How To Set Up the Crusoe Cloud MCP Server With Claude, Cursor, and Other MCP Clients

Last Updated: Mar 15, 2026

Introduction

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The Crusoe Cloud MCP (Model Context Protocol) server allows you to connect AI coding assistants and agents directly to your Crusoe Cloud infrastructure. Once configured, you can query your resources using natural language commands. The MCP server exposes 40+ read-only tools covering compute (VMs, instance groups, instance templates), storage (disks, snapshots, images), networking (VPC networks, subnets, firewall rules, load balancers), Kubernetes (clusters, node pools, health checks), and operations (billing, GPU tracking, audit logs, quotas).

The MCP server provides read-only access to your infrastructure, making it safe to explore and learn. All write operations (create, update, delete) are disabled by design for security.

Security Note: While this MCP server is strictly read-only, AI agents with shell or terminal capabilities may still modify your Crusoe infrastructure by invoking the crusoe CLI directly. The read-only constraint applies only to tools provided by this server, not to the agent's broader environment access.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following:

• Node.js v18 or higher is installed on your system.

• Crusoe CLI credentials: An API key pair configured in ~/.crusoe/config (standard Crusoe CLI configuration).

• An MCP-compliant client, such as Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor IDE, or any other tool that supports the Model Context Protocol.

Note: If you are on Windows and need to install the Crusoe CLI, refer to the "How To Set Up Crusoe CLI on Windows" KB article for detailed instructions.

Authentication

The MCP server inherits authentication from your local Crusoe configuration file (~/.crusoe/config). It does not store credentials separately.

Default Setup: If you already use the Crusoe CLI or Terraform provider and have a [default] profile in ~/.crusoe/config, no additional action is required.

Using a Specific Profile or Project: To target a specific profile or project, pass environment variables when adding the server:

claude mcp add crusoe-cloud \
  -e CRUSOE_PROFILE=staging \
  -e CRUSOE_PROJECT_ID=<your-project-id> \
  -- npx -y @crusoeai/cloud-mcp

Or add them in your JSON configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "crusoe-cloud": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@crusoeai/cloud-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "CRUSOE_PROFILE": "staging"
      }
    }
  }
}

Step-by-Step Instructions

Option A: Claude Code (CLI)

Claude Code is a command-line interface for interacting with Claude. This is the recommended approach for server and terminal environments.

1. Install Claude Code CLI

   • Follow the getting started guide to install Claude Code: Claude Code Getting Started Guide

2. Add the Crusoe Cloud MCP Server

   • Run this command to register the MCP server with Claude Code:

     claude mcp add crusoe-cloud -- npx -y @crusoeai/cloud-mcp

3. Verify the Connection

   • Check that the server is connected:

     claude mcp list

   • Expected output:

     Checking MCP server health...

     crusoe-cloud: npx -y @crusoeai/cloud-mcp - Connected

4. Start Using It

   • Launch Claude Code and start asking questions about your infrastructure:

     claude

   • Try prompts like:

     • "What resources do I have in my Crusoe Cloud account?"

     • "List all my VMs in us-east1-a."

     • "Show me my Kubernetes clusters and their status."

     • "What is my current billing summary?"

Option B: Claude Code (Desktop)

Claude Desktop provides a graphical chat interface for interacting with Claude and MCP tools.

1. Install Claude Desktop

   • Download from: https://claude.ai/download 

2. Configure the MCP Server

   • Open Claude Desktop, then navigate to Settings > Developer and click "Edit Config" Add the following to your claude_desktop_config.json file:

     {
       "mcpServers": {
         "crusoe-cloud": {
           "command": "npx",
           "args": ["-y", "@crusoeai/cloud-mcp"]
         }
       }
     }

     Configuration file location:

     • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

     • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

3. Restart Claude Desktop

   • Completely quit and relaunch the application for changes to take effect.

4. Verify the Connection

   • Navigate to Settings > Developer. You should see the Crusoe Cloud MCP server listed and connected.

     

5. Start Using It

   • Try prompts like:

     • "How many resources do I have in my Crusoe Cloud account?"

Option C: Cursor IDE

Cursor is an AI-powered IDE that supports MCP servers and multiple underlying models (including GPT-4o, Claude, and custom endpoints).

1. Download and Install Cursor

   • Download from:  cursor IDE 

2. Configure the MCP Server

   • Open Cursor and go to Settings > Tools & MCP. Click "Add Custom MCP" and add the following to the mcp.json file:

   • {
       "mcpServers": {
         "crusoe-cloud": {
           "command": "npx",
           "args": ["-y", "@crusoeai/cloud-mcp"]
         }
       }
     }

     Configuration file options:

     • Project-only: .cursor/mcp.json in your project root (good for teams).

     • Global: ~/.cursor/mcp.json in your home directory.

3. Restart Cursor

   • Completely quit and relaunch the application for changes to take effect.

4. Verify and Start Using

   • Check Settings > Tools & MCP to confirm the server is enabled. 

     

5. Start Using It

   • Open the AI chat and start asking about your infrastructure.

Option D: Other MCP-Compatible Tools

The Crusoe Cloud MCP server works with any MCP-compliant agent (such as Windsurf and VS Code with GitHub Copilot in agent mode). Use the following standard connection configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "crusoe-cloud": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@crusoeai/cloud-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Connection details:

• Type: stdio

• Command: npx

• Package: @crusoeai/cloud-mcp

• Protocol: Model Context Protocol (MCP)

Common Issues and Resolutions

Issue: "No MCP Tools" or server not connecting in Cursor (Windows)

This typically occurs when Node.js is not installed or npx is not in your system PATH. Open a terminal (Command Prompt or PowerShell) and run:

node -v

npx -v

If you get a "command not found" error, install Node.js v18 or higher from https://nodejs.org (choose the LTS version). After installing, completely quit and relaunch Cursor.

If Node.js is installed but Cursor still cannot locate npx, this is a common Windows-specific PATH resolution issue. Try specifying the full path to npx in your mcp.json configuration, or ensure the Node.js installation directory is in your system PATH environment variable.

Issue: Crusoe CLI not authenticated

If the MCP server connects but cannot retrieve infrastructure data, ensure your Crusoe CLI is properly authenticated:

crusoe config set default_project <project_name>
crusoe config set access_key_id <access_key_id>
crusoe config set secret_key <secret_key>

Verify authentication with:

crusoe whoami

Note: Create your Access Key and Secret Key from the Security tab of the Crusoe Cloud Console (console.crusoecloud.com).

Issue: "Crusoe credentials not found"

Ensure ~/.crusoe/config exists and contains a valid [default] profile. Verify this by running crusoe whoami in your terminal.

Issue: Rate limit errors

If you see "Rate limit exceeded," the assistant is making too many rapid queries. Ask the assistant to batch its requests or pause briefly. The client-side limit is 60 requests per minute.

Issue: Connection errors

The MCP server communicates with api.crusoecloud.com. Ensure your machine has outbound HTTPS access to this endpoint. If you are behind a corporate firewall or proxy, you may need to allowlist this domain.

Usage Guidelines & Disclaimer For usage guidelines, data privacy information, and disclaimer, refer to the Crusoe Cloud MCP Server Documentation.

Additional Resources

• Crusoe Cloud MCP Server Documentation
• Full List of Available MCP Tools
• Model Context Protocol (MCP) Specification
• Node.js Downloads
• Claude Code MCP 
• Cursor MCP