Get started with Unstructured Transform for Devin (formerly Windsurf)

Have you already installed Transform in Devin?

The Devin CLI and Devin Desktop’s Devin Local agent share the same MCP configuration, so if you already installed the Transform MCP server using one, it’s already available in the other.To check from the Devin CLI, run:

devin mcp list

If unstructured-transform appears in the list, skip ahead to parse your source files.To check from Devin Desktop:

Start Devin Desktop.

Click Customizations at the bottom left of the screen, and look for unstructured-transform listed as Connected under MCPs.

If unstructured-transform appears as Connected, skip ahead to parse your source files.If unstructured-transform appears but is not connected, select the Devin Desktop tab under Install the Transform MCP server, and complete the Connect and authenticate step. Devin Desktop opens a browser window where you sign in to Transform.If unstructured-transform does not appear at all, Transform is not installed here yet. Continue with Install the Transform MCP server.

Requirements

You will need:

A Devin account. To see if you have one, log in to your Devin account. Sign up for Devin.
The Devin CLI or Devin Desktop installed on your local development machine.
- Install the Devin CLI
- Install Devin Desktop

Install the Transform MCP server

To install and authenticate the Transform MCP server, use one of the following methods:

Ask Devin
Devin CLI
Devin Desktop

Ask Devin to install the Transform MCP server for you:

Install the Unstructured Transform MCP server by using these instructions: 
https://docs.unstructured.io/transform/get-started/devin.md

During this process, Devin will open a browser window where you sign in to Transform to complete authentication. 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 Devin.

You’re ready to parse your source files.

Add the Transform MCP server

In your terminal, run this command:

devin mcp add unstructured-transform --transport http --url https://mcp.transform.unstructured.io --scope user

--scope user makes the server available across all your project folders, in both the Devin CLI and Devin Desktop’s Devin Local agent.

Authenticate with the Transform MCP server

Run:

devin 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.If you also use Devin Desktop, restart it, then select Devin Local as the agent for a new session to confirm the server is available there too.

You’re ready to parse your source files.

These steps configure Devin Desktop to use the Devin Local agent, not Cascade (Devin Desktop’s other agent). The Devin Local agent shares the Devin CLI’s agent harness, so it uses the same MCP configuration and tool-approval behavior. Learn more about the Devin Local agent in the Devin documentation.

Open Devin Settings

Start Devin Desktop. On the menu bar, click Devin, then Preferences, then Devin Settings. On the Devin Settings sidebar, under Devin Local, click Configuration.

Open Devin Customizations

Next to MCP servers, click Open Devin MCP marketplace. This opens the Devin Customizations tab.

Add a custom MCP server

On the Devin Customizations tab, click Add custom MCP.Devin Desktop opens the mcp_config.json settings file in a new editor tab. This is the same user-scope file the Devin CLI uses.

Add the Transform MCP server entry

Add the following entry to the mcpServers object, and then save and close the mcp_config.json file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "unstructured-transform": {
      "url": "https://mcp.transform.unstructured.io",
      "transport": "http"
    }
  }
}

Connect and authenticate

Back in the Devin Customizations tab, in the Installed area, unstructured-transform shows as not connected. Click it, and on the next page, click Connect.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.

You’re ready to parse your source files.

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

Devin CLI
Devin Desktop

Switch to your project folder

After you install the Transform MCP server, from your terminal, switch to the folder that stores the files you want Transform to parse.

Start a Devin CLI session

Start a Devin CLI session by running the devin command.

Enter the parse prompt

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.

As needed, adapt the phrase in this project in the preceding prompt to indicate a more specific project folder. Also, as needed, guide the Devin 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.

Open your project folder

After you install the Transform MCP server, open the folder that stores the files you want Transform to parse. From the main menu, click File, then Open Folder.

If a Restricted Mode banner appears at the top of the screen, click Manage. Next, in the Workspace Trust dialog, click Trust to enable full access to the folder. Then close the Workspace Trust dialog.

Start a new session

In the Agent sidebar (from the main menu, click View, then Appearance, then Agent Sidebar), click New Session. If Devin Local does not appear in the agent picker, see Devin Local doesn’t appear in the agent picker in Troubleshooting.

Enter the parse prompt

In the prompt box, enter the following 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.

