MCP (Model Context Protocol) is a protocol that enables LLMs to access custom tools and services. An MCP client (Cascade, in this case) can make requests to MCP servers to access tools that they provide. Cascade now natively integrates with MCP, allowing you to bring your own selection of MCP servers for Cascade to use. See the official MCP docs for more information.

Enterprise users must manually turn this on via settings

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Adding a new MCP plugin

New MCP plugins can be added from the Plugin Store, which you can access by clicking on the Plugins icon in the top right menu in the Cascade panel, or from the Windsurf Settings > Cascade > Plugins section.

If you cannot find your desired MCP plugin, you can add it manually by editing the raw mcp_config.json file.

Official MCP plugins will show up with a blue checkmark, indicating that they are made by the parent service company.

When you click on a plugin, simply click Install to expose the server and its tools to Cascade.

Windsurf supports two transport types for MCP servers: stdio and /sse.

For /sse servers, the URL should reflect that of the endpoint and resemble https://<your-server-url>/sse.

Make sure to press the refresh button after you add a new MCP plugin.

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Configuring MCP tools

Each plugin has a certain number of tools it has access to. Cascade has a limit of 100 total tools that it has access to at any given time.

At the plugin level, you can navigate to the Tools tab and toggle the tools that you wish to enable. Or, from the Windsurf Settings, you can click on the Manage plugins button.

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mcp_config.json

The ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json file is a JSON file that contains a list of servers that Cascade can connect to.

The JSON should follow the same schema as the config file for Claude Desktop.

Here’s an example configuration, which sets up a single server for Google Maps:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-maps": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-google-maps"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY": "<YOUR_API_KEY>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Be sure to provide the required arguments and environment variables for the servers that you want to use.

See the official MCP server reference repository or OpenTools for some example servers.

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Notes

  • Since MCP tool calls can invoke code written by arbitrary server implementers, we do not assume liability for MCP tool call failures. To reiterate:
  • We currently only support tools, not prompts nor resources. In other words, Cascade will be able to request and use a server’s tools, but not the other endpoints that a server exposes.