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

Codehabits released an MCP server that integrates six tools into Cursor, enabling convention lookup, code validation, domain knowledge retrieval, reviewer suggestions, and a feedback loop for updating conventions. Setup takes about five minutes using the CLI command `npx @codehabits/cli mcp-install`, which writes to `.cursor/mcp.json`. The server reads from `.codehabits/` files in the repository, providing AI-assisted development with team-specific patterns.

read2 min views1 publishedJun 17, 2026

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

.

.codehabits/meta.json

in your repo (from npx @codehabits/cli enable

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

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

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

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.

Try these prompts in Cursor Agent:

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.

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.

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

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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