qwen-code/docs/users/features/mcp.md

Connect Qwen Code to tools via MCP

Qwen Code can connect to external tools and data sources through the Model Context Protocol (MCP). MCP servers give Qwen Code access to your tools, databases, and APIs.

What you can do with MCP

With MCP servers connected, you can ask Qwen Code to:

• Work with files and repos (read/search/write, depending on the tools you enable)
• Query databases (schema inspection, queries, reporting)
• Integrate internal services (wrap your APIs as MCP tools)
• Automate workflows (repeatable tasks exposed as tools/prompts)

Tip

If you’re looking for the “one command to get started”, jump to Quick start.

Quick start

Qwen Code loads MCP servers from mcpServers in your settings.json. You can configure servers either:

• By editing settings.json directly
• By using qwen mcp commands (see CLI reference)

Add your first server

1. Add a server (example: remote HTTP MCP server):

qwen mcp add --transport http my-server http://localhost:3000/mcp

2. Open MCP management dialog to view and manage servers:

qwen mcp

3. Restart Qwen Code in the same project (or start it if it wasn’t running yet), then ask the model to use tools from that server.

Where configuration is stored (scopes)

Most users only need these two scopes:

• Project scope (default): .qwen/settings.json in your project root
• User scope: ~/.qwen/settings.json across all projects on your machine

Write to user scope:

qwen mcp add --scope user --transport http my-server http://localhost:3000/mcp

Tip

For advanced configuration layers (system defaults/system settings and precedence rules), see Settings.

Configure servers

Choose a transport

Transport	When to use	JSON field(s)
http	Recommended for remote services; works well for cloud MCP servers	httpUrl (+ optional headers)
sse	Legacy/deprecated servers that only support Server-Sent Events	url (+ optional headers)
stdio	Local process (scripts, CLIs, Docker) on your machine	command, args (+ optional cwd, env)

Note

If a server supports both, prefer HTTP over SSE.

Configure via settings.json vs qwen mcp add

Both approaches produce the same mcpServers entries in your settings.json—use whichever you prefer.

Stdio server (local process)

JSON (.qwen/settings.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pythonTools": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "my_mcp_server", "--port", "8080"],
      "cwd": "./mcp-servers/python",
      "env": {
        "DATABASE_URL": "$DB_CONNECTION_STRING",
        "API_KEY": "${EXTERNAL_API_KEY}"
      },
      "timeout": 15000
    }
  }
}

CLI (writes to project scope by default):

qwen mcp add pythonTools -e DATABASE_URL=$DB_CONNECTION_STRING -e API_KEY=$EXTERNAL_API_KEY \
  --timeout 15000 python -m my_mcp_server --port 8080

HTTP server (remote streamable HTTP)

JSON:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "httpServerWithAuth": {
      "httpUrl": "http://localhost:3000/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer your-api-token"
      },
      "timeout": 5000
    }
  }
}

CLI:

qwen mcp add --transport http httpServerWithAuth http://localhost:3000/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer your-api-token" --timeout 5000

SSE server (remote Server-Sent Events)

JSON:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sseServer": {
      "url": "http://localhost:8080/sse",
      "timeout": 30000
    }
  }
}

CLI:

qwen mcp add --transport sse sseServer http://localhost:8080/sse --timeout 30000

Using MCP prompts and resources

Besides tools, Qwen Code discovers and surfaces two other MCP primitives.

Prompts (slash commands)

Any prompt a server advertises via prompts/list becomes an executable slash command. After discovery, type / and you'll see the prompt listed (labeled MCP: <server>); run it like any other command:

/my_prompt --arg1="value" --arg2="value"
# positional form also works:
/my_prompt "value" "value"
# show the prompt's arguments:
/my_prompt help

The prompt's messages are sent to the model, which then acts on them.

Discovery is lenient about the declared prompts capability: some servers implement prompts/list but omit prompts from their initialize capabilities. Qwen Code attempts prompts/list anyway, so those prompts still appear. A server that genuinely has no prompts simply answers Method not found, which is ignored.

Resources

Resources a server advertises via resources/list are discovered per server. Open the management dialog with /mcp and select a server to see its Resources count alongside its tools and prompts. As with prompts, the resources capability is not required to be declared.

Inject a resource's contents into your message with the @server:uri syntax — type @, then the server name, a colon, and the resource URI:

summarize @myserver:file:///docs/spec.md and list the open questions

Typing @myserver: shows an autocomplete list of that server's resource URIs. On submit, the referenced resource is read and its contents are appended to your message (text inline, binary blobs as attachments); the @server:uri reference is preserved in the prompt so the model knows what it is looking at. The server prefix must match a configured MCP server — otherwise the token is treated as a normal file path, so existing @path/to/file references are unaffected. Resource reads are disabled in untrusted folders.

