# Cursor

Add Reduck to Cursor with a short config file, then approve it once from Customize.

Cursor keeps its MCP servers in a JSON file. There is nothing to install: add the file, then
approve Reduck once inside Cursor.

## Before you start

You need a Reduck account, and a paired browser if you want scripts to run in your own Chrome.
Both are in the [quick start](https://docs.reduck.ai/#quick-start).

## Add the server

Put this in `~/.cursor/mcp.json` to use Reduck in every project:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "reduck": {
      "url": "https://mcp.reduck.ai"
    }
  }
}
```

To use it in one project only, put the same thing in `.cursor/mcp.json` in that project's folder.

That is the whole entry. You do not need a client ID, a secret, or a list of permissions. Reduck
sets all that up itself the first time Cursor connects.

## Approve it

Open **Customize** in Cursor's sidebar and choose **MCPs**. Reduck appears under **Needs
Attention**, marked *Needs authentication*. Click **Authenticate** and approve it in the browser
tab that opens.

![Reduck listed under Needs Attention, waiting to be authenticated](needs-authentication.png)

Until you do, Reduck shows no tools. That looks like a broken setup, but it is not. It simply has
not been approved yet.

> [!NOTE]
> Older versions of Cursor kept this under **Settings → MCP**. Plugins, MCPs, Skills and Rules
> have moved to **Customize**, and Settings now points you there.

## Check that it worked

Reduck moves to **Connected** and shows how many tools it has.

![Reduck connected, with 30 tools enabled](connected.png)

Then ask Cursor in a chat to run `whoami`. It tells you which Reduck account you are signed in as.
That is worth checking, because signing in uses whichever Reduck account your browser is already
logged into. If you have more than one, it may not be the one you meant.

## When there is no browser

Some setups have no browser to sign in with, such as Cloud Agents or a CI server. Use an
[API key](https://docs.reduck.ai/api-reference/) there instead:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "reduck": {
      "url": "https://mcp.reduck.ai",
      "headers": {
        "X-API-Key": "${env:REDUCK_API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

`${env:REDUCK_API_KEY}` reads the key from your environment, so the key itself never sits in the
file. Set it in your shell profile: Cursor's `envFile` setting does not apply to servers like this
one.

## Try it

Ask for something on a real site, and let the agent pick the script:

> Use Reduck to get me the weather in Paris for the next two weeks.

Reduck finds a script for the site, runs it, and hands back the result. The
[script catalogue](https://reduck.ai/explore/scripts) lists everything it can already do.