mcp.json lets me define a github mcp like this: { "mcpServers": { "github-mcp": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github" ], "env": { "GITHUB_TOKEN": "<MySecre…

I’m in the same situation as you. Not sure how to solve this, been going through a lot of topics in this forum and can’t find anything. Would highly appreciate a solution for this. I know that vscode solves this by allowing an “inputs” fields in the mcp configuration which prompts for manual inputs…

check this to directly use a command Cant get MCP running - #2 by normalnormie

I’ve seen this, and I don’t think it really solves the issue described here if I understood the tool correctly. The issue is that we don’t want environment variables in git, so having a custom script for each MCP server which exports these ENV vars feels like a solution that isn’t really scalable f…

[image] Cursor – Model Context Protocol Connect external tools and data sources to Cursor using the Model Context Protocol (MCP) plugin system @Francois code seems correct, it should work from 0.47+, try replacing “<MySecretTokenHere>” with “value” as shown i…

Hi all! This problem is called “Tool Authorization” and right now MCP is limited to single tenant usage because of this problem However, this won’t be a problem for long. Anthropic, Arcade, and many other companies are working on making MCP servers “multi-tenent” if you will. Multi-user Authorizat…

I made this little package that provides a convenient solution for stdio MCP server definitions: envmcp - npm You just need to prefix the command with npx envmcp in order to load your environment variables from an env file. For your example, you could use it like this: { "mcpServers": { …

For those posting in this thread, please vote for this: MCP.json pass secrets securely

Can I check that the only way right now is to hardcode these variables in the MCP.json?

For now, yes, but if you’re using stdio-based MCP servers, you can always use envmcp or mcpipe , which both let you store your environment variables in a .env file and reference them by name in your MCP config. They also make the environment variables available to be read directly by the server itsel…

How to use environment variables in mcp.json

Support Help

YuvalNeuhaus (Yuval Neuhaus) April 15, 2025, 4:50pm 6

Created a feature request for this issue: Resolve local environment variables in MCP server definitions

Topic		Replies	Views
How to config MCP server with an env parameter in Cursor Help	13	9047	December 2, 2025
Use environment variables in remote MCP server config Help	1	520	August 15, 2025
Resolve local environment variables in MCP server definitions Feature Requests	26	5891	March 12, 2026
MCP.json pass secrets securely Feature Requests	6	2561	August 5, 2025
Secure secret handing for MCPs Help mcp , security	3	129	April 16, 2026

How to use environment variables in mcp.json

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