Quick start

Start SwitchboardCopy Anchor Link

npx mcp-switchboard up

The daemon listens on http://127.0.0.1:7690 and opens the web UI there. Add -d to run it in the background; switchboard stop stops it.

Import or add serversCopy Anchor Link

Open Import to pull in the MCP servers already configured in Cursor, Claude Code, Claude Desktop, VS Code, Windsurf, Codex or Gemini CLI, or run:

switchboard import

Add new ones on the Servers page, by pasting an entry from any mcp.json or filling in the form, or from the terminal:

switchboard server add github -- npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-github
switchboard server add linear --url https://mcp.linear.app/mcp

Test, or switchboard server test <name>, starts a server once and caches its tool list. See Importing servers.

Create a profileCopy Anchor Link

On Profiles, create a profile, say work, pick its servers, and switch off any tools it should not have. The preview shows exactly what a client will see, and roughly how many tokens of context its tool list costs.

switchboard profile add work --servers github,linear
switchboard profile show work

See Profiles.

Connect a clientCopy Anchor Link

On Clients, pick a client and a profile and click Connect. Switchboard writes its entry into the client's configuration file, keeping a backup. From the terminal:

switchboard client connect cursor --profile work

Restart or reload the client, and its tools come from the work profile. See Connecting clients.