Get started with Unstructured Transform for the Cursor CLI

Have you already used the Cursor IDE to install Transform?

If you installed the Transform MCP server in the Cursor IDE, the Cursor CLI might already list it. To check, run:

agent mcp list

Find the unstructured-transform entry, then follow the action for its status:

Status	What to do
`ready`	Skip ahead to parse your source files.
`not loaded (needs approval)`	Run `agent mcp enable unstructured-transform`, then run `agent mcp list` again.
`requires_authentication`	Run `agent mcp login unstructured-transform`, then authenticate, and then run `agent mcp list` again.
Not listed	Install the Transform MCP server.

Requirements

You will need:

A Cursor plan. To see if you have a plan, sign in to your Cursor Dashboard. Sign up for Cursor.
The Cursor CLI installed on your local development machine. To see if it is, from your terminal, run agent -v or agent --version. Install the Cursor CLI.

Install the Transform MCP server

Open the Cursor CLI’s mcp.json settings file in your preferred code editor. This file is located at:
- For macOS and Linux: ~/.cursor/mcp.json
- For Windows: %APPDATA%\Cursor\mcp.json
If this file does not already exist, create it in this location.
Add the following to the mcpServers object, and then save and close the mcp.json file. If there are any existing mcpServers entries, do not change or remove them:
{ "mcpServers": { "unstructured-transform": { "url": "https://mcp.transform.unstructured.io" } } }
From your terminal, authenticate with the Transform MCP server by running this command:
agent mcp login unstructured-transform
A web browser tab appears, prompting you to authenticate with Transform. If you do not have a Transform account, click Register and then follow the on-screen directions to finish authenticating.
To verify the connection, run this command in your terminal:
agent mcp list
unstructured-transform appears, showing as ready.

Parse your source files

Parsing requests have the following limits:

Each file must be of a supported file type.
Each file must be 50 MB or less in size.
Each request must have 10 files or fewer.
Only 5 requests can be running at a time.

The Transform MCP server is designed to notify the Cursor CLI about these limits. Because of this, the Cursor CLI should notify you whenever it encounters a file that exceeds 50 MB in size. Also, the Cursor CLI should formulate strategies to send requests that are 10 files or fewer and not cause more than 5 requests to be running at a time.

After you install the Transform MCP server and start a Cursor CLI session, from your terminal, switch to the folder on your local machine that stores the files you want Transform to parse.
Enter this prompt:
Use the Unstructured Transform MCP server to parse the files in this project. Provide the results as JSON files, one JSON file per source file.
Adapt the phrase in this project in the preceding prompt to indicate a more specific project folder. Also, guide the Cursor CLI as to where to write Transform’s output into the project. Transform parses your input files and delivers its results to you as a set of output files, one output file per input file.

Extract structured data

If you want to pull specific fields from your files, instead of converting the files in full, ask for an extraction. To determine what structured data Transform can extract from your files, use a prompt similar to the following:

Use the Unstructured Transform MCP server to extract structured data from these files.

I don't have a schema — suggest one based on what's in the document, show it to me, and then run the extraction with it.

Your tool parses each file first, then extracts the field values from the parsed element JSON; this is because the Transform MCP extraction tools read a file’s parsed output, rather than the raw file itself. Transform returns results as JSON matching the schema, wrapped with the source filename so you can tell a batch apart. If you know the specific fields you want, include them in your prompt to guide Transform in extracting just the information that’s important to you. For more information, including prompting patterns and performance considerations, see Structured data extraction.

Approve Transform tool calls automatically

The Cursor CLI asks for approval each time it calls a Transform MCP server tool that you have not already approved. To approve all Transform tools in advance:

Open the Cursor CLI’s cli-config.json file in your preferred code editor. The default location is:
- For macOS and Linux: ~/.cursor/cli-config.json
- For Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.cursor\cli-config.json

Add this permissions object at the top level of cli-config.json. If permissions already exists, merge these settings into it and leave any existing deny array unchanged:

{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": [
      "Mcp(unstructured-transform:*)"
    ],
    "deny": []
  },
  "approvalMode": "allowlist"
}

Save and then close the cli-config.json file.

Troubleshooting

Can't authenticate with HTTP

Issue: You are unable to use the Cursor CLI to authenticate with Unstructured Transform through HTTP.Cause: Your Cursor CLI version or MCP server installation does not support HTTP authentication.Solution:Install and authenticate with npx instead. This solution requires Node.js on your local machine. To check, run the command node -v or node --version. Install Node.js.To install and then authenticate by using npx:

Open the Cursor CLI’s mcp.json settings file in your preferred code editor. This file is located at:
- For macOS and Linux: ~/.cursor/mcp.json
- For Windows: %APPDATA%\Cursor\mcp.json
Add the following mcpServers object, and then save and close the mcp.json file. If there is an existing unstructured-transform entry, overwrite it with this one. If there are any other existing mcpServers entries, do not change or remove them:
{ "mcpServers": { "unstructured-transform": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.transform.unstructured.io"] } } }
From your terminal, authenticate with the Transform MCP server:
npx -y mcp-remote https://mcp.transform.unstructured.io
A web browser tab appears, prompting you to authenticate with Transform. If you do not have a Transform account, click Register and then follow the on-screen directions to finish authenticating. Once authenticated, close the browser.
After you authenticate, back in your terminal, press Ctrl + C to exit and return to your terminal prompt.
Run this command in your terminal:
agent mcp list
unstructured-transform appears, showing as ready.

Next steps

Control Transform file parsing output: Control how the Unstructured Transform MCP server instructs Transform to partition, enrich, chunk, and embed the data based on your files.
Control Transform structured data extraction: Control how the Unstructured Transform MCP server extracts and formats structured data from your files.
Control Transform generated sample code: Control how the Unstructured Transform MCP server generates sample curl or Python code that demonstrates how to use Transform to partition, enrich, chunk, and embed the data based on your files.

Questions? Need help?

For technical support, request support.

​Requirements

​Install the Transform MCP server

​Parse your source files

​Extract structured data

​Approve Transform tool calls automatically

​Troubleshooting

​Next steps

​Questions? Need help?