One-click install links for your MCP server: Cursor, VS Code, Claude and Goose

The four formats at a glance

Add to Cursor

Cursor's install link is cursor://anysphere.cursor-deeplink/mcp/install with two parameters: name, the key the server gets in mcp.json, and config, the server object run through JSON.stringify and then base64. The config is what would sit under that key in mcp.json, so a remote server is just its url. For Acme Docs at https://mcp.acme-docs.dev/mcp:

const config = { url: "https://mcp.acme-docs.dev/mcp" };
const encoded = Buffer.from(JSON.stringify(config)).toString("base64");
// btoa(JSON.stringify(config)) in a browser, for ASCII-only configs

const deeplink = `cursor://anysphere.cursor-deeplink/mcp/install?name=acme-docs&config=${encodeURIComponent(encoded)}`;
// cursor://anysphere.cursor-deeplink/mcp/install?name=acme-docs&config=eyJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL21jcC5hY21lLWRvY3MuZGV2L21jcCJ9

Cursor's install-links doc shows only the cursor:// form. Cursor also serves https://cursor.com/install-mcp with the same name and config parameters, a web page that hands off to the app, and that https form is the one to put in a README, where GitHub won't keep a cursor:// href. Cursor's install-links page also shows dark and light "Add to Cursor" buttons for the same link.

Install in VS Code

VS Code's URL handler is vscode:mcp/install followed by the whole server config as URL-encoded JSON, with the name inside the object rather than in its own parameter. VS Code Insiders uses vscode-insiders:mcp/install. A remote server needs type http and its url:

const server = { name: "acme-docs", type: "http", url: "https://mcp.acme-docs.dev/mcp" };
const link = `vscode:mcp/install?${encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify(server))}`;

// https form for READMEs and web pages: vscode.dev 302s to the vscode: link above
const web = `https://vscode.dev/redirect/mcp/install?name=acme-docs&config=${encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify({ type: "http", url: "https://mcp.acme-docs.dev/mcp" }))}`;
// Insiders: https://insiders.vscode.dev/redirect/mcp/install?... (same parameters)

The vscode.dev redirect takes name and config as separate parameters and answers with a 302 to vscode:mcp/install carrying both (checked with curl on 2026-10-31). The same JSON also works on the command line: code --add-mcp '{"name":"acme-docs","type":"http","url":"https://mcp.acme-docs.dev/mcp"}' adds it to the user profile. VS Code can prompt for a secret with ${input:...} variables, but those need an inputs array that the install handler doesn't document, so leave headers out of VS Code links. More on where VS Code keeps the result is on the VS Code mcp.json page.

Add to Claude: the custom connector link

Claude's link for a server that isn't in the connector directory opens the Add custom connector dialog on claude.ai with the name and URL filled in: https://claude.ai/customize/connectors?modal=add-custom-connector&connectorName=NAME&connectorUrl=ENCODED_URL. modal must be add-custom-connector, connectorName is the display name, and connectorUrl is the server URL percent-encoded:

https://claude.ai/customize/connectors?modal=add-custom-connector&connectorName=Acme%20Docs&connectorUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fmcp.acme-docs.dev%2Fmcp

• Claude shows a notice that the values came from an external link, and the person confirms before anything is added. A signed-out visitor signs in first, then sees the filled-in dialog.
• Organization Owners can use the same parameters on https://claude.ai/admin-settings/connectors to fill in the org-wide dialog.
• A server listed in the directory gets a permanent link instead, https://claude.ai/directory/connectors/SLUG.
• No header parameter exists. Claude reaches the server from Anthropic's cloud, so it must be public, and it signs in with OAuth or connects with no auth. When it won't connect, see Claude custom connector won't connect.

Add to Goose

Goose Desktop's deeplink is goose://extension. name is required; a url parameter makes it a streamable HTTP extension, and cmd with repeated arg parameters makes it a local stdio one (cmd must be one of npx, uvx, docker, jbang, goose, cu or npx.cmd). description and timeout are optional:

goose://extension?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmcp.acme-docs.dev%2Fmcp&name=Acme+Docs&description=Search+Acme+product+docs

Goose's handler also reads header=Name=value and env=NAME parameters. When a link carries either, Goose opens the extension settings form for the person to fill in instead of installing straight away, so a header with an empty value is the way to ask for a key. GitHub strips goose:// links from READMEs, so a Goose button only works on your own site.

Never put a secret in an install link

An install link is a public URL. Base64 is an encoding, not encryption, so anyone who sees a Cursor link can decode the config, and every link ends up in browser history, analytics, chat logs and the README's git history. A link that carries a real key leaks it; a link with a placeholder key installs a server that answers 401 until the person edits the config, and a fixed bad header can stop the client from falling back to sign-in.

• Best: support OAuth on the server. Every client here then opens your sign-in page on first connect, and the link needs only a name and URL. claude.ai has no other way to sign people in.
• Cursor: if you need a header, make its value an environment reference. Cursor resolves ${env:NAME} in url and headers, so a config of {"url":"https://mcp.acme-docs.dev/mcp","headers":{"Authorization":"Bearer ${env:ACME_DOCS_API_KEY}"}} is safe to publish. Tell people to set ACME_DOCS_API_KEY in their shell profile before opening Cursor.
• VS Code: leave the header out of the link and tell people to add it, or ship an inputs-based mcp.json for them to paste.
• Goose: send header=Authorization= with no value, and Goose asks for it.

Taskhold's own buttons follow the first rule: each carries the URL and the name taskhold, and the client finds the sign-in from the 401 on its first request. Is it safe to connect Claude Code to a task list covers what an MCP key can reach.

Badges for a README, buttons for a web page

GitHub sanitizes README HTML: it removes inline styles and keeps only links with safe schemes, so cursor://, vscode: and goose:// hrefs don't survive and a styled HTML button renders as plain text. In a README use an image badge that links to an https form:

[![Add to Cursor](https://img.shields.io/badge/Add%20to-Cursor-000000?style=flat-square)](https://cursor.com/install-mcp?name=acme-docs&config=eyJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL21jcC5hY21lLWRvY3MuZGV2L21jcCJ9)
[![Install in VS Code](https://img.shields.io/badge/Install%20in-VS%20Code-0098FF?style=flat-square)](https://vscode.dev/redirect/mcp/install?name=acme-docs&config=%7B%22type%22%3A%22http%22%2C%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fmcp.acme-docs.dev%2Fmcp%22%7D)
[![Add to Claude](https://img.shields.io/badge/Add%20to-Claude-D97757?style=flat-square)](https://claude.ai/customize/connectors?modal=add-custom-connector&connectorName=Acme%20Docs&connectorUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fmcp.acme-docs.dev%2Fmcp)

• On your own site, a plain <a> styled as a button works with any scheme, including cursor:// and goose://. Label it with the action ("Add to Cursor") and keep the URL visible somewhere for people who want to paste it by hand.
• Custom schemes do nothing on a phone or on a computer without the app installed, so show the https forms first, or say which app the button needs.
• Docs sites built from markdown run their own sanitizers, so check the rendered page before relying on a custom-scheme link there.

Build them with the generator

The MCP config generator builds every link above in your browser: enter the server name, URL and, optionally, a header name. It never asks for the header value, and the Cursor link it builds references an environment variable named after your server. It outputs the links, the README badges and HTML buttons, and the config file for each client. The Cursor mcp.json page and the VS Code page show the full config those links install. If a client installs the server but its tools never show up, start with Cursor MCP server not connecting or VS Code MCP tools not showing.