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docs: add Windows cmd /c npx workaround to server READMEs#3466

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r266-tech wants to merge 1 commit intomodelcontextprotocol:mainfrom
r266-tech:fix/windows-npx-docs
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docs: add Windows cmd /c npx workaround to server READMEs#3466
r266-tech wants to merge 1 commit intomodelcontextprotocol:mainfrom
r266-tech:fix/windows-npx-docs

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Problem

All official MCP server READMEs recommend NPX configs like:

{ "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", ...] }

This silently fails on Windows because npx is installed as npx.cmd (a batch script shim), and child_process.spawn() — used by Claude Desktop and Claude Code — cannot execute .cmd files without shell: true, which MCP clients don't pass.

This is a well-known Node.js-on-Windows issue. Since MCP configs are copy-pasted from READMEs, Windows users hit this immediately with no clear error message.

Closes #3460

Solution

Add a Windows-specific callout after each NPX config block showing the cmd /c wrapper:

{ "command": "cmd", "args": ["/c", "npx", "-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", ...] }

Affected servers

  • src/filesystem — Claude Desktop + VS Code NPX sections
  • src/memory — Claude Desktop + VS Code NPX sections
  • src/sequentialthinking — Claude Desktop + VS Code NPX sections
  • src/everything — Claude Desktop NPX section

Testing

Verified the diff is purely additive documentation — no code changes, no functional impact on macOS/Linux users.

On Windows, npx is installed as npx.cmd — a batch file shim that
child_process.spawn() cannot execute directly without shell: true.
MCP clients (Claude Desktop, Claude Code) do not pass shell: true,
so npx-based configs silently fail on Windows.

Add a note after each NPX config block explaining the issue and
showing the cmd /c workaround for affected servers:
- filesystem
- memory
- sequentialthinking
- everything

Fixes #3460
@r266-tech r266-tech closed this Mar 5, 2026
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Docs: npx-based server configs fail on Windows without cmd /c wrapper

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