A side-by-side look at the Routed 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 Routed for coding agents work; choose DesktopCommanderMCP for coding agents as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Routed when
You need dedicated capabilities in the Coding Agents domain.
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.
Routed
No confirmed install command for Routed yet — follow the setup steps linked from its listing page rather than a guessed package name.
Routed is categorized under Coding Agents and uses an install path we have not confirmed yet. DesktopCommanderMCP belongs to Coding Agents and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Routed for coding agents work and DesktopCommanderMCP for coding agents.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client. Routed has no confirmed install command yet — follow its own setup instructions.
Routed is listed as free. Auth: no auth required. DesktopCommanderMCP is listed as free. Auth: no auth required. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add bshea-1-routed and wonderwhy-er-desktopcommandermcp as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Routed has a quality signal of 47/100 (Fair) with 0 views, 0 installs and 24 GitHub stars. DesktopCommanderMCP has 56/100 (Good) with 1 views, 0 installs and 10,070 GitHub stars.