and works with any client that can spawn an MCP server as a subprocess. The init command generates the right mcpServers snippet for the client you select; it prints that snippet by default, so you stay in control of the file you merge it into.

Before you begin

• Confirm that discord-mcp --version works in your terminal.
• Keep your bot token available in a password manager or another private location.
• Find your client’s local MCP configuration file before generating a snippet.

Caution

init does not discover or edit your client config. Its token prompt is visible, and the generated snippet is printed to the terminal. The safest path is to press Enter at the token prompt, merge the snippet, then replace ${env:DISCORD_TOKEN} only inside the private local config. Keep the placeholder only when you have verified that your client expands it. Do not pass the token with --token, because command arguments can remain in shell history and process inspection.

Choose your client

Claude Desktop

discord-mcp init --client claude-desktop

Merge the printed discord-mcp entry into the mcpServers object, then fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop.

OS	Config file
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows	%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Linux	~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Claude Code

discord-mcp init --client claude-code

Merge the output into ~/.claude.json for user-level configuration, or into <project>/.mcp.json for a project. Claude Code also supports its managed claude mcp add workflow; use the generated snippet when you prefer explicit JSON.

Cursor

discord-mcp init --client cursor

Merge the output into ~/.cursor/mcp.json for global access or <project>/.cursor/mcp.json for one project. Restart Cursor after changing it.

Generic MCP

discord-mcp init --client generic

The output is a standard mcpServers block. Place it where your MCP client’s own documentation expects stdio server configuration.

The generated snippet uses the current CLI path, so it works immediately from the installation that created it. If you later move or replace that installation, generate a fresh snippet instead of editing an absolute path by hand.

Once the snippet contains a real token, treat the whole client config as a secret: do not commit, share, or screenshot it.

After restarting, confirm that your client can list discord-mcp’s tools without a startup error. Unit 3 performs the online token diagnostic and the first authenticated tool call, so you do not need to expose the token to a second process yet.

Checklist for moving on

• I merged the generated discord-mcp entry without removing my other MCP servers.
• The local config contains a real token or a placeholder my client is known to expand.
• I fully restarted the MCP client after changing its configuration.
• The client can list discord-mcp tools without a server startup error.