For Notion, you do not need a third-party server — Notion ships an official one, in two flavours. Here is which to pick and the one setup step that trips everyone up.
The pick: Notion's official server
Local server (@notionhq/notion-mcp-server) — runs via npx with an internal integration token. Full control, works in any client. Best when you want the token in your own config. Setup: Notion MCP server setup.
Hosted remote server — Notion runs a managed MCP endpoint you authorise through Notion login (OAuth), no token to manage. Best for clients that support remote MCP and users who want zero install.
Both expose the same capabilities: search pages, read and update databases, create content. Choose by preference: local for control, hosted for convenience.
The step everyone misses: sharing
A Notion integration sees nothing until you share pages with it. Open a page → ••• → Connections → add your integration. Share a top-level page and it inherits the children. If your AI says "page not found," this is almost always why.
Scope the capabilities
When creating the integration, grant only what you need — read-only if the AI should not edit. An integration with full write access can change or delete content. See MCP security best practices.
Pair it well
Notion shines in a knowledge-work stack with web search and filesystem servers — your AI researches, then writes findings to Notion. Browse the productivity category or a tested loadout. Want it as a quick build? See the best MCP server for Notion topic page.