install-mcp

name	install-mcp
description	Install panda as an MCP server in AI coding assistants (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor). Use when setting up panda, configuring MCP, or connecting AI tools to panda. Triggers on: install mcp, setup mcp, configure mcp, register mcp, add mcp server.

Install panda MCP Server

Register panda as an MCP server in the user's AI coding assistants. Panda exposes an SSE transport at http://localhost:2480/sse by default.

Steps

1. Detect which clients are installed by checking for their config directories.
2. For each detected client, read the existing config file (or start with {}).
3. Merge the mcpServers.panda entry — preserve all existing keys.
4. Write the updated config back.
5. Report what was configured.

Client Configurations

Claude Code

• Detection: ~/.claude/ directory exists
• Config file: ~/.claude.json
• Entry to merge into mcpServers:

{
  "panda": {
    "type": "sse",
    "url": "http://localhost:2480/sse"
  }
}

Claude Desktop (macOS)

• Detection: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/ directory exists
• Config file: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Entry to merge into mcpServers:

{
  "panda": {
    "url": "http://localhost:2480/sse"
  }
}

Cursor

• Detection: ~/.cursor/ directory exists
• Config file: ~/.cursor/mcp.json
• Entry to merge into mcpServers:

{
  "panda": {
    "url": "http://localhost:2480/sse"
  }
}

Rules

• Read the full config file before writing. Never overwrite — always merge.
• If mcpServers does not exist in the config, create it.
• If panda is already registered, tell the user and skip unless they ask to overwrite.
• Use 2-space JSON indentation with a trailing newline.
• If no supported clients are detected, tell the user and list the supported clients.