Cursor connects to the deliberation MCP server and reads a project rule that tells the agent when to delegate. Both pieces are below.
Use the one-click button from the README ("Install in
Cursor"), or add the server to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (global) or .cursor/mcp.json
(project):
{
"mcpServers": {
"deliberation": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@antonbabenko/deliberation-mcp"] }
}
}The one-click deeplink (cursor://anysphere.cursor-deeplink/mcp/install?...)
cannot carry secrets - set provider keys in your environment (see below).
Copy the generated rule into your project so Cursor knows when to reach for the experts:
.cursor/rules/deliberation.mdc
It is generated by scripts/sync-hosts.js from examples/cursor.md. The
frontmatter (description, alwaysApply) controls when Cursor loads it; the body
routes plan/architecture/security reviews and second opinions to the right tool.
The full surface (same as every host) is the fan-out / single-provider tools
(ask-all, consensus, ask-gpt / ask-gemini / ask-grok / ask-openrouter)
and the eight experts (architect, plan-reviewer, scope-analyst,
code-reviewer, security-analyst, researcher, debugger, writing-editor).
The MCP server reads credentials from the host environment. Set only the providers you use:
| Provider | How it authenticates |
|---|---|
| GPT (Codex) | Codex CLI auth (codex login, e.g. ChatGPT - codex login --device-auth on a remote machine; or CODEX_ACCESS_TOKEN; else CODEX_API_KEY) |
| Gemini | The Antigravity CLI (agy) - sign in once with the CLI |
| Grok (xAI) | XAI_API_KEY |
| OpenRouter | OPENROUTER_API_KEY (advisory-only; declare models in ~/.config/deliberation/config.json) |
Missing keys just disable that one provider.
- cursor.directory - the community rules/MCP registry. Submit the rule via the site's "Submit" flow / its GitHub repo.
- [unverified] Whether the official Cursor Marketplace (cursor.com/marketplace) accepts a self-serve third-party MCP+rules package - confirm with Cursor's publisher docs before treating a Marketplace listing as available.
When deliberation is updated, run the reload script to audit running processes, refresh cached standalone packages, and safely cycle the background dashboard daemon:
bash scripts/commands/reload-mcp.shThis clears the stale @antonbabenko/deliberation-mcp package from the npx cache (~/.npm/_npx), cycles the dashboard, and preserves connected Cursor stdio pipes (CursorHelper) so active editor windows and in-flight workloads are not disconnected.
Verified against cursor.com/docs + cursor.directory: project rules live in
.cursor/rules/*.mdc (frontmatter description / globs / alwaysApply); MCP
servers register under mcpServers in ~/.cursor/mcp.json or .cursor/mcp.json;
one-click install deeplink format
cursor://anysphere.cursor-deeplink/mcp/install?name=&config=<base64>.