Warp MCP server not working, not starting, or never called: the fixes

Find the server and start it

Warp's MCP servers page lives under Settings > Agents > MCP servers, and also opens from Warp Drive > Personal > MCP Servers or Open MCP Servers in the Command Palette. Each server has Start and Stop. A running server lists its tools and resources; one that's listed without them isn't running.

+ Add accepts most MCP client configs as pasted JSON, including one object with an mcpServers key for several servers at once:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-local": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "some-mcp-server"],
      "env": { "API_KEY": "..." },
      "working_directory": "/Users/you/project"
    },
    "my-remote": {
      "url": "https://example.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Servers that don't start on their own

• Warp also reads servers from other tools' files: .warp/.mcp.json, Claude Code's ~/.claude.json and .mcp.json, Codex's ~/.codex/config.toml and .codex/config.toml, and ~/.agents/.mcp.json or .agents/.mcp.json.
• Global servers defined in Warp start by default. Global servers from other agents' files start only with Auto-spawn servers from third-party agents turned on in Settings.
• Project-scoped servers never start on their own. Turn each one on from the MCP servers page; that choice lasts for the session only, so it's off again next time.
• A server that was running when you quit Warp starts again at the next launch; one you stopped stays stopped.

Read the logs

Click View Logs on the server in the MCP servers page. The files are also on disk, one folder per platform:

• macOS: ~/Library/Group Containers/2BBY89MBSN.dev.warp/Library/Application Support/dev.warp.Warp-Stable/mcp
• Windows: $env:LOCALAPPDATA\warp\Warp\data\logs\mcp
• Linux: ${XDG_STATE_HOME:-$HOME/.local/state}/warp-terminal/mcp

Logs can hold API keys, so strip them before you paste a log anywhere. For a command server, also run the command and args in a terminal: an error there is the same error Warp gets.

Sign-in problems

• Starting a URL server with no saved credentials opens a browser sign-in. Credentials stay on that device, so a second machine signs in again. Revoke them from the MCP Servers pane.
• Stale sign-ins: Warp's docs suggest rm -rf ~/.mcp-auth. That deletes every locally stored MCP token, not just one server's, so each OAuth server asks you to sign in again.
• If OAuth keeps failing for a server that also takes a token, switch it to a header or an env value with the token instead.

Running, but the agent never calls it

Warp's docs note that some models use MCP tools better than others. If the server runs and lists its tools but the agent ignores them, try another model, and name the tool or the server in your request.

Taskhold-specific checks

Taskhold is a remote server at https://taskhold.com/api/mcp. When its tools don't show up in Warp, check these in order:

1. The entry is a URL server with url set to exactly https://taskhold.com/api/mcp and no headers, and it's started. Start opens a browser sign-in with no sign-up first: the first time the agent uses Taskhold it gives you the link to start the 7-day trial.
2. If you set an Authorization header with an atd_sk_ key instead, Taskhold's 401 names the cause: missing_key, bad_header, not_a_taskhold_key or unknown_key.
3. If you added Taskhold through a project's .mcp.json, start it from the MCP servers page each session, or add it globally in Warp so it starts on its own.
4. Ask the agent to call the taskhold list tool. Settings in Taskhold shows the connection once the first call arrives.

With the tools running and the workflow from the Warp page in AGENTS.md, every task Warp's agent starts, its steps and its questions show on the live board next to your other agents. More clients: MCP server not connecting, fixes for every client.