MCP servers

Connect external tools and services to Cora using the Model Context Protocol.

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard for connecting AI agents to external tools. Cora supports MCP servers to give it access to systems beyond the local codebase GitHub, Slack, databases, CI pipelines, internal APIs, and anything else with an MCP server implementation.

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Storage locations

Global MCP config available in every project:

~/.config/Code/User/globalStorage/codemateai.codemate-agent/settings/mcp_settings.json

Project MCP config available in the current workspace only:

your-project/.cora/mcp_settings.json

Use the global config for services you use across all projects GitHub, Slack, a personal database. Use the project config for services specific to a codebase the project's own database, its staging environment, its internal tools.

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Configuration format

mcp_settings.json is a JSON file where each key is a server name and the value describes how to start it.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem",
        "<BASE_PATH>"
      ]
    },
    "git": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-server-git"]
    },
    "memory": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-memory"
      ],
      "env": {
        "MEMORY_FILE_PATH": "<BASE_PATH>/memory.jsonl"
      }
    },
    "slack": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@jtalk22/slack-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Environment variable references in the format ${VAR_NAME} are resolved from your shell environment when Cora starts. Never write credential values directly into the file.

If mcp_settings.json is inside a project directory, add it to .gitignore — even with environment variable references, the file may reveal internal service names or infrastructure details you don't want in a shared repository.

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Using MCP tools in prompts

Once configured, MCP tools are available in any mode. Describe what you want in natural language Cora calls the appropriate tool without special syntax.

Check GitHub for open issues tagged "auth" and summarize
what's blocking the multi-tenant login bug.

Query the production database for the 10 organizations
with the highest event volume in the last 7 days.

Post a summary of today's merged PRs to the #deployments
Slack channel.

Create a GitHub issue for the rate limiting edge case we
just found and assign it to the auth milestone.

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Editing the config directly

Because mcp_settings.json is a plain file on your filesystem, you can edit it directly:

# Edit the global MCP config
code ~/.config/Code/User/globalStorage/codemateai.codemate-agent/settings/mcp_settings.json

# Edit a project MCP config
code .cora/mcp_settings.json

Changes take effect the next time Cora starts a session. If you add a new server mid-session, reload the Cora panel to pick it up.

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Security

MCP servers run as separate processes. Cora calls them over a local interface they don't have access to Cora's context or your environment beyond what you explicitly configure in the env block.

Before adding an MCP server from a third party, verify it comes from a trusted source and review what permissions and credentials it requests. A server that only needs to read GitHub issues does not need a token with write access to your repositories.