install-mcp-server
Explain how to install a named MCP server from its source URL, such as a GitHub URL, and how to configure it in the AI client you name.
LABSCO SUMMARY
The gap it closes is between "I need a tool for this" and "it is configured".
Searching registries by keyword fails on exactly the queries that matter, which is why the recommendation side runs several providers at once and backs them with vector search over descriptions rather than titles. The second tool is the one that saves the afternoon: once a candidate is chosen, it returns the config for your client instead of leaving you to translate a README into JSON.
What it is
A discovery service for MCP servers. One tool takes a task description and returns candidate servers; the other takes a server name and source URL and returns the installation and configuration steps for a named client.
What you get
- recommend-mcp-servers takes a task description, with optional keywords and required capabilities, and returns each candidate's name, what it does, and its category
- install-mcp-server takes the server's name and source URL — a GitHub URL, for instance — and returns how to install and configure it, tailored to the client you name
- Several search providers queried in parallel and merged: the Compass and GetMCP registries, Meilisearch, a Nacos service-discovery provider, and an offline provider
- The offline provider combines text matching with vector search, so a description that shares no keywords with a server's README can still reach it
- Search options for result limit and minimum similarity, so a broad query and a precise one behave differently
- Configuration through environment variables or an .mcpadvisorrc.json file; the Nacos provider takes NACOS_SERVER_ADDR, with namespace, group and credentials optional, and LOG_DIR sets where logs land
Requirements
No account and no key for the default setup — it runs as npx -y @xiaohui-wang/mcpadvisor. The Nacos provider is the exception: it needs NACOS_SERVER_ADDR, plus NACOS_USERNAME and NACOS_PASSWORD where that Nacos instance requires authentication. MIT.
Setup effort
One command — npx -y @xiaohui-wang/mcpadvisor
USE CASES
01
Finding a server for a job you have no vocabulary for
Describe the task in your own words and get back named candidates with what each does and which category it belongs to.
02
Installing something you just found
Hand over the name and the repository URL and get the configuration steps for the client you are actually running.
03
Narrowing a search that returned too much
Add the keywords and the capabilities that are non-negotiable, so the recommendations come back scoped rather than broad.
04
Finding servers your own organization publishes
Point it at your Nacos registry, and internal servers appear alongside public ones in the same search.
2 tools
Counted once with only startup setup. Other versions, modes or optional credentials may expose a different list.
recommend-mcp-servers
Recommend MCP servers for the task you describe, drawing on public internet sources and an internal server library. Each result carries the server's name, what it does and its category.
BEFORE YOU INSTALL
What to know first
Tools you get
2 tools when we connected.
Requires
npx on PATH
Where it runs
Both documented clients run the server on your machine.
CONTEXT COST
Light Standing cost
Rated by the size of the 2 tool definitions that ride along on every turn, not by how many there are
INSTALLATION
Connect your client
Server setup
TERMINAL
npx -y @xiaohui-wang/mcpadvisorMCP Clients
Claude Desktop
CLAUDE DESKTOP · JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"mcpadvisor": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@xiaohui-wang/mcpadvisor"
]
}
}
}VS Code
VS CODE · JSON
{
"servers": {
"mcpadvisor": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@xiaohui-wang/mcpadvisor"
]
}
}
}
