Why are my Cursor MCP tools not showing up?

Confirm the server is toggled on in Cursor Settings → MCP, that the command runs on its own in a terminal, and that you are using the Agent (Composer), since MCP tools are called from agent mode. A red status in the MCP panel usually shows the underlying error.

Can I share MCP servers with my team in Cursor?

Yes — commit a .cursor/mcp.json to your repository. Anyone who opens the project in Cursor gets the same servers, though each person still supplies their own secrets via env values.

Why are my Cursor MCP tools not showing up?

Confirm the server is toggled on in Cursor Settings → MCP, that the command runs on its own in a terminal, and that you are using the Agent (Composer), since MCP tools are called from agent mode. A red status in the MCP panel usually shows the underlying error.

Can I share MCP servers with my team in Cursor?

Yes — commit a .cursor/mcp.json to your repository. Anyone who opens the project in Cursor gets the same servers, though each person still supplies their own secrets via env values.

AI EditorBrowse Cursor Servers Directory

How to Install MCP Servers in Cursor

How to install MCP servers in Cursor — the global and per-project mcp.json files, adding a server from Settings, and enabling tools in the Agent.

Configuring Cursor

Config file: mcp.json

Global path~/.cursor/mcp.json

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

Step-by-step Installation Guide

1
Open MCP settings
Go to Cursor Settings → MCP → Add new MCP server, or edit the JSON directly: ~/.cursor/mcp.json for every project, or .cursor/mcp.json in a project root to scope it to that repo.
2
Add the server under mcpServers
Add a named entry with a "command" and "args" (and "env" for secrets), using the same stdio shape as other MCP clients.
3
Enable it and use it in the Agent
Cursor picks up the change automatically; make sure the server is toggled on in the MCP settings. Its tools then become available to the Agent (Composer) — the model calls them when relevant.

Popular MCP servers to try in Cursor

View All Compatible Servers →

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Define, ship & query your analytics tracking from one source of truth, trusted by humans and agents.
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AllMCPs Server
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MCP Video Analyzerguimatheus92
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U
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Frequently Asked Questions

Cursor reads ~/.cursor/mcp.json for a global configuration available in every project, and .cursor/mcp.json in a project root for servers scoped to that repository. Both use the same "mcpServers" JSON shape as Claude Desktop.

Install MCP servers in other clients

Step-by-step Installation Guide

Open MCP settings

Go to Cursor Settings → MCP → Add new MCP server, or edit the JSON directly: ~/.cursor/mcp.json for every project, or .cursor/mcp.json in a project root to scope it to that repo.

Add the server under mcpServers

Add a named entry with a "command" and "args" (and "env" for secrets), using the same stdio shape as other MCP clients.

Enable it and use it in the Agent

Cursor picks up the change automatically; make sure the server is toggled on in the MCP settings. Its tools then become available to the Agent (Composer) — the model calls them when relevant.

Frequently Asked Questions