Progressive availability and discovery timeouts

Qwen Code discovers MCP servers in the background after the UI is already interactive. You see the cli's first prompt within a few hundred milliseconds even when one of your MCP servers takes several seconds (or never responds), and the model's tool list updates within roughly one frame (~16 ms) of each server completing its discover handshake.

• Interactive mode: the UI appears immediately; an MCP status pill in the bottom-right shows N/M MCP servers ready while discovery is in flight. Sending a prompt before MCP finishes simply means the model sees the tools that are ready at that moment; subsequent prompts see more tools as servers come online.
• Non-interactive mode (--prompt, stream-json, ACP): the cli still waits for MCP discovery to settle before sending the first prompt, so scripted / piped invocations see the same complete tool set the legacy synchronous behavior produced.

Per-server discoveryTimeoutMs

Each MCP server gets a discovery-only timeout that caps how long the initial handshake (connect + tools/list + prompts/list + resources/list) is allowed to take. Defaults:

• stdio servers: 30 s
• remote HTTP / SSE servers: 5 s (network risk is higher)

Override per server when needed:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "slow-stdio": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["./slow-server.js"],
      "discoveryTimeoutMs": 60000,
    },
    "flaky-remote": {
      "httpUrl": "https://example.com/mcp",
      "discoveryTimeoutMs": 10000,
    },
  },
}

The existing timeout field is tool-call timeout (used for each tools/call request, default 10 minutes) and is unaffected by discoveryTimeoutMs — a long-running tool invocation is not a startup pathology.

Rolling back progressive MCP

If you need the old synchronous behavior (cli waits for every MCP server before showing any UI), set QWEN_CODE_LEGACY_MCP_BLOCKING=1 in your environment. This is kept as an escape hatch for at least one release.

Safety and control

Trust (skip confirmations)

• Server trust (trust: true): bypasses confirmation prompts for that server (use sparingly).

OAuth authentication

Qwen Code supports OAuth 2.0 authentication for MCP servers. This is useful when accessing remote servers that require authentication.

Basic usage

When you add an MCP server with OAuth credentials, Qwen Code will automatically handle the authentication flow:

qwen mcp add --transport sse oauth-server https://api.example.com/sse/ \
  --oauth-client-id your-client-id \
  --oauth-redirect-uri https://your-server.com/oauth/callback \
  --oauth-authorization-url https://provider.example.com/authorize \
  --oauth-token-url https://provider.example.com/token

Important: Redirect URI configuration

The OAuth flow requires a redirect URI where the authorization provider sends the authentication code.

• Local development: By default, Qwen Code uses http://localhost:7777/oauth/callback. This works when running Qwen Code on your local machine with a local browser.

• Remote/cloud deployments: When running Qwen Code on remote servers, cloud IDEs, or web terminals, the default localhost redirect will NOT work. You MUST configure --oauth-redirect-uri to point to a publicly accessible URL that can receive the OAuth callback.

Example for remote servers:

qwen mcp add --transport sse remote-server https://api.example.com/sse/ \
  --oauth-redirect-uri https://your-remote-server.example.com/oauth/callback

Manual configuration via settings.json

You can also configure OAuth by editing settings.json directly:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "oauthServer": {
      "url": "https://api.example.com/sse/",
      "oauth": {
        "enabled": true,
        "clientId": "your-client-id",
        "clientSecret": "your-client-secret",
        "authorizationUrl": "https://provider.example.com/authorize",
        "tokenUrl": "https://provider.example.com/token",
        "redirectUri": "https://your-server.com/oauth/callback",
        "scopes": ["read", "write"]
      }
    }
  }
}

OAuth configuration properties:

Property	Description
enabled	Enable OAuth for this server (boolean)
clientId	OAuth client identifier (string, optional with dynamic registration)
clientSecret	OAuth client secret (string, optional for public clients)
authorizationUrl	OAuth authorization endpoint (string, auto-discovered if omitted)
tokenUrl	OAuth token endpoint (string, auto-discovered if omitted)
scopes	Required OAuth scopes (array of strings)
redirectUri	Custom redirect URI (string). Critical for remote deployments. Defaults to http://localhost:7777/oauth/callback
tokenParamName	Query parameter name for tokens in SSE URLs (string)
audiences	Audiences the token is valid for (array of strings)

Token management

OAuth tokens are automatically:

• Stored securely in ~/.qwen/mcp-oauth-tokens-v2.json (AES-256-GCM encrypted), with keychain storage preferred when available
• Refreshed when expired (if refresh tokens are available)
• Validated before each connection attempt

Use the /mcp auth command within Qwen Code to manage OAuth authentication interactively.

Tool filtering (allow/deny tools per server)

Use includeTools / excludeTools to restrict tools exposed by a server (from Qwen Code’s perspective).

