# Charles MCP (MCP server)

> Charles MCP is an MCP server that adds developer tools to AI assistants such as Claude Desktop, Claude Code and Cursor. Charles Proxy MCP server for AI agents with live capture, structured traffic analysis, and agent-friendly tool contracts. It has 317 GitHub stars, is released under the MIT license and runs locally with uvx charles-mcp.

Charles MCP Server 用于把 Charles Proxy 接入 MCP 客户端，让 agent 可以稳定地读取实时流量、分析历史录包，并在需要时再展开单条请求细节。 在 Charles 中依次进入：Proxy -> Web Interface Settings

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Repository | https://github.com/heizaheiza/Charles-mcp |
| GitHub stars | 317 |
| License | MIT |
| Language | Python |
| Transport | stdio |
| Packages | pypi: charles-mcp |
| Remote URL | none |
| Needs API key | no |
| Official | no |
| Works with | Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code |
| Category | Developer tools |
| Latest release | v3.0.3 (Apr 21, 2026) |
| Last commit | Jun 23, 2026 |

## Install

### Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json)

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "charles-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "charles-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "CHARLES_USER": "your-value",
        "CHARLES_PASS": "your-value",
        "CHARLES_MANAGE_LIFECYCLE": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Settings > Developer > Edit Config. macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/, Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\. Restart Claude Desktop afterwards.

### Claude Code

```sh
claude mcp add --env CHARLES_USER=your-value --env CHARLES_PASS=your-value --env CHARLES_MANAGE_LIFECYCLE=your-value --transport stdio charles-mcp -- uvx charles-mcp
```

### Cursor (.cursor/mcp.json)

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "charles-mcp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "charles-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "CHARLES_USER": "your-value",
        "CHARLES_PASS": "your-value",
        "CHARLES_MANAGE_LIFECYCLE": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Project file; use ~/.cursor/mcp.json to enable it in every project.

### VS Code (.vscode/mcp.json)

```json
{
  "servers": {
    "charles-mcp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "charles-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "CHARLES_USER": "your-value",
        "CHARLES_PASS": "your-value",
        "CHARLES_MANAGE_LIFECYCLE": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Config formats checked against the official docs on 2026-10-07.

## Environment variables

- `CHARLES_USER`: Shown in the README's example configuration.
- `CHARLES_PASS`: Shown in the README's example configuration.
- `CHARLES_MANAGE_LIFECYCLE`: Shown in the README's example configuration.

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---

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