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Connecting External Tools
MCP: The Universal Connector
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that connects Cursor's AI agents to external tools, databases, and services. Think of it as USB for AI - build an MCP server once, connect it to any AI client.
How MCP Works in Cursor
- Cursor acts as the MCP Client
- MCP Servers expose tools, resources, and prompts
- When an agent needs data, it calls an MCP tool
- The server executes the request and returns results to the agent
Configuration
| Scope | Location | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Global | ~/.cursor/mcp.json | Tools available in all projects |
| Project | .cursor/mcp.json | Project-specific databases, APIs |
// .cursor/mcp.json example
{
"mcpServers": {
"postgres": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-postgres"],
"env": { "DATABASE_URL": "postgresql://..." }
}
}
}
Popular MCP Servers
- Filesystem: Read/write files outside the project
- PostgreSQL/MySQL: Query databases directly from the AI
- GitHub: Create PRs, manage issues, review code
- Notion/Slack: Read docs, send notifications
- Brave Search: Web search from within the editor
Transports & Team Distribution
Local servers speak JSON-RPC over STDIO; remote servers use HTTP with OAuth authentication - and Cloud Agents support all of them. On Team plans, admins can distribute vetted MCP servers to everyone via the team marketplace (Cursor Agent updates+), and Bugbot can call MCP tools during reviews on Team/Enterprise plans.
Deep Dive: For a detailed MCP curriculum (9+ modules), visit the dedicated MCP Academy covering server building, client integration, security, and enterprise deployment.
⌨ HANDS-ON LABWire Up Your First MCP Server
⭐ +150 XPGive Cursor's agent real tools. Create the project-level MCP config, then smoke-test a reference server with npx before Cursor launches it.
1Create the project-level MCP config file: .cursor/mcp.json.
2Smoke-test the filesystem reference server with npx (package: @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem).
OBJECTIVE 1 / 2 — type "hint" if stuck
SYNAPSE VERIFICATION
QUERY 1 // 3
Where do you configure project-specific MCP servers?
~/.cursor/mcp.json
.cursor/mcp.json in the project root
package.json
.cursorrules