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MCP Setup

CodeWhale MCP setup only feels clear when you treat it as an advanced layer on top of a stable base install

MCP setup becomes confusing when users jump into servers before the underlying CodeWhale install, provider auth, and config path are already reliable. The clean setup path starts lower and only climbs into MCP once the base tool is stable.

Site detail pageSet Up MCP for CodeWhale (DeepSeek TUI Guide)MCP

Questions this page should answer fast

  • What should already be working before you touch MCP?
  • How do server definitions, trust, and config placement fit together?
  • Which problems should send you back to base config instead of deeper MCP debugging?

What to verify next

  • Confirm provider auth and config are already stable without MCP.
  • Inspect the server definition path and expected capabilities carefully.
  • If MCP fails early, compare the same task without MCP to isolate the layer.

Common mistakes

  • Treating MCP setup as part of first install instead of an advanced second phase.
  • Adding several servers before one simple server path is verified.
  • Debugging servers before ruling out base config issues.

Recommended reading order

Move through the page by workflow need first, then branch into adjacent detail pages or hubs.

Step 1

Verify the base workflow

Make sure a normal DeepSeek TUI session already works before adding MCP servers.

Step 2

Define one server path clearly

Start with one server definition and one trust model instead of several examples at once.

Step 3

Validate with narrow scope

Test the MCP layer with one simple action before assuming the whole server toolchain is ready.

Use-it-now examples

Start from working examples first, then adjust the details.

Minimal MCP bootstrap

Start from one simple MCP config path and validate it before you add multiple servers or trust boundaries.

codewhale mcp init
codewhale mcp list
codewhale mcp validate

Single-server first pass

Add one server, validate it, and only then decide whether discovery, resources, or prompts are worth expanding.

codewhale mcp add stdio demo node ./server.js
codewhale mcp validate

Compare the same task with and without MCP

The fastest way to isolate MCP is to keep the task constant and only change the MCP layer.

# run one narrow task without MCP
# then repeat after enabling one server

Common failure branches

Work out which layer failed first instead of treating every problem as the same.

Base app works but MCP tools do not appear

That usually means server definition, config path, or discovery is wrong. Compare the same task without MCP first.

One server blocks the whole MCP layer

Start by disabling or removing the newest server so you can isolate whether the issue is global MCP setup or one broken definition.

You added MCP before the base provider path was stable

Roll back to the non-MCP baseline first. MCP should sit on a known-good provider path, not replace it.

When to leave this page

Once the route is clear, leave this page quickly. Install pages should hand you into config, config pages should send you into provider or troubleshooting, and MCP or mode pages should send you back into live workflow decisions. A detail page is valuable because it narrows the problem, not because you stay on it forever.