Integrating with Cursor

Cursor is a primary integration surface for AlienMonster. It reads your strategy repo via the Cursor rules file and calls AlienMonster's MCP tools for strategic context.

Setup

1. Install Cursor if you haven't already.
2. Log into AlienMonster and register the MCP server:

$ npx alienmonster login
$ npx alienmonster connect
  👾 Connecting AlienMonster MCP...
  ✅ Cursor: updated ~/.cursor/mcp.json

connect fetches a long-lived bearer token from the server and writes the AlienMonster MCP server entry into ~/.cursor/mcp.json. Restart Cursor if it was open when you ran connect.

~/.cursor/mcp.json

This is the user-level MCP config Cursor reads on startup. The AlienMonster entry looks like:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "alienmonster": {
      "url": "https://alienmonster.ai/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer eyJ…"
      }
    }
  }
}

If you already had other MCP servers configured, connect merges the AlienMonster entry alongside them.

.cursor/rules/alienmonster.mdc

Per-repo rules file written by init. Cursor reads everything under .cursor/rules/ on every chat. The AlienMonster rule tells Cursor to:

• Load the strategy repo from .alienmonster/ before making non-trivial changes.
• Call get_relevant_powers when editing code that might touch a recorded decision.
• Call push_primitives when you record a new strategic fact in conversation.

Typical agent behavior

When you ask Cursor for a non-trivial change:

You: Refactor the auth flow to use magic links.

Cursor calls get_relevant_powers(feature_description: "auth, magic links")

Before I start — the strategy repo flags a risk:

  [.alienmonster/risks.md · RSK-ASMP-001]
  Assumption: users tolerate magic-link latency. Status: unvalidated.

I can proceed, but you may want to validate this before it ships.
Should I add a fallback password flow behind a feature flag?

See MCP integration for the full tool list.

Reconnecting after a release

MCP connection state may need refreshing after AlienMonster deploys an update. If Cursor reports "connection expired" or tool calls start failing, re-run npx alienmonster connect to restore the link. Your strategy data persists server-side across deploys — you're only re-establishing the connector.

Debugging: Cursor is not reading strategy

• Verify the MCP entry in ~/.cursor/mcp.json. If missing, re-run npx alienmonster connect.
• Restart Cursor after running connect — it reads the MCP config on startup.
• Check that .cursor/rules/alienmonster.mdc exists at your repo root. Re-run npx alienmonster init if missing.
• Check sync state: npx alienmonster status.
• For more failure modes, see Troubleshooting.

Last verified: 2026-04-24