Example: include only a few tools:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filteredServer": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "my_mcp_server"],
      "includeTools": ["safe_tool", "file_reader", "data_processor"],
      "timeout": 30000
    }
  }
}

Global allow/deny lists

The mcp object in your settings.json defines global rules for all MCP servers:

• mcp.allowed: allow-list of MCP server names (keys in mcpServers)
• mcp.excluded: deny-list of MCP server names

Example:

{
  "mcp": {
    "allowed": ["my-trusted-server"],
    "excluded": ["experimental-server"]
  }
}

Troubleshooting

• Server shows “Disconnected” in qwen mcp list: verify the URL/command is correct, then increase timeout.
• Stdio server fails to start: use an absolute command path, and double-check cwd/env.
• Environment variables in JSON don’t resolve: ensure they exist in the environment where Qwen Code runs (shell vs GUI app environments can differ).

Reference

settings.json structure

Server-specific configuration (mcpServers)

Add an mcpServers object to your settings.json file:

// ... file contains other config objects
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "serverName": {
      "command": "path/to/server",
      "args": ["--arg1", "value1"],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "$MY_API_TOKEN"
      },
      "cwd": "./server-directory",
      "timeout": 30000,
      "trust": false
    }
  }
}

Configuration properties:

Required (one of the following):

Property	Description
command	Path to the executable for Stdio transport
url	SSE endpoint URL (e.g., "http://localhost:8080/sse")
httpUrl	HTTP streaming endpoint URL

Optional:

Property	Type/Default	Description
args	array	Command-line arguments for Stdio transport
headers	object	Custom HTTP headers when using url or httpUrl
env	object	Environment variables for the server process. Values can reference environment variables using $VAR_NAME or ${VAR_NAME} syntax
cwd	string	Working directory for Stdio transport
timeout	number (default: 600,000)	Request timeout in milliseconds (default: 600,000ms = 10 minutes)
trust	boolean (default: false)	When true, bypasses all tool call confirmations for this server (default: false)
includeTools	array	List of tool names to include from this MCP server. When specified, only the tools listed here will be available from this server (allowlist behavior). If not specified, all tools from the server are enabled by default.
excludeTools	array	List of tool names to exclude from this MCP server. Tools listed here will not be available to the model, even if they are exposed by the server. Note: excludeTools takes precedence over includeTools - if a tool is in both lists, it will be excluded.
targetAudience	string	The OAuth Client ID allowlisted on the IAP-protected application you are trying to access. Used with authProviderType: 'service_account_impersonation'.
targetServiceAccount	string	The email address of the Google Cloud Service Account to impersonate. Used with authProviderType: 'service_account_impersonation'.

Manage MCP servers with qwen mcp

You can always configure MCP servers by manually editing settings.json, but the CLI is usually faster.

Adding a server (qwen mcp add)

qwen mcp add [options] <name> <commandOrUrl> [args...]

Argument/Option	Description	Default	Example
<name>	A unique name for the server.	—	example-server
<commandOrUrl>	The command to execute (for stdio) or the URL (for http/sse).	—	/usr/bin/python or http://localhost:8
[args...]	Optional arguments for a stdio command.	—	--port 5000
-s, --scope	Configuration scope (user or project).	project	-s user
-t, --transport	Transport type (stdio, sse, http).	stdio	-t sse
-e, --env	Set environment variables.	—	-e KEY=value
-H, --header	Set HTTP headers for SSE and HTTP transports.	—	-H "X-Api-Key: abc123"
--timeout	Set connection timeout in milliseconds.	—	--timeout 30000
--trust	Trust the server (bypass all tool call confirmation prompts).	— (false)	--trust
--description	Set the description for the server.	—	--description "Local tools"
--include-tools	A comma-separated list of tools to include.	all tools included	--include-tools mytool,othertool
--exclude-tools	A comma-separated list of tools to exclude.	none	--exclude-tools mytool
--oauth-client-id	OAuth client ID for MCP server authentication.	—	--oauth-client-id your-client-id
--oauth-client-secret	OAuth client secret for MCP server authentication.	—	--oauth-client-secret your-client-secret
--oauth-redirect-uri	OAuth redirect URI for authentication callback.	http://localhost:7777/oauth/callback	--oauth-redirect-uri https://your-server.com/oauth/callback
--oauth-authorization-url	OAuth authorization URL.	—	--oauth-authorization-url https://provider.example.com/authorize
--oauth-token-url	OAuth token URL.	—	--oauth-token-url https://provider.example.com/token
--oauth-scopes	OAuth scopes (comma-separated).	—	--oauth-scopes scope1,scope2

--oauth-* flags apply only to --transport sse and --transport http. Combining them with --transport stdio is rejected.

Removing a server (qwen mcp remove)

qwen mcp remove <name>