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Documentation · Cursor

Connect Cursor to MCP servers through Toolstile

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Cursor connects to Toolstile through an mcp.json entry with the gateway URL https://toolstile.com/mcp. Add that entry, restart Cursor, open Customize → MCPs, and follow the sign-in prompt for toolstile. The browser asks which Toolstile workspace to use. Cursor's agent sees tools only after you grant the new Toolstile agent access to connections in that workspace.

This guide is for the Cursor desktop editor. Cursor's cloud agents keep their own MCP sign-ins.

What you need

  • The Cursor desktop app.
  • A Toolstile account and an MCP connection in the workspace Cursor should use. Start with getting started, or look up your provider in integrations.
  • Permission to edit .cursor/mcp.json in the project, or ~/.cursor/mcp.json in your home directory.

The servers behind Toolstile must be public HTTPS endpoints. If a server only runs locally (a command entry in mcp.json), keep it as a direct Cursor entry.

Add Toolstile to mcp.json

Cursor reads two files:

  • .cursor/mcp.json in a project, for tools in that project only.
  • ~/.cursor/mcp.json, for tools in every project.

Cursor merges both. If the same server name appears in each, the project file wins. Add this entry to whichever file suits you:

JSON
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "toolstile": {
      "url": "https://toolstile.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

If the file already has an mcpServers object, add the toolstile key inside it instead of pasting a second object. Connect an agent in Toolstile, with Cursor selected, gives you the same block to copy.

A committed .cursor/mcp.json shares the URL with your team. It does not share access: each person signs in with their own Toolstile account and gets their own agent. Leave tokens out of that file.

Sign in and pick a workspace

Save the file and restart Cursor. Then:

  1. Open Customize in the sidebar and choose MCPs.
  2. Find toolstile and select its sign-in prompt. Cursor opens the browser.
  3. Sign in to Toolstile if needed, and choose the Workspace. Personal and team workspaces have separate connections and allowances.
  4. Check the suggested agent and device names. Edit names helps if you run Cursor on more than one machine, for example Cursor (desktop).
  5. Choose Approve, and complete any Allow connection screen.

Cursor uses OAuth with PKCE and registers itself with Toolstile automatically, so there is no client ID or secret to enter.

Grant access in Toolstile

The agent created by sign-in has no MCP access yet. In the workspace you approved, find it under Devices & agents, then open Access and pick a connection. In that agent's column, choose Allow, Require approval or Block for each tool, and choose Save changes.

For everyday coding, allowing lookups (issues, docs, logs) and requiring approval for writes keeps the agent useful without letting it change shared data unseen. Everything, including ones added later grants full access, including future tools; blocks still apply. In a team workspace an admin grants each agent separately. The rules are explained in permissions.

If Cursor calls a tool set to Require approval, the tool result says approval is needed and links to Toolstile's Approvals page. Once approved there, ask the agent to run the same call again. The approval does not execute anything by itself.

Check the connection

In Customize → MCPs, toolstile should show as enabled with a list of tools. Those are the tools your Toolstile grant allows, which may be a short list on purpose. In Toolstile, Test tool on the connection can load the agent's permitted tools without running one.

Then ask Cursor's agent for a single read-only lookup with harmless input, and find the matching row in Activity in the same workspace. Tool names through the gateway may not match the provider's names exactly.

Cursor's approvals and Toolstile's grants

Two separate checks happen on every call.

Toolstile decides what Cursor can see. Ungranted or blocked tools are missing from the list Cursor receives, and a call to one is refused. Because the rules sit in the workspace, they apply to every Cursor install authorized as that agent.

Cursor decides whether to pause and ask you. By default the agent asks for approval before using an MCP tool; you can expand the request to see its arguments. MCP tools follow the same run modes as terminal commands, configured under Cursor Settings → Agents → Approvals & Execution. You can also switch individual tools off by clicking the tool name in the tools list at the top of the chat panel.

Turning a tool on in Cursor cannot bring back a tool Toolstile withholds. A sensible split is Toolstile for what an agent may reach, and Cursor's approvals for what runs in your editor without a prompt.

Direct servers or Toolstile

Listing each provider directly in mcp.json works well for a few servers you use alone, and for local or private-network servers Toolstile cannot reach.

With Toolstile, mcp.json holds one entry. Provider sign-ins are kept in Toolstile instead of on each machine, every Cursor install is a separate agent with its own grant, and you can revoke one from the dashboard. Direct entries and the Toolstile entry can sit side by side in the same file.

Troubleshooting

No sign-in prompt appears for toolstile. Check that the JSON is valid and the entry is inside mcpServers, then restart Cursor. Open the Output panel (Cmd+Shift+U on macOS, Ctrl+Shift+U on Windows and Linux) and select MCP Logs to see the connection error.

Signed in, but toolstile lists no tools. Sign-in does not grant access. Check Access for this agent in the workspace you approved, and make sure the connection is not showing Needs sign-in or Needs attention.

The tool list did not change after an access update. Restart Cursor. If that does not help, remove toolstile in Customize → MCPs and add it again. Toolstile enforces the saved grant on each call regardless of what Cursor still displays.

Wrong workspace. The approval fixed the workspace, and switching it in the dashboard does not move the agent. Add a second entry, for example toolstile-team with the same URL, sign in with it and choose the team workspace. Confirm a fresh approval took place for the new entry.

A project entry seems to be ignored. A toolstile entry in .cursor/mcp.json replaces one with the same name in ~/.cursor/mcp.json for that project. Use different names if you want both.

Calls fail with a quota or billing message. The workspace has reached its monthly operation allowance or forwarding is paused. Ask a workspace owner to check Usage & billing.

See troubleshooting for unavailable shared accounts and other cases. Note your Cursor version and the exact error before contacting support.

Remove Toolstile

Delete the toolstile entry from mcp.json and restart Cursor, or remove it from Customize → MCPs. To revoke the agent's access as well, choose Remove agent in Toolstile under Devices & agents.

Cursor's reference for these settings is its MCP documentation.