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Add Your First MCP Server

All MCP servers are configured in one file. Here's how to add the filesystem server — the most useful one to start with — in under 2 minutes.

{
  "mcpServers": {

    // Filesystem — read/write a local folder
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem",
        "/Users/you/Documents"  // folder to expose
      ]
    }

  }
}

🔌 MCP: filesystem — 5 tools loaded
   read_file · write_file · list_directory · create_directory · delete_file
🦞 OpenClaw is ready

"List all PDF files in my Documents folder and summarise the newest one"
"Move all files older than 6 months into an Archive subfolder"
"Create a file called meeting-notes.md with today's date as the title"

What You Can Build with MCP

These are real workflows people run today by combining two or three MCP servers together.

"Every weekday at 9am, check all open PRs in my repos. For any PR waiting more than 24h without a review, post a reminder to #dev on Slack. When PRs are merged, close the linked issue automatically."

"Watch ~/Downloads/meeting-notes/. Whenever a new .txt file appears, format it as a Notion page with sections for Summary, Attendees, Action Items, and Decisions. Add it to my Meetings database."

"Every day at 6pm, pull today's revenue from Stripe — total charges, new subscribers, and any failed payments. Send me a 3-line summary on WhatsApp."

"Every Monday morning, search for recent news about [Competitor A] and [Competitor B]. Summarise any product updates, funding news, or pricing changes. Save to ~/Reports/competitor-intel-[date].md."

MCP Security Best Practices

MCP servers run with the permissions of your user account. A misconfigured or malicious server has real access to your files, APIs, and data. Follow these rules.

• 🔑
  Use scoped API tokens, not admin keys When creating tokens for GitHub, Notion, or Stripe, grant only the permissions that server actually needs. A read-only Stripe key can't accidentally charge customers; a repo-scoped GitHub token can't delete your whole organisation.
• 📁
  Limit filesystem server to specific folders Never point the filesystem server at / or your home directory root. Create a dedicated ~/openclaw-workspace/ folder and restrict access to that. Your agent doesn't need access to your SSH keys or browser passwords.
• 📦
  Only install well-maintained servers Check the GitHub repo: is it actively maintained? Are there open issues about security? Avoid servers with no source code visible or with fewer than 50 stars unless you've reviewed the code yourself.
• 🔄
  Rotate tokens every 90 days Set a reminder to regenerate your API keys quarterly. Most platforms (GitHub, Notion, Stripe) support token expiry — use it. If a token is ever leaked, an expired one is worthless to an attacker.
• 🔍
  Audit what tools are loaded Run openclaw mcp list regularly and confirm you recognise every server and understand every tool it exposes. Remove any servers you're no longer using — fewer open connections means a smaller attack surface.
• 🗄️
  Keep database servers read-only When connecting PostgreSQL or any database, use a read-only user account. Your agent can answer data questions perfectly well without ever having INSERT or DELETE privileges.

For a full security guide covering all of OpenClaw, see the Security & Safety page →

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