Connect Cursor to Rivul MCP

Overview

Cursor connects to Rivul MCP as a remote MCP server and signs in with browser OAuth and dynamic client registration. Cursor's agent can then call search_papers, get_paper_details, and usage_status, all read-only.

Before you start

1. Step 1: Use a Rivul AI account with Rivul MCP provisioned for the workspace you intend to approve.
2. Step 2: Decide whether the entry belongs to you personally or to a shared project, because that chooses the file in the next step.
3. Step 3: Confirm your installed Cursor version. Client behavior changes between releases, so a setting below can differ in your build.

Add the remote server

1. Step 1: Add this URL-only entry to your personal ~/.cursor/mcp.json or the project's .cursor/mcp.json.
2. Step 2: Open Cursor Settings, then Tools & MCP, and confirm Rivul MCP appears.
3. Step 3: Choose Authenticate, or start the browser flow from Cursor's agent CLI with the commands below.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rivul-atlas": {
      "url": "https://rivul.ai/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Check the tools

1. Step 1: List the server's tools and confirm search_papers and usage_status are discovered.
2. Step 2: Ask Cursor Agent to call search_papers with a limit of 3. A prose answer without a tool invocation is not a passing Rivul MCP test.
3. Step 3: Ask it to call usage_status and confirm the selected workspace.

agent mcp login rivul-atlas
agent mcp list-tools rivul-atlas

Disconnect

1. Step 1: Open Rivul MCP, then Authorized applications, and disconnect the Cursor grant.
2. Step 2: Remove the Rivul MCP entry from the personal or project mcp.json file if you no longer want Rivul MCP in Cursor.
3. Step 3: Restart Cursor so cached tool state cannot be mistaken for a current connection.

Troubleshooting

Rivul MCP tools don't appear after signing in. Restart Cursor, then open Cursor Settings, Tools & MCP, and check that the Rivul MCP server is enabled.

Repeated Authenticate attempts pile up grants. Each attempt can create a separate grant on the Rivul side. Disconnect the extras in Rivul MCP rather than leaving them active.

You prefer a dedicated key to browser sign-in. Keep project files free of literal credentials. If you deliberately choose key mode, use Cursor's documented environment expansion in a private configuration and revoke the dedicated Rivul MCP key after the test.

• Cursor MCP documentation
• Cursor CLI MCP documentation
• Rivul MCP tool reference
• Open Rivul MCP