--- title: Adopting the MCP Bundle format (.mcpb) for portable... description: The MCP Bundle format (.mcpb), originally developed by Anthropic as DXT for Claude's desktop apps, has moved into the Model Context Protocol project. MCPB... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/adopting-the-mcp-bundle-format-mcpb-for-portable-local-servers-etq9pbw5k twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Adopting the MCP Bundle format (.mcpb) for portable local servers | daily.dev og:description: The MCP Bundle format (.mcpb), originally developed by Anthropic as DXT for Claude's desktop apps, has moved into the Model Context Protocol project. MCPB... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/adopting-the-mcp-bundle-format-mcpb-for-portable-local-servers-etq9pbw5k og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/eTQ9PbW5K.png og:image:alt: Adopting the MCP Bundle format (.mcpb) for portable local servers og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Adopting the MCP Bundle format (.mcpb) for portable local servers **[Model Context Protocol](https://daily.dev/sources/modelcontextprotocol-blog)** · 3 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary The MCP Bundle format (.mcpb), originally developed by Anthropic as DXT for Claude's desktop apps, has moved into the Model Context Protocol project. MCPB packages local MCP servers as ZIP archives with a manifest.json, similar to Chrome extensions or VS Code extensions, enabling one-click installation across any MCP-compatible client such as Claude desktop, Claude Code, and MCP for Windows. The move brings cross-client compatibility, open CLI tooling, standardized installation, and community collaboration under the MCP project. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What is the .mcpb file format used for in MCP servers? MCPB (MCP Bundle) is a ZIP-based distribution format for packaging local MCP servers, containing the server implementation, a manifest.json describing capabilities, bundled dependencies, and an optional icon. It works similarly to Chrome extensions (.crx) or VS Code extensions (.vsix), letting end users install a local MCP server with a single click in any compatible client. _Developers packaging MCP servers can follow ecosystem changes like this one on daily.dev._ ### Was MCPB previously called DXT and who originally built it? Yes, MCPB was previously called DXT and was originally developed by Anthropic specifically for Claude's desktop applications. It has now been moved into the Model Context Protocol project, along with its bundle specification, CLI tooling, and reference implementation, so it works across any MCP-compatible client rather than just Claude. _Track protocol and tooling changes like the DXT-to-MCPB shift on daily.dev when building MCP integrations._ ### Which MCP clients support installing .mcpb bundles? MCP Bundles can be installed in any MCP-compatible client that implements the specification, including the Claude desktop app, Claude Code, and MCP for Windows. Client developers can also add bundle support to their own applications using the open source toolchain, schemas, and functions from the mcpb repository that Claude uses on macOS and Windows. _daily.dev helps developers building MCP clients stay current on cross-client compatibility standards._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Ship your C\# MCP Server as a one-click bundle with MCPB](https://daily.dev/posts/ship-your-c-mcp-server-as-a-one-click-bundle-with-mcpb-ddy75o5wf) · The Art of Simplicity · 12 upvotes · 1 comments - [Azure MCP Server now available as an MCP Bundle \(.mcpb\)](https://daily.dev/posts/azure-mcp-server-now-available-as-an-mcp-bundle-mcpb--5l0qknv7p) · DevBlogs · 3 upvotes · 0 comments - [Building MCP Servers: Custom Context for Claude Code](https://daily.dev/posts/building-mcp-servers-custom-context-for-claude-code-iarhgi53v) · SitePoint · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [MCP Apps: Extending servers with interactive user interfaces](https://daily.dev/posts/mcp-apps-extending-servers-with-interactive-user-interfaces-jtfd053h0) · Hacker News · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Building Custom MCP Servers with Next.js and mcp-handler](https://daily.dev/posts/building-custom-mcp-servers-with-next-js-and-mcp-handler-f6ddpnmik) · Trevor Lasn · 4 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#ai-agents](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-agents), [#mcp](https://daily.dev/tags/mcp), [#claude-code](https://daily.dev/tags/claude-code) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/adopting-the-mcp-bundle-format-mcpb-for-portable-local-servers-etq9pbw5k) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Adopting the MCP Bundle format (.mcpb) for portable local servers","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/adopting-the-mcp-bundle-format-mcpb-for-portable-local-servers-etq9pbw5k","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/adopting-the-mcp-bundle-format-mcpb-for-portable-local-servers-etq9pbw5k"},"datePublished":"2026-08-23T12:16:56.345Z","dateModified":"2026-08-23T12:18:30.000Z","description":"The MCP Bundle format (.mcpb), originally developed by Anthropic as DXT for Claude's desktop apps, has moved into the Model Context Protocol project. 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