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Development Apple Xcode [Xcode] Setting Up MCP Servers for the Agentic Coding Assistant

Overview

A guide to connecting MCP servers to the Xcode agentic coding assistant.

Steps

1. Settings File Path

MCP servers are configured per project in the Claude Code settings file.

~/Library/Developer/Xcode/CodingAssistant/ClaudeAgentConfig/.claude.json

2. Configuration Structure

Specify the project path as a key inside projects and add the MCP servers under mcpServers.

{
  "projects": {
    "/path/to/your/project": {
      "mcpServers": {
        // MCP server configurations
      }
    }
  }
}

3. MCP Server Types

MCP servers can be configured in two types.

3.1. stdio

Launches the MCP server process directly via a CLI command.

{
  "projects": {
    "/path/to/your/project": {
      "mcpServers": {
        "context7": {
          "type": "stdio",
          "command": "/path/to/npx",
          "args": ["-y", "@upstash/context7-mcp@latest"]
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
Field Description
type Set to "stdio".
command The absolute path to the executable. (e.g., npx, uvx)
args An array of arguments to pass to the command.
env (Optional) Environment variables. Used when API tokens are required.

3.2. SSE (Server-Sent Events)

Connects to a locally running MCP server via HTTP.

{
  "projects": {
    "/path/to/your/project": {
      "mcpServers": {
        "Figma Dev Mode MCP": {
          "type": "sse",
          "url": "http://127.0.0.1:3845/sse"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
Field Description
type Set to "sse".
url The SSE endpoint URL of the MCP server.

4. Configuration Example

An example with multiple MCP servers configured together.

{
  "projects": {
    "/path/to/your/project": {
      "mcpServers": {
        "context7": {
          "type": "stdio",
          "command": "/path/to/npx",
          "args": ["-y", "@upstash/context7-mcp@latest"]
        },
        "sequential-thinking": {
          "type": "stdio",
          "command": "/path/to/npx",
          "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-sequential-thinking"]
        },
        "mcp-atlassian": {
          "type": "stdio",
          "command": "/path/to/uvx",
          "args": ["mcp-atlassian"],
          "env": {
            "CONFLUENCE_URL": "https://your-domain.atlassian.net/wiki",
            "CONFLUENCE_USERNAME": "your-email@example.com",
            "CONFLUENCE_API_TOKEN": "your-api-token",
            "JIRA_URL": "https://your-domain.atlassian.net",
            "JIRA_USERNAME": "your-email@example.com",
            "JIRA_API_TOKEN": "your-api-token"
          }
        },
        "Figma Dev Mode MCP": {
          "type": "sse",
          "url": "http://127.0.0.1:3845/sse"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
MCP Server Purpose
context7 Provides library documentation as context.
sequential-thinking Adds step-by-step reasoning for complex problems.
mcp-atlassian Enables access to Jira issues and Confluence documents.
Figma Dev Mode MCP Allows referencing Figma design files from code.

5. Notes

  • The command field requires the absolute path to the binary. If you manage Node.js with nvm, check the path with which npx.
  • Be careful not to expose the settings file externally when it contains API tokens or passwords in env.
  • Restart Xcode after changing the configuration for it to take effect.

References

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