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

> Source: <https://dev.to/sriram7/setting-up-the-codehabits-mcp-server-in-cursor-5-minutes-4h42>
> Published: 2026-06-17 23:08:00+00:00

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](https://codehabits.dev/docs/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](https://codehabits.dev/docs/mcp).

Try these prompts in Cursor Agent:

[Agent Skills](https://codehabits.dev/docs/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](https://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](https://codehabits.dev) 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.*