MCP Server Setup Issues - JSON vs YAML Configuration

[k-stamp]

Hey everyone! 👋

I'm having massive problems getting MCP servers to work with Continue, and I think it's related to the configuration format differences. 99.99% of all MCP server documentation shows setup using JSON format, but nobody explains how to properly convert this to the YAML format that Continue uses - and it seems like it's not a 1:1 translation.

I've been struggling for hours trying to get the ReportPortal MCP Server running with Continue.

Setup Note: I'm running on Windows and due to licensing restrictions, I can't use the Docker version, so I'm using the binary (.exe) version of the MCP server.

With Claude Desktop (JSON) - Works perfectly out of the box:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "reportportal": {
      "command": "D:\\MCP-Server\\ReportPortal\\reportportal-mcp-server.exe",
      "args": ["stdio"],
      "env": {
        "RP_API_TOKEN": "[REDACTED]",
        "RP_HOST": "[REDACTED]",
        "RP_PROJECT": "[REDACTED]"
      }
    }
  }
}

With Continue (YAML) - Server shows green but data retrieval fails:

mcpServers:
  - name: reportportal-mcp-server
    command: "D:\\MCP-Server\\ReportPortal\\reportportal-mcp-server.exe"
    args:
      - stdio
    env:
      RP_API_TOKEN: [REDACTED]
      RP_HOST: "[REDACTED]"
      RP_PROJECT: [REDACTED]
      MCP_PORT: "4389"

The MCP server shows as green/connected in Continue, but when I try to use it, the calls fail:

❌ Continue tried to use the reportportal-mcp-server get_launches tool

project: "[REDACTED]"
page: 1
page-size: 5
page-sort: "startTime,number,DESC"

All my environment variables are absolutely correct (since they work with Claude Desktop), but something about the YAML configuration isn't translating properly.

Has anyone successfully converted JSON MCP server configs to YAML for Continue? Are there specific gotchas or differences I should be aware of?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! This seems like a common issue that many people might face when trying to migrate MCP servers from Claude Desktop to Continue.

Thanks! 🙏

[Patrick-Erichsen]

I think you might need to specify the type: https://docs.continue.dev/customize/deep-dives/mcp#how-to-use-standard-input%2Foutput-stdio

mcpServers:
  - name: reportportal-mcp-server
    command: "D:\\MCP-Server\\ReportPortal\\reportportal-mcp-server.exe"
    type: stdio
    env:
      RP_API_TOKEN: [REDACTED]
      RP_HOST: "[REDACTED]"
      RP_PROJECT: [REDACTED]
      MCP_PORT: "4389"