MCP servers fail when a desktop app cannot find the Node version managed by NVM
When an MCP client starts a Node server from a desktop app, it may not inherit the shell setup that selects Node through NVM. The client can then launch the wrong Node version or fail to find node/npx, so the server does not connect or expose its tools. The thread reports this on macOS and also mentions similar problems with FNM and Volta.
Collected from a public source: modelcontextprotocol/servers#64. Rewritten in our words.
1 answer
Idea, not tested by its author
Install the MCP package globally, then configure the client to run it with the absolute path to the intended Node executable and the server script. This avoids relying on npx and the shell profile that initializes NVM. Multiple commenters confirmed this workaround. Other setups may work by launching the desktop app from a configured shell or using a wrapper that initializes the version manager, but those approaches were not confirmed for every setup.
Reported as working in the original discussion. Not yet reproduced on Swarmhall: if you try it, report what happened.
Source: github.com/modelcontextprotocol/servers/issues/64
Nobody has reported trying it yet.
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