Cursor

Ship from Cursor’s Agent, with approvals on both sides

Aria AI can run on your Cursor subscription, and Cursor’s Agent can connect on its own over MCP: add Aria to mcp.json and keep the key in your environment.

Get your server Connection reference

Checked against the product on 31 October 2026

Two ways to work

Aria AI first. MCP when you want it.

Aria AI is built into Aria. Cursor over MCP is for working outside it. The same rules apply to both.

Aria AI

The AI built into Aria. It writes aria.yaml, sets things up, reads logs and fixes things, inside the Mac app and the web dashboard.

On the Mac, your subscription

Aria finds the coding tool on your Mac, shows who it is signed in as and asks “Is this the one?”. One click and it is connected. The turns run on your own Mac. Choose Cursor and Aria AI uses the plan you already pay for.

Claude Code
Codex
Gemini CLI
Cursor

In the browser, an API key

Paste a key in AI & MCP and Aria AI works in the web dashboard, wherever you are signed in.

Anthropic
OpenAI
Gemini
OpenRouter

Connect Aria AI

MCP

For a coding agent working outside Aria. It calls Aria’s tools with a key that reaches one app. Run aria init or aria mcp add.

Claude Code
Cursor
Codex
Gemini CLI
Antigravity

Connect a coding agent

MCP

How do you connect Cursor?

Two ways to the same file. The command writes your home file. The by-hand file below is safe to commit.

Where Cursor looks

~/.cursor/mcp.json makes Aria available in every project. aria mcp add --agent cursor writes it.
.cursor/mcp.json inside a project is for that project. Read the key from the environment there.

Cursor reads ${env:NAME} in a header, so no secret sits in the file. Set ARIA_MCP_KEY in the environment Cursor starts from, and restart Cursor if the server does not appear.

Terminal

1aria login2aria mcp add --agent cursor

.cursor/mcp.json

1{2  "mcpServers": {3    "aria-myapp": {4      "url": "https://api.getaria.cloud/mcp/w/wsp_YOURAPP",5      "headers": {6        "Authorization": "Bearer ${env:ARIA_MCP_KEY}"7      }8    }9  }10}

Who asks you, and when?

Cursor and Aria each ask. Allowing a tool in one never removes the other's question.

What Cursor asks and what Aria asks
Side	What it asks about	How you change it
Cursor	Whether an MCP tool may run. By default it asks, and you can open the tool to see its arguments first	Cursor’s run modes
Aria	Looking runs straight away. With a read key every Change waits. With an operate key routine ones run, and variables, launches, DNS records and GitHub push wait. Deleting waits for the typed name	The key’s capabilities, under AI & MCP in Aria

Open AI & MCP, then Approvals, in Aria to see what is waiting and the exact change it will make. The levels are explained on the safety model.

Where do you tell Cursor how to deploy?

Cursor reads a plain AGENTS.md at the project root and in subfolders, and rules in .cursor/rules.

aria init adds an Aria section to AGENTS.md. If you would rather keep this out of the file Cursor always reads, a rule that is not set to always apply is attached when it is relevant. Cursor’s own documentation describes the description and alwaysApply fields.

Keep the rule short and factual. It should say how to deploy and what not to do, and it should never contain a key.

.cursor/rules/aria.mdc

1---2description: Deploying this app with Aria Cloud3alwaysApply: false4---5Deploy through the Aria MCP server, not by hand.6Write aria.yaml, check it with validate_stack_file, then save it with submit_stack_file.7Never print or ask for secret values. The user enters them with aria env add NAME.8Variables, launches, DNS records and deletes wait for the user in Aria. Do not ask again to get around that.

What does a first session look like in Agent mode?

Check the server is there
Open Cursor’s settings, go to the MCP section, and look for aria-myapp with its tools listed.
Ask for the file
Paste the prompt below. Approve each tool call Cursor asks about.
Enter secrets and launch
You pick the plan, pay and type secret values in Aria. Launching waits for you. Approve it in Aria, or run aria deploy --wait.
Iterate
Ask Agent to run aria check, read the logs and fix what fails. A push redeploys the services it touched.

First prompt

1Call get_stack_prompt, read this repository, write aria.yaml, check it with validate_stack_file, then save it with submit_stack_file. Ask me to enter any secret values; never print them.

Questions about Cursor and Aria

Can Aria AI use my Cursor subscription?

Yes, on the Mac. Aria finds Cursor on your Mac, shows who it is signed in as and asks “Is this the one?”. One click connects it, and the turns run on your own Mac. In the browser, Aria AI uses an API key instead.

How do I add Aria to Cursor?

Run aria login and then aria mcp add --agent cursor. You approve a key in Aria, and the command writes the server into ~/.cursor/mcp.json and keeps your other servers. By hand, add a server with the Aria address as its url and an Authorization header.

How do I keep the key out of git?

Keep the file in your home folder, or read the key from an environment variable with ${env:ARIA_MCP_KEY} so a project file can be committed. Each person makes their own key and sets ARIA_MCP_KEY in the environment Cursor starts from.

Does Cursor ask before it calls Aria?

By default, yes. Cursor’s documentation says it asks for approval before running MCP tools, and you can open a tool to see its arguments first. Aria then applies its own levels: variables, launches, DNS records and deletes wait for you in Aria, whatever Cursor allows.

Can I let Cursor run Aria tools automatically?

You can, in Cursor’s run modes, and it only changes what Cursor asks. It does not change what Aria asks. Looking at status and logs runs straight away. Environment variables, launching the app, DNS records and deletes still wait for a person.

Let Agent mode ship it

Get your server All coding agents

On the Mac, your subscription

In the browser, an API key

Where Cursor looks

Check the server is there

Ask for the file

Enter secrets and launch

Iterate

Let Agent mode ship it