LM Studio has released version 0.3.17, introducing support for the Model Context Protocol (MCP) — a step forward in enabling language models to access external tools and data sources. Originally developed by Anthropic, MCP defines a standardized interface for connecting LLMs to services such as GitHub, Notion, or Stripe, enabling more powerful, contextual reasoning.
With this release, LM Studio becomes an MCP Host, capable of connecting to both local and remote MCP servers. Users can add servers by editing a mcp.json configuration file within the app or by using the new “Add to LM Studio” one-click integration buttons when available.
Each MCP server runs in a separate, isolated process. This architecture ensures modularity and stability while maintaining compatibility with local environments. LM Studio supports MCPs that depend on tools like npx, uvx, or any system command, provided these are installed and accessible through the system’s PATH variable.
Security and user agency are central to the design. When a model attempts to call a tool through an MCP server, LM Studio displays a tool call confirmation dialog, where users can inspect, approve, modify, or deny the action. Tools can be whitelisted for future calls, and settings can be managed globally via the “Tools & Integrations” menu.
An example use case is the Hugging Face MCP Server, which allows models to access Hugging Face’s APIs to search for models or datasets. Users simply enter their API token into the config, and the server becomes accessible from within the LM Studio environment. This functionality is useful for LLM developers who want to augment their local models with structured, live data from third-party APIs.
The project has already seen interest from the community. On LinkedIn, Daniele Lucca, a project manager at Xholding Group, commented:
Fantastic news! This is exactly the experiment I’m carrying out as a passion project. I’m using external data sources to ‘teach’ an AI with 20 years of data of issues, solutions, manuals from my industry, AIDC (Automatic Identification and Data Capture).
Still, some users have reported early issues. One Reddit user noted:
I just wish I could load the list of models. For some reason, I am getting an error when trying to search for a model. Anyone else facing this?
Another replied:
It happened to me 2 days ago. Yesterday it was fine. So I think it is intermittent.
LM Studio encourages the community to file bug reports via their GitHub issue tracker as MCP support evolves.
Version 0.3.17 is available now via in-app update or direct download at lmstudio.ai.
