Cursor

Set up Nella as an MCP server for Cursor IDE.

Prerequisites

• Cursor installed (version 0.40+ with MCP support)
• Node.js 18 or later

Setup

Option A: Project-level configuration (recommended)

Create .cursor/mcp.json in your project root:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nella": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@getnella/mcp", "--workspace", "."]
    }
  }
}

This pins the local MCP server to the project directory. Direct stdio/local MCP requires --workspace.

Option B: Global configuration

Open Cursor: Settings (Cmd/Ctrl + ,) → Features → MCP → Add Server

{
  "nella": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "@getnella/mcp", "--workspace", "/absolute/path/to/project"]
  }
}

Option C: Use the CLI

nella connect --client cursor

Reload Cursor

After saving the configuration, reload Cursor using Developer: Reload Window from the command palette (Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + P).

Verify

Open Cursor’s AI chat and ask:

“What Nella tools are available?”

Using Nella in Cursor

Agent Mode

In Cursor’s Agent mode, Nella tools are automatically available:

Add user authentication to the API.

Cursor’s agent will use nella_search to find relevant code and nella_add_assumption to record beliefs about the codebase.

Inline Chat

When using inline chat (Cmd/Ctrl + K), you can request Nella tools:

Refactor this function to use async/await. Use nella_search to find all callers first.

Composer

In Composer mode, explicitly request Nella features:

I want to add pagination to the users endpoint. Please:
1. Use nella_search to find the existing endpoint
2. Record assumptions about the codebase
3. Check dependencies haven't drifted

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Server not starting	Check Cursor’s MCP panel for error messages
”Command not found”	Ensure npx is in your PATH. Try using the full path to npx
Workspace path issues	Use an absolute path instead of . if Cursor is not launching the server from the project root
Tools not loading	Restart Cursor. Check that npx -y @getnella/mcp --workspace /path/to/project works in your terminal