Add a Remote MCP Server to Raycast

Raycast adds a remote MCP server through a form rather than a config file. Search for Install MCP Server in Raycast, or use the Install New Server action inside Manage MCP Servers, then fill it in [1]:

Field	What to enter
Name and icon	Anything; the name becomes the server's `@-mention`
Transport	HTTP
URL	The server's MCP endpoint, usually ending in `/mcp`
HTTP Headers	Optional key/value pairs sent on every request, such as an API key

Press Install MCP Server (⌘↵, or Ctrl↵) to save it and connect [1].

Everything below is checked against Raycast's Model Context Protocol manual page on 26 October 2026 [1].

TL;DR:

Choose the HTTP transport. Raycast connects to a remote server directly over HTTP, including Streamable HTTP [1]. No local bridge such as mcp-remote is needed for that.
MCP in Raycast is a Pro feature [1].
Servers that use OAuth need one click on Sign In before their tools appear [1].
Read-only tools run without asking by default; Raycast asks before the rest [1].

Choose the transport

The form offers two transports [1]:

Standard Input/Output: a local process that Raycast starts itself.
HTTP: a remote endpoint that speaks MCP over HTTP, including the Streamable HTTP variant. It is also the only transport available in Raycast for iOS.

A remote server is the HTTP one. Older guides tell you to wrap a remote server in a local mcp-remote process and install it as stdio. With the HTTP transport, that step is not needed: Raycast talks to the URL directly [1].

The URL is the MCP endpoint itself, not the product's homepage or its docs page.

Add an API key

A server that takes an API key gets it under HTTP Headers, as a key/value pair Raycast sends on every request [1]. For a bearer token that is:

Key	Value
`Authorization`	`Bearer your-token`

A server that uses OAuth asks you to Sign In after it is installed, before its tools are available [1]. Raycast supports two kinds [1]:

Dynamic OAuth: Raycast registers itself as a client with Dynamic Client Registration and PKCE. You click Sign In and approve in the browser.
Static OAuth: you provide a Client ID, and a Secret if the service needs one. Raycast's manual names Slack as a service that requires this.

Dynamic is what most servers expect. We read the authorization metadata of 169 servers that ask for credentials, from our registry census on 9 October 2026: 162 offered Dynamic Client Registration [2]. For Static OAuth, the callback URL has to be registered with the provider, and changing the callback type means signing in again [1].

Raycast stores tokens encrypted, per server. Logout Server clears them without removing the server [1]. MCP OAuth covers what a server has to publish for the sign-in to work.

Use the server

Every server gets an @-mention name. Type it at the start of a question in AI Chat or Quick AI, such as @linear what's assigned to me?, to send that question to the server's tools [1]. Raycast also adds an Ask command for each server to Root Search, such as Ask Linear [1].

Each server can carry Custom Instructions, which the AI reads whenever it considers using that server's tools [1]. That is the place to say when the server should or should not be used.

Choose which tools run without asking

MCP tools follow the same Permissions setting as Raycast's AI Extensions. By default, read-only tools are approved automatically and Raycast asks before running the rest [1].

When it will not connect

Open the server in Manage MCP Servers: its details pane shows the full output from the server or transport [1]. Start there, then match what you see:

What you see	Usual cause	Fix
No MCP option in Raycast	MCP is a Pro feature [1]	It needs Raycast Pro
No tools, or an error from the server	The URL is the homepage or docs page	Use the endpoint, usually ending in `/mcp`
The server installed but has no tools yet	It uses OAuth and you have not signed in	Click Sign In [1]
`401` with a key under HTTP Headers	A wrong or expired key, or a missing `Bearer`	Check the header value
Sign-in fails with a registration error	The server only takes pre-registered clients	Switch to Static OAuth and enter its Client ID [1]
Sign-in stopped working after a settings change	The callback type changed	Sign in again [1]
The server was installed as stdio through `mcp-remote`	A guide from before HTTP was supported	Reinstall it with the HTTP transport and its URL [1]

For what the server's own error codes mean, see MCP server errors and MCP server connection failed.

Raycast on your desktop connects from your own machine, so a server on localhost or your VPN can work for you and for nobody else. Our MCP connection test calls your server from our network, runs the handshake and tools/list, and reports what a stranger on the internet gets back, with a dated URL you can share. If it passes there and fails in Raycast, the problem is in the form you filled in, not the server.

The same setup in other clients is in Cursor, VS Code, Cline, Windsurf, LM Studio, Kiro, Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot CLI, Claude Desktop and ChatGPT, and remote MCP server vs stdio covers whether your server should have a public address at all.