Get started with Unstructured Transform for the Cursor IDE

Have you already used the Cursor CLI to install Transform?

If you used the Cursor CLI to install the Transform MCP server, it could already be available to you in the Cursor IDE. To check:

1. In the Command Palette (from the main menu, click View, then Command Palette), run the command >Cursor Settings: Tools & MCPs.
2. If unstructured-transform appears in the list with a green circle and Tools enabled, the server is ready to use. Skip ahead to parse your source files. If unstructured-transform appears but is not connected, click Authenticate. The Cursor IDE opens a browser window where you sign in to Transform. If unstructured-transform does not appear in the list, Transform is not installed for this Cursor setup yet. Continue with Install the Transform MCP server.

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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 IDE installed on your local development machine. Install the Cursor IDE.

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Install the Transform MCP server

1. Quit the Cursor IDE if it is already running.
2. Click Open the Cursor IDE to start or restart the Cursor IDE and begin installing the Unstructured Transform MCP server:
   Open the Cursor IDE

   After the Cursor IDE opens, next to unstructured-transform, click Install, then Authenticate.
   If the Cursor IDE does not prompt you to install unstructured-transform, follow the alternate steps in Can’t install or authenticate?.
3. After you click Authenticate, the Cursor IDE opens a browser window where you sign in to 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 and return to the Cursor IDE.

Can't install or authenticate?

Manually install and authenticate the Transform MCP server in the Cursor IDE:

1. In the Command Palette (from the main menu, click View, then Command Palette), run the command >Cursor Settings: Tools & MCPs.
2. In the Customize editor tab, click New MCP server. The Cursor IDE’s mcp.json file opens in a new editor tab.
3. 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"
       }
     }
   }
   
   The default file location is:
   • For macOS and Linux: ~/.cursor/mcp.json
   • For Windows: %APPDATA%\Cursor\mcp.json
4. In the Customize editor tab, next to unstructured-transform, click Authenticate. The Cursor IDE opens a browser window where you sign in to 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 and return to the Cursor IDE.

If this still does not work, try installing and authenticating by using npx instead. See the troubleshooter Can’t authenticate with HTTP.

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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 IDE about these limits. Because of this, the Cursor IDE should notify you whenever it encounters a file that exceeds 50 MB in size. Also, the Cursor IDE 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.

1. After you install the Transform MCP server and restart the Cursor IDE, open the folder that stores the files you want Transform to parse (from the main menu, click File, then Open Folder).
2. In the Command Palette (from the main menu, click View, then Command Palette), start typing >Open New, and then click Open New Agent Chat.
3. In the New Agent tab, 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 IDE 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.

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Approve Transform tool calls automatically

The Cursor IDE 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:

1. Open the Cursor IDE’s permissions.json file in your preferred code editor. The default location is:
   • For macOS and Linux: ~/.cursor/permissions.json
   • For Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.cursor\permissions.json
2. Add this mcpAllowlist array at the top level of permissions.json. If mcpAllowlist already exists, add the entry to it:
   {
     "mcpAllowlist": [
       "unstructured-transform:*"
     ]
   }
   
3. Save and then close the permissions.json file.
4. In the Cursor IDE, click View, then Command Palette, then enter >Cursor Settings.
5. On the Cursor Settings sidebar, click Agents.
6. In the Execution and Approvals section, in the Run Mode drop-down list, select Allowlist.

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Troubleshooting

Can't authenticate with HTTP

Issue: You are unable to use the Cursor IDE to authenticate with Unstructured Transform through HTTP.Cause: Your Cursor IDE 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:

1. In the Command Palette (from the main menu, click View, then Command Palette), run the command >Cursor Settings: Tools & MCPs.
2. In the Customize editor tab, click New MCP server. The Cursor IDE’s mcp.json file opens in a new editor tab.
3. 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": {
         "command": "npx",
         "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.transform.unstructured.io"]
       }
     }
   }
   
   The default file location is:
   • For macOS and Linux: ~/.cursor/mcp.json
   • For Windows: %APPDATA%\Cursor\mcp.json
4. Quit the Cursor IDE.
5. 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.
6. After you authenticate, back in your terminal, press Ctrl + C to exit and return to your terminal prompt.
7. Restart the Cursor IDE.
8. In the Command Palette, run the command >Cursor Settings: Tools & MCPs. In the Customize editor tab, unstructured-transform appears in the list with a green circle and Tools enabled.

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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.

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Questions? Need help?

• For technical support, request support.