As needed, adapt the phrase in this project in the preceding prompt to indicate a more specific project folder. Also, as needed, guide Devin Desktop 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 Devin CLI and Devin Desktop’s Devin Local agent ask for approval each time they call a Transform MCP server tool that you have not already approved. Devin lets you pre-approve specific tools so it stops prompting for them individually. Transform’s MCP tools follow Devin’s standard naming pattern: mcp__unstructured-transform__<tool-name>. For example, to pre-approve every Transform tool, add this permissions object to your Devin config file. If permissions already exists, add the allow entry to its existing list:

For macOS and Linux: ~/.config/devin/config.json
For Windows: %APPDATA%\devin\config.json

{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": [
      "mcp__unstructured-transform__*"
    ]
  }
}

This example is confirmed as of Devin CLI v3000.4.16. For the most current details, see Devin’s permissions reference.

Troubleshooting

(Both) MCP configuration file locations

The Devin CLI writes to the shared, user-scope configuration file only when you use --scope user, as in our install steps. Without it, the CLI defaults to a project-only file instead. Devin Desktop’s Devin Local agent always writes to this same file. Both use this location:

For macOS and Linux: ~/.config/devin/mcp_config.json
For Windows: %APPDATA%\devin\mcp_config.json

Other --scope values place this file elsewhere:

Default (no --scope flag): .devin/mcp_config.local.json (project-only, gitignored)
--scope project: .devin/mcp_config.json (shared via git)

This reflects the file scheme introduced in Devin CLI v3000.3.22 (released July 29, 2026). For the most current details, see Devin’s changelog, MCP configuration reference, and configuration scope reference.

(CLI) Inspect the server's configuration from the terminal

Use these commands to inspect the Transform MCP server’s configuration. This is also what Devin Desktop’s Devin Local agent uses. See MCP configuration file locations above.

devin mcp list: List all configured MCP servers.
devin mcp get unstructured-transform: Get details for a specific MCP server.
devin mcp help: Show all available MCP management commands.

These commands show the server’s configuration, not whether it’s actively connected. To confirm the connection, check the Customizations panel in Devin Desktop’s Devin Local agent.

(CLI) Transform requires authentication again

Issue: devin mcp list or devin mcp get unstructured-transform shows the server configured, but tool calls fail with an authentication error, or you were never prompted to sign in.Cause: Your Transform session expired, or the server was added without completing the browser sign-in step.Solution: Run:

devin 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.

(Desktop) unstructured-transform doesn't appear in the Customizations panel or does not show as Connected

Issue: unstructured-transform does not appear in the Customizations panel at the bottom left of the screen, or does not show as Connected.Cause: The Transform MCP server is not connected.Solution: Click Customizations and verify that unstructured-transform is listed as Connected under MCPs for the Devin Local agent. If it is not connected, return to the Devin Desktop tab under Install the Transform MCP server and reconnect.

(Desktop) Devin cannot run tasks or access files in the project folder

Issue: Devin cannot run tasks or access files after opening a project folder.Cause: The folder is in Restricted Mode, which disables tasks, debugging, workspace settings, and extensions.Solution: Switch to Editor mode by clicking the Editor button in the top left corner. Check for a Restricted Mode banner at the top of the screen. If it appears, click Manage, then click Trust in the Workspace Trust dialog, and then close the dialog. If the banner does not appear, open the Command Palette (from the main menu, click View, then Command Palette), type Manage Workspace Trust, and select it to open the Workspace Trust dialog directly.

(Desktop) Devin Local doesn't appear in the agent picker

Issue: Devin Local does not appear as an option in the agent picker when starting a new session.Cause: The ACP (Agent Client Protocol) setting that enables Devin Local is turned off.Solution:

Open the Command Palette (from the main menu, click View, then Command Palette).

Type >Open Devin User Settings and select it.

In the Devin Settings editor tab, on the sidebar, click Agents.

In the Agents section, turn on the switch labeled Enable ACP, if it is not already turned on.

If Devin Local does not show as Enabled, click the Enable button.

Go back to the agent picker. Devin Local should now appear.

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?

Requirements

Install the Transform MCP server

Parse your source files

Extract structured data

Approve Transform tool calls automatically

Troubleshooting

Next steps

Questions? Need help?