Claude Desktop Restart MCP server

This MCP server enables Claude Desktop for Mac users to restart the application directly through a simple prompt. It's designed to work alongside MCP tools, making it easier to apply changes that require a restart of Claude Desktop.

Installation

To install the MCP server for restarting Claude Desktop, you need to edit your Claude Desktop configuration file on MacOS. The file is located at:

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

You have two installation options:

Option 1: Install with mcp-installer

Install both the mcp-installer and mcp-server-restart by adding this to your config file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-installer": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "@anaisbetts/mcp-installer"
      ]
    },
    "mcp-server-restart": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-server-restart"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Option 2: Install only mcp-server-restart

If you want to install only the restart functionality, add this to your config file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-server-restart": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-server-restart"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Usage

Once installed, you can restart Claude Desktop by simply asking Claude:

• "restart Claude"
• "Please restart Claude"

If you're also using mcp-installer, you can combine commands like:

• "Hey Claude, install the MCP server named mcp-server-fetch then restart Claude"

Features

Available Resources

The server provides a status resource:

• claude://status - Returns the current status of Claude Desktop
  • Contains JSON with running status, PID, and timestamp
  • MIME type: application/json

Available Tools

The server implements one tool:

• restart_claude - Restarts the Claude Desktop application
  • Safely terminates the existing process if running
  • Launches a new instance
  • Provides progress notifications during the restart process

How to add this MCP server to Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > MCP and click "Add new global MCP server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "cursor-rules-mcp": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "cursor-rules-mcp"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explictly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.