One read of Claude Code CLI

 
 `claude mcp add` confirms a successful add by printing an `Added ...` line, which means the configuration was written. `claude mcp list` then shows a health status next to each server it lists, such as `✔ Connected`, `! Needs authentication`, or `✘ Failed to connect`. A failure status means Claude Code couldn't connect to that server, not that the list command failed.
 
-Project-scoped servers from `.mcp.json` that are awaiting your approval appear in `claude mcp list` and `claude mcp get <name>` as ``⏸ Pending approval (run `claude` to approve)``. Run `claude` interactively to review and approve them. `claude mcp get <name>` shows rejected servers as `✘ Rejected (see disabledMcpjsonServers in settings)`.
+The statuses in this list report a configuration decision rather than a connection attempt, so Claude Code prints them without connecting to the server:
 
+* ``⏸ Pending approval (run `claude` to approve)``: a project-scoped server from `.mcp.json` that you haven't approved yet. Claude Code shows it in both `claude mcp list` and `claude mcp get <name>`. Run `claude` interactively to review and approve it.
+* `✘ Rejected (see disabledMcpjsonServers in settings)`: a `.mcp.json` server that a [`disabledMcpjsonServers`](/docs/en/settings-reference#disabledmcpjsonservers) entry rejects. Claude Code shows it only in `claude mcp get <name>`.
+* `⊘ Disabled for this project (re-enable via /mcp)`: a server that the project's [`disabledMcpServers`](#disable-a-server-without-removing-it) list names. Claude Code shows it in both `claude mcp list` and `claude mcp get <name>`. Turn the server back on from the `/mcp` panel. Before v2.1.238, both commands connected to a disabled server to health-check it and reported the connection result.
+
 WebSocket servers don't appear in `claude mcp list` output. Use `claude mcp get <name>` or the `/mcp` panel to check them.
 
 #### Project server approvals and workspace trust

 
 When a server's status is `✘ Failed to connect`, `claude mcp list` appends the failure detail to that status line, and `claude mcp get <name>` shows it on an `Issue:` line: the HTTP status or error code, plus any error text the server returned. The server's detail view in `/mcp` includes the same server-reported text in its `Issue:` row. Claude Code redacts credential-like text from this detail and never includes the expanded server URL, which can carry secrets. Claude Code appends no detail to a `✘ Connection error` status, because the exception text it would print there can embed that URL. Before v2.1.219, both commands showed only the bare failure status, without the status code or the server's error text.
 
+When you complete authentication from `/mcp` and the connection still fails with an HTTP status or a transport error code, Claude Code adds that code and the origin of the URL it tried to the message it prints after the attempt. The origin is the scheme and host, plus the port when the URL names one, such as `https://mcp.example.com`.
+
+* The path and query never appear in that message.
+* Claude Code takes the origin after `${VAR}` expansion, so a host that comes from a variable appears expanded.
+* For a failure with no status or error code, Claude Code shows the error text without the origin.
+
 A remote server whose configuration has an empty `url` shows as `not configured` in `/mcp`, in `claude mcp list`, and in the [`/plugin`](/docs/en/plugins) manager, and Claude Code doesn't attempt to connect to it. A plugin can include a placeholder entry like this for a connector you configure later, so Claude Code doesn't report it as an error or a setup issue. The server's detail view in `/mcp` reads `No URL configured for this server`; set the entry's `url` to connect it. Before v2.1.208, Claude Code reported an empty `url` as a configuration issue with a prompt to reconnect.
 
 #### Configuration warnings
 
-Claude Code also warns when an MCP config value carries hidden leading or trailing whitespace, which often comes from pasting a token with a trailing newline. Claude Code checks `command`, `url`, each `args` entry, and the values and key names under `env` and `headers`. Claude Code shows the warning in `claude mcp list` output and in `/mcp`, naming the affected fields without echoing their values, for example `Leading or trailing whitespace in: headers.Authorization`. Claude Code doesn't trim the whitespace and uses the values exactly as written, so edit the configuration to remove it.
+Claude Code warns about the configuration problems below. Each entry says what Claude Code checks and how to clear the warning:
 
