Install the MCP
Reactor runs a remote MCP server at https://reactor.tools/api/mcp, authenticated with a Bearer token: your Reactor API key, which scopes every call to your workspace.
First, generate a key (see Authentication). Then connect a client.
Quick install (recommended)
The @reactor-tools/mcp package detects your client and wires everything up:
npx @reactor-tools/mcp install --key YOUR_API_KEY
It auto-detects installed clients (Claude Code, Cursor, Claude Desktop, Windsurf). Restart the client, then ask it to "list the Reactor tools".
Target a specific client, or all of them:
npx @reactor-tools/mcp install --key YOUR_API_KEY --client cursor
npx @reactor-tools/mcp install --key YOUR_API_KEY --client all
Options: --client claude-code|cursor|claude-desktop|windsurf|vscode|all, --project (write project-scoped config in the current directory), --no-save.
Config snippet
If you'd rather edit your client's config by hand, add the reactor entry. The package acts as a branded bridge, so the endpoint stays out of your config:
{
"mcpServers": {
"reactor": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@reactor-tools/mcp"],
"env": { "REACTOR_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY" }
}
}
}
- Claude Desktop: Settings → Developer → Edit Config (
claude_desktop_config.json), add the entry, then restart. - Cursor: Settings → MCP → Add new MCP server, add the entry to
mcp.json. - VS Code: use a
.vscode/mcp.jsonwith a top-levelserversblock (npx @reactor-tools/mcp install --client vscode --projectwrites it for you).
REACTOR_MCP_URL overrides the endpoint if you point the package at a self-hosted deployment.
Without the package
The package wraps mcp-remote, which bridges the remote HTTP server to clients that speak local (stdio) MCP. You can call it directly:
npx -y mcp-remote https://reactor.tools/api/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
Clients that support remote HTTP MCP natively can skip the bridge entirely. In Claude Code:
claude mcp add reactor --transport http https://reactor.tools/api/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
Verify
Ask your client to list the Reactor tools, or call get_engine_config. The server is self-describing; your client reads each tool's description and input schema over the protocol.