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Question

How do I add MCP servers to Cursor?

Draft · pending editorial review Verified Oct 16, 2026 Review by Jan 14, 2027 4 sources
Short answer

Add a server from Cursor's MCP marketplace, or list it in mcp.json with its URL (remote) or command (local), then sign in if the server uses OAuth. The CLI agent reads the same configuration, and cloud agents can use team MCP servers. Start with read-only access where offered.

What it is

MCP servers give Cursor’s agent tools beyond your code: issues and pull requests, analytics, project boards, deploys. Cursor supports both remote servers (a URL) and local ones (a command it runs).

How it works

  1. Marketplace: pick a listed server and install it.
  2. mcp.json: add an entry with the server’s URL, for example a vendor’s hosted endpoint, or a command for a local server. ClickUp’s docs show a one-line mcp.json entry; GitHub, PostHog, Railway and Semrush publish Cursor steps too.
  3. Authenticate when prompted (OAuth) or supply a token in the server’s headers if the vendor documents it.
  4. CLI and cloud: the CLI agent shares mcp.json; cloud agents can use team-level servers (HTTP or stdio).

Benefits

  • The agent can pull real context (a bug’s issue thread, a funnel drop) while coding.
  • One configuration covers editor and CLI.
  • Team servers make cloud agents as capable as local ones.

Limits and risks

  • Each server’s tools act with your permissions; prefer read-only modes to start.
  • Too many servers can crowd the agent’s context; enable what the task needs.
  • Never commit tokens to mcp.json in a shared repo.

Best-fit stacks

Stack 08

Dev, web & IT

Design, code, host and ship sites and internal tools, with an AI editor doing most of the typing.

Agent compatibility

Tool in this entryHow agents connect
Cursor Agent platform API/CLI
ClickUp MCPAPI/CLIBulk import
GitHub MCPAPI/CLI

Levels come from each tool's recorded, sourced compatibility. How the levels work.

Sources

  1. Cursor: Model Context Protocol · Cursorofficial accessed Oct 16, 2026
  2. Cursor: CLI MCP · Cursorofficial accessed Oct 16, 2026
  3. Cursor: Cloud agent capabilities · Cursorofficial accessed Oct 16, 2026
  4. ClickUp: MCP server setup instructions · ClickUpofficial accessed Oct 16, 2026

Practitioner views are restated in our words and labeled as views, not measured results. Product facts come from official sources dated above.

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