Based on Anysphere’s official docs, checked October 16, 2026

How to add an MCP server to Cursor

Cursor supports stdio, SSE and Streamable HTTP MCP servers. Install official ones from the Cursor Marketplace, or configure any server in mcp.json.

1. One-click install
Open Customize, browse the Cursor Marketplace and click Add to Cursor. Remote servers then ask you to authenticate with OAuth.

2. Add a local (stdio) server

Create .cursor/mcp.json in your project (or ~/.cursor/mcp.json for every project) with an mcpServers entry.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "server-name": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-server"],
      "env": { "API_KEY": "${env:API_KEY}" }
    }
  }
}

3. Add a remote server

Use a url instead of a command. Add headers for token auth, or an auth block for providers that need a fixed OAuth client.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "remote-server": {
      "url": "https://api.example.com/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${env:MY_SERVICE_TOKEN}" }
    }
  }
}

4. Enable and use it
Toggle the server in Customize. Agent uses MCP tools when relevant and asks for approval before running them by default.
5. Debug
Open the Output panel (Cmd+Shift+U) and choose MCP Logs to see connection, auth and crash errors.

Tips

Use ${env:NAME}, ${workspaceFolder} and ${userHome} interpolation instead of hard-coding paths and secrets.
envFile works for stdio servers only.
For static OAuth, register https://www.cursor.com/agents/mcp/oauth/callback and http://localhost:8787/callback with the provider.
Enterprise admins can allowlist servers and tools under Team Settings > MCP Configuration.