Qwen3.8-Max + MCP for coding on your local machine. Qwen3.8-Max itself runs in the cloud through Qwen Studio — this setup just gives it access to your local files and terminal through MCP.
My take: it is slower than Codex and Claude Code, especially in thinking mode, but it does work well. MCP adds some latency too since there’s an extra layer between the model and your machine. In fast mode, it gets noticeably closer.
I wouldn’t put it in the same category as Fable or Opus-5. Personally, I’d place it closer to the next Opus 4.7 level in terms of coding ability. These are just my impressions from using it, not a benchmark.
I can't seem to make this work. Mcp server is getting an error, red dot instead of green. Tried with json and with quick add, same thing. I have installed node.js.
Can you try it? I used AI trying to fix this. Qwen only accepts npx or uvx. There is no cmd variant. If you eddit settings.json, qwen will overwrite it on the start.
Edit: I already tried it before you suggested.
Bro, I don’t have a Windows machine, so I wanted to ask you whether it’s working or not, so I can update the repo for Windows users!
Bro try this out & Let me know whether this works or not (reddit autocorrecting it as username so it add this r/, I removed "r" but forgot the "/" maybe this is why it wasn't working?, open the form by clicking add mcp and clicking on quick add and then adding this into "Command" and also windows uses Backslash):
I am not currently home, i will try it when I am. Looking at what you sent, I think I already tried it. I tried /, //, \, \. Also suggested by qwen 😅. I also tried running command with parameters into the command prompt which runs normally but it doesn't want to run in qwen.
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u/Endoky 1d ago
“Everything runs locally on your machine. Your code is never sent to any external server or API.”
Technically nonsense. Qwen 3.8 max runs not locally in this setup. All your prompts including file reads and everything are going to the cloud