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.

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.