-Some server names are reserved for Claude Code's built-in servers: `workspace`, `claude-in-chrome`, `computer-use`, `Claude Preview`, and `Claude Browser`. If your configuration defines a server with a reserved name, Claude Code skips it at load time and shows a warning asking you to rename it. `claude mcp add` rejects a reserved name with an error.
+* **Hidden whitespace**: Claude Code warns when an MCP config value carries hidden leading or trailing whitespace, which often comes from pasting a token with a trailing newline. Claude Code checks `command`, `url`, each `args` entry, and the values and key names under `env` and `headers`. Claude Code shows the warning in `claude mcp list` output and in `/mcp`, naming the affected fields without echoing their values, for example `Leading or trailing whitespace in: headers.Authorization`. Claude Code doesn't trim the whitespace and uses the values exactly as written, so edit the configuration to remove it.
+* **Same name in more than one scope**: if you define the same server name in more than one [scope](#mcp-installation-scopes) with different endpoints, Claude Code warns about the conflict in `claude mcp list` output and in `/mcp`. Claude Code stores OAuth sign-ins per endpoint, so when you authenticate the definition that loads in one project, you still need to sign in separately in a project where a different definition loads. Keep the endpoint you want and remove the others with `claude mcp remove <name> --scope <scope>`. In the warning, Claude Code quotes each scope's endpoint as written in your configuration, with [`${VAR}` references](#environment-variable-expansion-in-mcp-json) unexpanded, so it never shows a resolved value such as an API key.
+* **Reserved names**: Claude Code reserves the names of its built-in servers, including `workspace`, `claude-in-chrome`, `computer-use`, `Claude Preview`, and `Claude Browser`. If your configuration defines a server with a reserved name, Claude Code skips it at load time and shows a warning asking you to rename it. `claude mcp add` rejects a reserved name with an error. `Claude Preview` and `Claude Browser` both name the built-in server that the [Claude Code desktop app's preview pane](/docs/en/desktop#preview-your-app) uses. Before v2.1.205, `Claude Browser` wasn't reserved, so a user-configured server could register under that name.
+* **Missing environment variable**: if a [`${VAR}` reference](#environment-variable-expansion-in-mcp-json) in a server's configuration names a variable that isn't set and has no `:-default`, Claude Code warns in `claude mcp list` output and in `/mcp`, naming the variable, and still loads the server with the `${VAR}` text unexpanded. Set the variable or add a `${VAR:-default}` fallback.
 
-`Claude Preview` and `Claude Browser` both name the built-in server that the [Claude Code desktop app's preview pane](/docs/en/desktop#preview-your-app) uses. Before v2.1.205, `Claude Browser` wasn't reserved, so a user-configured server could register under that name.
-
 #### Tool availability
 
 The `/mcp` panel shows the tool count next to each connected server and flags servers that advertise the tools capability but expose no tools.

 
 For security reasons, Claude Code prompts for approval in interactive sessions before using project-scoped servers from `.mcp.json` files. To reset those approval choices, run `claude mcp reset-project-choices`.
 
-`claude -p` runs, [Agent SDK](/docs/en/headless) sessions, and [cloud sessions](/docs/en/claude-code-on-the-web) can't show that prompt: Claude Code loads project-scoped servers there without asking. A session you start in `bypassPermissions` mode with [`skipDangerousModePermissionPrompt`](/docs/en/settings-reference#skipdangerousmodepermissionprompt) set skips the prompt too. To keep a server out anyway, add it to [`disabledMcpjsonServers`](/docs/en/settings-reference#disabledmcpjsonservers), which blocks it in every mode, or exclude project settings entirely with [`--setting-sources`](/docs/en/cli-reference) or the SDK's `settingSources` option. [Project server approvals and workspace trust](#project-server-approvals-and-workspace-trust) covers how approvals committed to the repository interact with workspace trust.
+In `claude -p` runs, [Agent SDK](/docs/en/headless) sessions, and [cloud sessions](/docs/en/claude-code-on-the-web), Claude Code can't show that prompt: it loads project-scoped servers without asking. Claude Code also skips the prompt in a session you start in `bypassPermissions` mode with [`skipDangerousModePermissionPrompt`](/docs/en/settings-reference#skipdangerousmodepermissionprompt) set. To keep a server out anyway:
+
+* Add it to [`disabledMcpjsonServers`](/docs/en/settings-reference#disabledmcpjsonservers), which blocks it in every permission mode.
+* Exclude project settings entirely with [`--setting-sources`](/docs/en/cli-reference#cli-flags) or the SDK's `settingSources` option.
+* Start the session with [`--strict-mcp-config`](/docs/en/cli-reference#cli-flags). Claude Code then uses only the MCP servers you pass with `--mcp-config`. Skipping the approval prompt for the project-scoped servers Claude Code isn't loading requires Claude Code v2.1.246 or later; before v2.1.246, a strict session still waited on approval for them, which left background sessions waiting at startup. See [Exclusive control with managed-mcp.json](/docs/en/managed-mcp#exclusive-control-with-managed-mcp-json) for what the flag does under a managed MCP file.
+
+[Project server approvals and workspace trust](#project-server-approvals-and-workspace-trust) covers how approvals committed to the repository interact with workspace trust.
 
 ### User scope