Sriram Sureshkumar

Posted on Jun 17 Originally published at codehabits.dev

Setting Up the Codehabits MCP Server in Cursor (5 Minutes)

#cursor #mcp #ai #tutorial

The Codehabits MCP server gives Cursor six tools that read from .codehabits/ in your repo — convention lookup, code validation, domain knowledge, reviewer suggestions, and a feedback loop for updating conventions.

Setup takes about five minutes if you already ran codehabits enable.

Prerequisites

Node.js 20+
.codehabits/meta.json in your repo (from npx @codehabits/cli enable)
Cursor with MCP support enabled

If you don't have intelligence files yet, run enable first — see the quickstart.

Step 1: Install the MCP server

From your repository root:

npx @codehabits/cli mcp-install

This writes to .cursor/mcp.json. Commit it so teammates get the same config:

git add .cursor/mcp.json
git commit -m "chore: add codehabits MCP server"
git push

Step 2: Restart Cursor

MCP servers load at startup. Fully quit and reopen Cursor (or reload the window) before testing tools.

Step 3: Verify tools appear

Open Cursor Agent and check that the codehabits MCP server is connected. You should see these tools:

Tool	Purpose
`get_team_context`	Conventions and anti-patterns
`check_code`	Validate a snippet against team rules
`get_knowledge`	Domain knowledge by topic
`suggest_reviewers`	Expertise-based reviewer routing
`record_feedback` / `approve_proposal`	Propose and merge convention updates

Full reference: MCP server documentation.

Step 4: Use it in practice

Try these prompts in Cursor Agent:

"Use get_team_context for the api scope before writing this endpoint."
"Run check_code on this handler before I commit."
"Who should review changes to files under src/auth/? Use suggest_reviewers."

MCP vs Agent Skills

Agent Skills load passively when Cursor starts a task. MCP tools are explicit lookups — use them when you need validation or knowledge mid-task.

Most teams enable both: skills for baseline context, MCP for active checks.

One-prompt onboarding

The codehabits.dev/agents page has a bootstrap prompt that runs enable, mcp-install, and reads your intelligence files in one shot. Paste it when onboarding a new repo or teammate.

Troubleshooting

If tools return "No intelligence data available," confirm .codehabits/ exists and the MCP server's working directory is your repo root. Run codehabits enable if files are missing.

Common fixes:

Symptom	Fix
Server not listed	Restart Cursor after editing `mcp.json`
Wrong conventions	Check MCP `cwd` is repo root, not a subfolder
Stale rules	Run `npx @codehabits/cli sync`

What is Codehabits?

Codehabits extracts team coding conventions from GitHub PR history and delivers them to AI tools via Agent Skills and MCP — so your whole team shares the same evidence-backed patterns, not hand-maintained rule files.

Originally published at codehabits.dev.

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