Baton vs DesktopCommanderMCP
A side-by-side look at the Baton and DesktopCommanderMCP MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Baton for coding agents work as a local process; choose DesktopCommanderMCP for coding agents. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Baton when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Coding Agents domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
Choose DesktopCommanderMCP when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Coding Agents domain.
- Its auth model fits you: No auth required.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Coding Agents | Coding Agents |
| Quality signal | 47/100 · Fair | 49/100 · Fair |
| Install command | Confirmed | Not confirmed yet |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | — |
| Auth | Not declared | No auth required |
| Pricing | Not declared | Free |
| Required env vars | None listed | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 27 | 10,103 |
| Directory activity | 2 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 3 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | Not listed | Not listed |
| Full listing | View Baton | View DesktopCommanderMCP |
Tools & capabilities
Baton tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
DesktopCommanderMCP tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
Baton
{
"mcpServers": {
"baton-2": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@kasabeh/baton-mcp"
]
}
}
}
DesktopCommanderMCP
No confirmed install command for DesktopCommanderMCP yet — follow the setup steps linked from its listing page rather than a guessed package name.