name: mcp-setup description: MCP server configuration, troubleshooting, and Todoist REST API workarounds

MCP Server Configuration

Configuration Locations

• User-level config: ~/.claude/settings.json (required for VSCode extension)
• Project-level config: .mcp.json (may not be loaded by VSCode extension)
• Environment file: ~/.claude/.env (copy from project .env)

Important Setup Notes

1. Node.js Required: Install via brew install node (needed for all MCP servers using npx)

2. Use Full Paths: VSCode may not have Homebrew in PATH, so use /opt/homebrew/bin/npx instead of just npx

3. No Variable Interpolation: The ${VAR} syntax does NOT work in ~/.claude/settings.json. You must hardcode actual token values.

4. Restart Required: After changing ~/.claude/settings.json, fully quit VSCode (Cmd+Q) and reopen. A simple reload may not pick up changes.

5. OAuth for Google Services: First run of gdrive/gcal will open browser for authentication. Tokens cached in ~/.mcp-gdrive/ or similar.

MCP Server Packages

Note: The gdrive package is @isaacphi/mcp-gdrive, NOT @anthropic/mcp-gdrive (that one doesn't exist on npm).

Example ~/.claude/settings.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gdrive": {
      "command": "/opt/homebrew/bin/npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@isaacphi/mcp-gdrive"],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_OAUTH_CREDENTIALS": "/Users/terrytong/Documents/CCG/ToolProj/gcp-oauth.keys.json"
      }
    },
    "todoist": {
      "command": "/opt/homebrew/bin/npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@abhiz123/todoist-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "TODOIST_API_TOKEN": "your-actual-token-here"
      }
    },
    "notion": {
      "command": "/opt/homebrew/bin/npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@notionhq/notion-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "NOTION_TOKEN": "your-actual-token-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Troubleshooting MCP

Pre-install packages globally: /opt/homebrew/bin/npm install -g @isaacphi/mcp-gdrive @abhiz123/todoist-mcp-server

Todoist REST API Workaround

The Todoist MCP tool often returns 401 errors. Use the REST API directly via curl instead:

# Create a task (source .env first to get TODOIST_API_TOKEN)
source /Users/terrytong/Documents/CCG/ToolProj/.env && curl -s -X POST "https://api.todoist.com/rest/v2/tasks" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TODOIST_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "content": "Task title here",
    "project_id": "2363714490",
    "due_string": "today"
  }'

# Delete a task
source /Users/terrytong/Documents/CCG/ToolProj/.env && curl -s -X DELETE "https://api.todoist.com/rest/v2/tasks/{task_id}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TODOIST_API_TOKEN"

# Get tasks
source /Users/terrytong/Documents/CCG/ToolProj/.env && curl -s "https://api.todoist.com/rest/v2/tasks?project_id=2363714490" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TODOIST_API_TOKEN"

Key: Always source .env before curl commands since MCP servers don't pick up bash exports.