Connect Cursor to Variant over MCP

#Config

Add Variant as an HTTP MCP server in Cursor's MCP configuration. Restart Cursor after changing the config so the server and tools are loaded.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "variant": {
      "transport": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.variant.art/mcp"
    }
  }
}

#Bearer token option

If your Cursor environment cannot complete OAuth, generate a scoped token in Variant and pass it as an Authorization header.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "variant": {
      "transport": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.variant.art/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_VARIANT_MCP_TOKEN"
      }
    }
  }
}

#First test

Use a read-only prompt before letting the agent write to a deck. That confirms the endpoint, auth, and preview path are healthy.

List my Variant decks, list the slides in the most recently updated deck,
and render a preview of slide 1. Do not edit the deck.

#What Cursor can do with Variant

The useful loop is inspect, patch, preview. Cursor can read slide HTML, change one element with slide.edit, and render a preview before continuing. That is much safer than asking an agent to regenerate a whole deck for a small copy or layout fix.

• Create or duplicate decks
• Read slide source and metadata
• Apply targeted edits
• Batch-create or replace slides
• Preview slides as images
• Read brand context
• Export decks

#Common questions