docs: Add MCP JSON server configuration support documentation

[continue]

Description

This PR adds comprehensive documentation for the new MCP JSON server configuration support that was added in PR #7956. The feature allows users to configure MCP servers using JSON files in addition to YAML, providing better compatibility with Claude-style configurations.

Changes

• Added new section "How to Configure MCP Servers with JSON Files" to the MCP deep dive documentation
• Updated Quick Start section to mention both YAML and JSON support with tabbed examples
• Documented two JSON configuration formats:
  1. Single MCP server configuration (filename becomes server name)
  2. Claude-style multi-server configuration using mcpServers object
• Added documentation for environment variable templating using ${VAR_NAME} syntax
• Enhanced existing examples with proper tab organization using Mintlify components

Implementation Details

The documentation covers:

• Both single-server and multi-server JSON configuration patterns
• Environment variable templating that converts ${VAR_NAME} to Continue's ${{ secrets.VAR_NAME }} format
• Clear examples showing the relationship between filename and server naming
• Integration with existing YAML documentation through tabbed interface

This addresses the request to add documentation for the MCP JSON support feature to improve user experience and reduce migration friction.

Related

• Closes: Documentation update requested in Slack thread
• References: PR feat: support standard MCP JSON formats #7956 (MCP JSON support implementation)

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This agent session was created by tingwai and co-authored by Continue noreply@continue.dev.

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Summary by cubic

Add docs for MCP JSON server configuration, including Quick Start updates and examples for single-server and Claude-style multi-server formats. This lets users configure MCP servers with JSON alongside YAML and eases migration from Claude configs.

• New Features
  • Quick Start now has YAML/JSON tabs.
  • New section: “How to Configure MCP Servers with JSON Files.”
  • Documents two JSON formats: single-file (filename = server name) and mcpServers multi-server.
  • Notes env var templating: ${VAR_NAME} maps to ${{ secrets.VAR_NAME }} internally.

[bdougie]

@RomneyDa I am attempting to test the docs for this on pre-release but not getting the MCP servers to show up. Let me know what is needed to test this is working

// .continue/mcpServer/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "netlify": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@netlify/mcp"]
    },
    "context7": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@upstash/context7-mcp"]
    },
    "sequential-thinking": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-sequential-thinking"]
    }
  }
}

[RomneyDa]

I think this feature is meant to stay a bit lower-key since JSON does not have first class support, could we keep it to a short blurb about copying config files from claude code/desktop/etc? Thoughts?

@Patrick-Erichsen had an example here #7932

[bdougie]

@RomneyDa simplified the content and focused on just adding the blurb

[RomneyDa]

Most common JSON cases do not end with .mcp.json. Could list some specific ones here, like
claude_desktop_config.json
.claude.json
cline_mcp_settings.json
Note that VS Code uses mcp.json (not .mcp.json) but that will not work yet. But the above should

[bdougie]

@RomneyDa I am not sure how to get these docs over the finish line, but I have some irony where I am trying to use the Sanity MCP which only provides JSON examples alongside every flavor of MCP known to man. The onboarding experience for MCP is bad in general and on top of that I need to convert into YAML while also trying to figure out which flavor of MCP I should be using.

#8021 (comment)

My original with this docs update is if I could install the MCP into claude code, I could then just copy the JSON wholesale into Continue's YAML.

https://www.sanity.io/docs/compute-and-ai/mcp-server

Sharing because this is a common occurrence for me lately, where I'd like to get started with an MCP server but the friction of using MCP in Continue is enough to avoid it entirely. The --mcp flag is great in cn but only when there is a MCP available on the Hub, and you can't get it on the Hub unless you know how to read the runes.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Sanity Developer": {
      "url": "https://mcp.sanity.io/developer",
      "type": "http"
    }
  }
}

[RomneyDa]

@bdougie you can copy that exact JSON into e.g. servers.json (file name doesn't matter since name will be "Sanity Developer" in .continue/mcpServers and it should work!

My original with this docs update is if I could install the MCP into claude code, I could then just copy the JSON wholesale into Continue's YAML.

I have a backlog item to add some JSON <> YAML converter UI, perhaps in docs or extension. The utils are already in the config-yaml package

I just tagged you in the slack message demo where I showed how to use JSON support

[RomneyDa]

@bdougie just saw this comment
#8021 (comment)

That should have worked, if it doesn't it's likely a bug, or more likely wasn't in prerelease yet.

EDIT confirmed working on 1.3.15

[RomneyDa]

@bdougie could we tweak the language around mcp.json? Could say "JSON MCP format" or similar. #8021 (comment)