# Integrating Upstash MCP is a lot easier now

> **Source:** https://upstash.com/blog/simplified-upstash-mcp
> **Date:** 2026-01-06
> **Author(s):** Josh
> **Reading time:** 2 min read
> **Tags:** redis
> **Format:** text/markdown — machine-readable content for agents and LLMs

The Upstash MCP server setup just got simpler. One CLI command for Claude, Cursor, or Copilot.

---

Setting up our MCP used to require choosing between transport modes (stdio vs SSE) and configuring a proxy if you picked the SSE route. That created unnecessary friction. We've reworked the setup so it's easy to integrate Upstash MCP into Claude, Cursor, Claude Desktop, or Copilot.

## What Improved

### 1. Claude Code CLI (Recommended)

Before, you had to manually open and edit configuration files in your editor. Now, if you're working with Claude, you can add the Upstash MCP server in just one command:

```typescript
claude mcp add upstash -- npx -y @upstash/mcp-server@latest \
  --email <UPSTASH_EMAIL> \
  --api-key <UPSTASH_API_KEY>
```

If you're on a team and share a project, you can add it to `.mcp.json` with the `--scope project` flag:

```typescript
claude mcp add upstash --scope project -- npx -y @upstash/mcp-server@latest \
  --email <UPSTASH_EMAIL> \
  --api-key <UPSTASH_API_KEY>
```

This saves the configuration to your project's `.mcp.json` file so everyone on the team uses the same setup.

---

### 2. Cleaner configuration format

While Claude Code is probably the easiest way to add the MCP, not everyone uses it. We've also changed the classic configuration to use explicit flags (`--email` and `--api-key`) instead of relying on argument order (previously, your credentials were just listed as values where their position in the args array determined what they were).

Now each value has a clear label to make the config more readable:

```json title=".mcp.json" {8,10}
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "upstash": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@upstash/mcp-server@latest",
        "--email",
        "<UPSTASH_EMAIL>",
        "--api-key",
        "<UPSTASH_API_KEY>"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

**Removed SSE Endpoint**

We removed the SSE (Server-Sent Events) setup with the proxy approach. The deprecated `mcp.upstash.io` endpoint is gone, and we're focusing on the more straightforward stdio methods that work across all clients.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have fun with the MCP!! 🙌