📖 TL;DR - Quick Setup

Open Cursor Settings → Tools & MCP
Click "Add new MCP server"
Fill in: Name, Type, URL (or command), and Headers
Click Install → Restart Cursor

Cursor IDE has built-in support for the Model Context Protocol (MCP), allowing you to extend Claude's capabilities with custom tools and integrations. This guide shows you how to configure MCP servers in Cursor.

Why Use MCP in Cursor?

With MCP servers, Cursor's AI can:

🗄️ Database Access Query external databases and APIs

📁 File Management Read/write files beyond workspace

🔗 Service Integrations GitHub, Notion, Slack, and more

🎭 Browser Automation Playwright for testing & scraping

Prerequisites

⚡

Cursor IDE v0.40 or later

🟢

Node.js 18+ For npm servers

🐍

Python 3.10+ For Python servers

Method 1: Add via Cursor Settings UI

Step 1: Open MCP Settings

🍎 macOS

Cmd + , → Tools & MCP

🪟 Windows

Ctrl + , → Tools & MCP

Step 2: Fill in Server Details

Click "Add new MCP server" and fill in the form:

Field	Description	Example
Name	A unique identifier for your server	`github`, `supabase`
Type	Connection type for the server	`command` or `streamableHttp`
Command/URL	The command to run or HTTP endpoint	`npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-github`
Headers	Authentication headers (for HTTP type)	`Authorization: Api-Key your_key`

Step 3: Click Install & Restart

After filling in the details, click Install. Then restart Cursor completely for changes to take effect.

✅ Tip: For HTTP-based servers, use streamableHttp type. For local CLI servers, use command type.

Method 2: Configure via JSON File

For project-specific servers or bulk configuration, create a .cursor/mcp.json file in your project root:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/path/to/folder"]
    }
  }
}

📁 File Location: <project-root>/.cursor/mcp.json — This method is great for sharing MCP configs with your team via version control.

Popular Cursor MCP Configurations

Here are ready-to-use configurations for both UI and JSON methods:

🐙 GitHub Integration Repos, Issues, PRs

UI Form Values

Name: github
Type: command
Command: npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-github
Env: GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN=ghp_your_token

JSON Config (.cursor/mcp.json)

"github": {
  "command": "npx",
  "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"],
  "env": { "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "ghp_your_token" }
}

⚡ Supabase Database Database, Auth, Storage

UI Form Values

Name: supabase
Type: command
Command: npx -y @supabase/mcp-server
Env: SUPABASE_URL=https://xxx.supabase.co

JSON Config (.cursor/mcp.json)

"supabase": {
  "command": "npx",
  "args": ["-y", "@supabase/mcp-server"],
  "env": { 
    "SUPABASE_URL": "https://xxx.supabase.co", 
    "SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY": "xxx" 
  }
}

🎭 Playwright Browser Automation

UI Form Values

Name: playwright
Type: command
Command: npx -y @playwright/mcp-server

JSON Config (.cursor/mcp.json)

"playwright": {
  "command": "npx",
  "args": ["-y", "@playwright/mcp-server"]
}

HTTP-based MCP Server Example

For servers that use HTTP/SSE transport (like many cloud-hosted MCP servers):

🌐 HTTP Server Example streamableHttp type

UI Form Values

Name: my-cloud-server
Type: streamableHttp
URL: https://api.example.com/mcp
Headers: Authorization: Api-Key your_api_key

Restart & Verify

⚠️ Important: You must completely quit and reopen Cursor after installing a server. MCP servers only load at startup.

Verify MCP Connection

To check if your MCP servers are working:

Open the Cursor chat (Cmd+L on Mac, Ctrl+L on Windows)
Ask Claude: "What MCP tools do you have available?"
You should see tools from your configured servers listed

✅ Success: If configured correctly, you'll see the server listed under "Installed MCP Servers" in Settings → Tools & MCP.

Using MCP Tools in Cursor

Once configured, simply ask Claude to use the tools naturally:

Example Prompts

"Read the README file from my GitHub repo"
"Query the users table in my Supabase database"
"Take a screenshot of https://example.com"

Troubleshooting

❌ MCP server not appearing +

Verify your JSON syntax is valid (use a JSON validator)
Make sure you completely restarted Cursor
Check that Node.js is installed: node --version

❌ "Command not found" error +

Use the full path to npx. Find it with:

which npx  # macOS/Linux
where npx  # Windows

❌ Tools not working properly +

Verify API keys/tokens are correct
Check that the API key has required permissions
Test the server with MCP Playground first

Ready to test your MCP servers?

Test MCP Server → Browse 1000+ Servers

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does Cursor store MCP config? +

Cursor stores MCP configuration in its settings. Access it via Settings → Features → MCP. The format is the same as Claude Desktop's claude_desktop_config.json.

Can I use the same config as Claude Desktop? +

Yes! Cursor uses the same JSON format as Claude Desktop. You can copy your mcpServers configuration directly between them.

How many MCP servers can I add? +

You can add as many MCP servers as you need. Each server runs as a separate process. Just add them as additional entries in your mcpServers configuration.

Do MCP servers work with all Cursor features? +

MCP servers work with Cursor's chat feature (Cmd+L / Ctrl+L). Claude will automatically use the tools when relevant to your requests. They're not available in autocomplete or inline edits.

How to Configure MCP Servers in Cursor IDE (2026 Guide)

Why Use MCP in Cursor?

Prerequisites

Method 1: Add via Cursor Settings UI

Step 1: Open MCP Settings

Step 2: Fill in Server Details

Step 3: Click Install & Restart

Method 2: Configure via JSON File

Popular Cursor MCP Configurations

HTTP-based MCP Server Example

Restart & Verify

Verify MCP Connection

Using MCP Tools in Cursor

Troubleshooting

Frequently Asked Questions

Nikhil Tiwari

Related Resources