Feature Request
Add an enabled: false (or disabled: true) flag for MCP server configuration, so servers can remain in the config but not auto-load on startup.
Current Behavior
MCP servers are either configured (and auto-load every session) or not configured at all. There's no middle ground — if you want to stop a server from loading, you must claude mcp remove it entirely and re-add it later with all its configuration.
Desired Behavior
Allow something like:
{
"mcpServers": {
"canva": {
"command": "...",
"enabled": false
}
}
}
- Servers with
enabled: false stay in the config but don't auto-connect on startup
- Users can toggle them on/off via
/mcp dialog or claude mcp enable <name> / claude mcp disable <name>
- This preserves all server configuration (command, args, env vars, auth tokens) between enable/disable cycles
Why This Matters
- Users with many MCP servers (10+) experience context bloat — each server adds deferred tools to every conversation
- Removing and re-adding servers is friction-heavy, especially for cloud/OAuth MCPs that require re-authentication
- Most users only need a subset of their servers in any given session
- This is a common pattern in other tools (VS Code extensions, browser extensions, etc.)
Suggested UX
claude mcp disable <name> — keeps config, stops auto-loadingclaude mcp enable <name> — resumes auto-loading/mcp dialog shows disabled servers with a toggle to re-enable
Feature Request
Add an
enabled: false(ordisabled: true) flag for MCP server configuration, so servers can remain in the config but not auto-load on startup.Current Behavior
MCP servers are either configured (and auto-load every session) or not configured at all. There's no middle ground — if you want to stop a server from loading, you must
claude mcp removeit entirely and re-add it later with all its configuration.Desired Behavior
Allow something like:
{ "mcpServers": { "canva": { "command": "...", "enabled": false } } }enabled: falsestay in the config but don't auto-connect on startup/mcpdialog orclaude mcp enable <name>/claude mcp disable <name>Why This Matters
Suggested UX
claude mcp disable <name>— keeps config, stops auto-loadingclaude mcp enable <name>— resumes auto-loading/mcpdialog shows disabled servers with a toggle to re-enable