{
  // HTTP server settings (for HTTP mode)
  "httpServer": {
    "port": 5151,
    "host": "127.0.0.1"
  },

  // Your MCP servers
  "mcpServers": {
    // Filesystem access
    "filesystem": {
      "transport": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "./"],
      "filter": {
        "tools": {
          "include": ["read_file", "list_directory", "search_files"]
        }
      }
    },

    // HTTP fetching
    "fetch": {
      "transport": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-fetch"]
    },

    // In-memory storage
    "memory": {
      "transport": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-memory"]
    }
  }
}

The filter on filesystem restricts it to read-only operations. Remove it if you want full access.

Test Your Configuration

Start RouterMCP to verify everything works:

routermcp --http

You should see output like:

RouterMCP Gateway v1.x.x
Connecting to 3 upstream servers...
  ✓ filesystem (stdio)
  ✓ fetch (stdio)
  ✓ memory (stdio)
HTTP server listening on http://127.0.0.1:5151

Press Ctrl+C to stop.

Connect Claude Desktop

Add RouterMCP to your Claude Desktop configuration.

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-project": {
      "command": "routermcp",
      "args": [],
      "cwd": "/path/to/my-mcp-project"
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop to apply changes.

Verify the Connection

In Claude, you should now see your aggregated tools. Try asking:

"List the files in the current directory"

Claude will use the filesystem.list_directory tool through RouterMCP.

You can also try:

"Fetch the contents of https://example.com"

"Store the value 'hello' with key 'greeting' in memory"

Understanding Tool Names

Notice that tools are prefixed with the server name:

Server	Original Tool	RouterMCP Tool
filesystem	`read_file`	`filesystem.read_file`
fetch	`fetch`	`fetch.fetch`
memory	`store`	`memory.store`

This namespacing prevents conflicts if multiple servers have tools with the same name.

Next Steps

Now that you have a working setup:

Add filtering to control which tools are exposed
Enable Code Mode for JavaScript execution
Set up tunnels to expose your gateway to the internet
Connect other clients like VS Code or Cursor

Your First Project

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