Chapter 10 · 15 minutes

Connect to Claude Code, Cursor and VS Code

Plug your server into real clients and watch a model use your tools.

Goal

Have Jotter running inside at least one AI client, and know how to debug a server that will not connect.

Build first

Clients run the compiled JavaScript, so build once:

cd server
npm run build

Every config below needs the absolute path to server/dist/main.js. On Windows, use forward slashes or doubled backslashes in JSON.

Claude Code

claude mcp add jotter -e JOTTER_NOTES_FILE=$HOME/notes.json -- node /path/to/build-your-mcp-demo/server/dist/main.js

Everything after -- is the command Claude Code spawns. -e sets an environment variable. Add --scope project to save it in .mcp.json so your team shares it, or --scope user for every project.

For the HTTP server (npm run start:http in another terminal):

claude mcp add --transport http jotter http://127.0.0.1:3333/mcp

Check it with claude mcp list, or /mcp inside a session.

Claude Desktop

Edit claude_desktop_config.json (Settings, then Developer, then Edit Config) and restart the app:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "jotter": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/build-your-mcp-demo/server/dist/main.js"],
      "env": { "JOTTER_NOTES_FILE": "/path/to/notes.json" }
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Create .cursor/mcp.json in your project, or ~/.cursor/mcp.json for every project:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "jotter": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/build-your-mcp-demo/server/dist/main.js"],
      "env": { "JOTTER_NOTES_FILE": "/path/to/notes.json" }
    }
  }
}

VS Code

Create .vscode/mcp.json. Note the top-level key is servers, and each server has a type:

{
  "servers": {
    "jotter": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/build-your-mcp-demo/server/dist/main.js"],
      "env": { "JOTTER_NOTES_FILE": "/path/to/notes.json" }
    }
  }
}

Open Copilot Chat in agent mode and pick the Jotter tools from the tools menu.

Try it

Ask: "Make a note to book flights to Lisbon, tag it trip." Then: "What trip notes do I have?" Then: "Delete that note." The client should ask you to confirm the delete, because the tool is marked destructiveHint: true.

When it will not connect

Symptom	Likely cause
Server shows as failed straight away	Wrong path, or you did not run `npm run build`
Connects, then drops on the first call	Something wrote to stdout. Log to stderr.
`node` not found	The client has a smaller PATH. Use the full path to node.
Tools missing after a change	Restart the server in the client. Lists are read at connect time.
Works in Inspector, not in the client	Compare the env vars. The client does not load your shell profile.

Claude Desktop and VS Code show server logs (stderr) in their MCP output panels. Read them first.

Check it works

In your client, ask the model to list your notes. It calls search_notes and you see the result. notes.json on disk changes when you add one.

Exercise

Connect the same server to two clients at once, pointing at the same JOTTER_NOTES_FILE. Add a note in one and find it from the other.