Record · mcp-referencMCP serverCosts not checkedRecord checked Sep 23, 2026

MCP Reference Servers

The MCP steering group's reference servers: Everything, Fetch, Filesystem, Git, Memory, Sequential Thinking and Time.

Visit MCP Reference Servers →View repository

Sources and review

Checked against public documentation on September 23, 2026. Suitability guidance is our editorial judgment; this is not a performance benchmark or an endorsement.

Best for

Learning how MCP servers work and adding basic filesystem, git, fetch or memory tools to a client.

Avoid if

You need production-hardened servers; the maintainers present these as reference examples and ask you to apply your own security safeguards.

About MCP Reference Servers

The modelcontextprotocol/servers repository holds the small set of reference servers maintained by the MCP steering group: Everything (a test server), Fetch, Filesystem with configurable access controls, Git, a knowledge-graph Memory server, Sequential Thinking and Time. Older servers such as GitHub, GitLab and Brave Search were archived, several in favour of official vendor servers. The maintainers describe these as educational reference implementations rather than production-ready software.

MCP Reference Servers is listed in this index written primarily in TypeScript, with 92k stars on GitHub. Its latest recorded repository push was in October 2026; that is not an ASE editorial review date.

Before connecting: access and data

This record's specific permissions have not been reviewed by ASE. Read the publisher's documentation before copying setup or connecting.

List the accounts, files and services the enabled tools can read, change or execute. Check your actual credentials and discovered tools.
Use narrowly scoped credentials and read-only mode where supported. Review proposed writes before approving them; a generated configuration does not apply these limits for you.
Local launch is not local-only data processing. External services receive requests, and your client may pass tool results to its model provider. Check both destinations before sharing private data.
Keep keys and browser session files out of shared config, repositories and screenshots. Know how to disconnect the server and separately revoke its credentials or account sessions.

Read the setup guide →

Add MCP Reference Servers to your MCP client

Generated from the launch command in the project's README. Your client starts the server on demand.

Claude CodeRun in your terminal

claude mcp add mcp-reference-servers -- npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-memory

Cursor~/.cursor/mcp.json or .cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-reference-servers": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-memory"]
    }
  }
}

VS Code.vscode/mcp.json

{
  "servers": {
    "mcp-reference-servers": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-memory"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktopclaude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-reference-servers": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-memory"]
    }
  }
}

Codex~/.codex/config.toml

[mcp_servers.mcp-reference-servers]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-memory"]

Check the project's README for required accounts, keys and permissions before connecting. Setup guide for each client →

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