Troubleshooting

Having trouble with your MCP setup? Here are the most common fixes.

Connection Issues

MCP Server Not Found

Check that MCP is enabled in Settings → AI → Model Context Protocol and your URL includes the /mcp endpoint:

• ✅ https://your-site.com/mcp
• ❌ https://your-site.com

Authentication Failures

1. Verify your token is generated and saved in Directus
2. Check your MCP user has a role assigned
3. Test your token with curl:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer your-token" \
     https://your-site.com/items/directus_collections

Permission Errors

Access Denied

Your MCP user needs appropriate permissions:

• Content operations: Read/write access to target collections
• Schema operations: Administrator role required

Delete Operations Blocked

Enable "Allow Deletes" in Settings → AI → Model Context Protocol even if your user has delete permissions.

Client Issues

Claude Desktop

• Check JSON syntax in configuration (no trailing commas)
• Restart Claude Desktop after config changes
• Verify token in environment variables

Claude Code (VS Code)

• Configuration goes in VS Code settings, not Claude Desktop
• Search for "Claude MCP" in VS Code settings
• Restart VS Code after changes

ChatGPT

• Requires Pro or Teams subscription
• Use Bearer token format: Bearer your-token

Cursor

• Put .cursor/mcp.json in project root
• Check file permissions and JSON syntax

Quick Debugging

Test with simple operations:

1. "Please call the system prompt tool"
2. "What collections do I have?"
3. "Show me one item from collection-name"