The Uncharted Journey

1 | Start

2 | MCP + Cursor workshop — key points (16 May 2025, ~55 min) ⸻ 1 Goal of the session • Learn to use MCP servers from inside Cursor to list and create issues on GitHub and Jira. • Compare two deployment options: 1. Local Docker container (preferred: safer, predictable, easy if you know Docker). 2. Remote public MCP servers (simpler, but you hand over tokens). ⸻ 2 Setting up a local MCP server (GitHub example) 1. Find the official image on Docker Hub (mcp-github-server). 2. Copy the docker run … command from the repo → paste into terminal. 3. Smoke-test first: run the container manually with a personal-access token limited to the target repo; verify it prints “MCP server running”. 4. Wire it into Cursor (Settings → MCP) by pasting the same command + token in mcp.json. 5. If the tool list doesn’t appear, restart Cursor. 6. A green status dot in Cursor = container up and responding. Tip: cursor can automatically pull the image the first time, so long startup = download. ⸻ 3 Using the tools inside Cursor • Example prompt: list issues from → LLM chooses list_issues tool → MCP proxy turns it into GitHub API call → results returned & displayed. • Same flow works in code via MCPService: server = MCPService(docker_image="mcp-github-server", token=GH_TOKEN) server.connect() server.ask("List three most recent open issues …") server.cleanup() • Shown live: listing issues and creating an issue, verified in the repo. ⸻ 4 Jira integration (cloud instance) • Similar Docker image (mcp-jira-server). • Needs url, Jira username (email) and API token. • Use the project key (e.g., ENQ) in prompts: list most recent issues from ENQ Jira project. • Works identically after container is up. ⸻ 5 Common pitfalls & fixes Problem Likely Cause Quick Fix Container stays yellow / won’t start Bad token or wrong env vars Run smoke-test command directly in terminal; fix args Cursor tool list empty Cursor hasn’t re-read mcp.json Restart Cursor Too many tools → LLM confusion Each MCP exports 20-75 tools Limit tools in config (Bayram will post exact filter syntax); or disable unused servers Re-authorization prompts every call afterRun: true missing Add "afterRun": true in the server’s entry ⸻ 6 Misc. Q&A • Slack MCP: team ID is the “T….” part of your workspace URL. • Memory Bank: persistent tool some attendees hadn’t tried; share experiences in chat. • Maximum practical tools per agent ≈ 10–12; MCP tools count toward that limit. • For quick hacks / hackathons MCP saves time vs hand-coding API calls; production projects still mostly use direct APIs. ⸻ 7 Next steps • Fix your homework (DZ) using MCP; Bayram will review at the start of next week’s final lecture (topic: inter-agent communication). • He’ll also share today’s video + chat links. Have fun experimenting, and good weekend!