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Using the MCPShell in Cursor

What is MCP?

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open protocol that standardizes how applications provide context and tools to LLMs. It acts as a plugin system for Cursor, allowing you to extend the AI's capabilities by connecting it to various data sources and tools through standardized interfaces.

The MCPShell lets you expose command-line tools to Cursor's AI, enabling it to interact with your system, run commands, and process their output.

Setting Up MCPShell

Step 1: Define your tools in YAML

Create a mcp-cli.yaml file with your tool definitions:

mcp:
  run:
    shell: bash
  tools:
    - name: "weather"
      description: "Get the weather for a location"
      params:
        location:
          type: string
          description: "The location to get weather for"
          required: true
      constraints:
        - "location.size() <= 50" # Prevent overly long inputs
      run:
        command: "curl -s 'https://wttr.in/{{ .location }}?format=3'"

Step 2: Configure Cursor to use the adapter

Cursor supports two configuration locations:

  1. Project-specific: Create a .cursor/mcp.json file in your project directory
  2. Global: Create a ~/.cursor/mcp.json file in your home directory

The MCPShell uses the "stdio" transport type, which runs locally on your machine.

If you have the go command available

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcpshell": {
      "command": "go",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "github.com/inercia/MCPShell@v0.1.8",
        "mcp",
        "--tools",
        "/absolute/path/to/mcp-cli.yaml"
      ]
    }
  }
}

If you've downloaded the mcpshell binary

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcpshell": {
      "command": "/absolute/path/to/mcpshell",
      "args": ["mcp", "--tools", "/absolute/path/to/mcp-cli.yaml"]
    }
  }
}

Step 3: Refresh the Cursor client

After creating or modifying your MCP configuration, reflesh the Cursor client for the changes to take effect.

Using Multiple MCPShell Instances

You can configure multiple instances of the MCPShell, each with different tool sets and configurations:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-cli-examples": {
      "command": "/some/path/mcpshell/build/mcpshell",
      "args": [
        "mcp",
        "--tools",
        "/some/path/mcpshell/examples/config.yaml",
        "--logfile",
        "/some/path/mcpshell/debug.log"
      ],
      "env": {}
    },
    "mcp-cli-kubernetes-ro": {
      "command": "/some/path/mcpshell/build/mcpshell",
      "args": [
        "mcp",
        "--tools",
        "/some/path/mcpshell/examples/kubectl-ro.yaml",
        "--logfile",
        "/some/path/mcpshell/debug.kubernetes-ro.log"
      ],
      "env": {
        "KUBECONFIG": "/some/path/ethos/kubeconfig/kubeconfig.yaml"
      }
    }
  }
}

With this configuration, Cursor will have access to tools from both instances:

Multiple MCP tools in Cursor

Providing Authentication

You can provide authentication credentials and other sensitive information using environment variables:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcpshell": {
      "command": "/absolute/path/to/mcpshell",
      "args": ["mcp", "--tools", "/absolute/path/to/mcp-cli.yaml"],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "your-api-key-here",
        "SECRET_TOKEN": "your-secret-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

How Cursor Uses MCP Tools

When you chat with Cursor, the AI will:

  1. Automatically detect when a tool might be useful based on your request
  2. Ask for approval before running any tool (by default)
  3. Display the results in the chat conversation

You can prompt Cursor to use specific tools by mentioning them by name or description in your request.

Tool Approval

By default, when Cursor wants to use an MCP tool, it will display a message asking for your approval. You can:

  • View the arguments the tool will be called with
  • Approve the tool just once
  • Approve the tool for the current session
  • Configure auto-run to allow tools to run without approval

Known Limitations

  • Tool Quantity: Cursor currently supports up to 40 tools at a time
  • Remote Development: MCP servers may not work properly when accessing Cursor over SSH or other remote development environments
  • Resources: Currently, only tools are supported in Cursor; resources are not yet supported

Troubleshooting

Read the troubleshooting guide.