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Last verified: 2026-06-11

MCP server not responding

A Claude Cowork error and how to fix it. The exact message, why it happens, and the steps that resolve it.

Claude Cowork 
Error: MCP server "github" did not respond within 30s
  config: .mcp.json
  command: npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-github
Fix:

Run the command from .mcp.json manually in a terminal — most failures are missing env vars, wrong path, or the server crashing on startup. Then:

claude mcp logs        # recent stderr from all servers
claude mcp list        # confirm config is loaded
claude mcp restart     # restart the connection

Guide: Claude Cowork setup

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