How to add Fetch (Reference) to Cursor
Official MCP reference server that fetches a URL and returns its content as clean Markdown, with chunking. Paste the config into ~/.cursor/mcp.json and restart Cursor.
Last updated June 15, 2026 · 87k★ · stdio · no auth · official
Cursor config for Fetch (Reference)
uvx mcp-server-fetch{
"mcpServers": {
"fetch-reference": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"mcp-server-fetch"
]
}
}
}Requires `uv` (the Python package runner). Install it from https://docs.astral.sh/uv/ if `uvx` is not found.
Setup steps
- 1Open Cursor → Settings → MCP → Add new MCP server (or edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json directly).
- 2Paste the Fetch (Reference) config below into the "mcpServers" object.
- 3Fill in placeholder secrets, then save.
- 4Cursor reloads MCP servers automatically — check Settings → MCP for a green status dot.
- 5Ask Cursor to use one of Fetch (Reference)'s tools to confirm it's connected.
Before you start
- Python 3.10+ with `uv`/`uvx` installed (recommended), or `pip` to install the package
- Optionally Node.js — if present, it is used for better HTML-to-Markdown simplification
- Alternatively Docker, to run the prebuilt `mcp/fetch` image
- No API key or account required (auth: none)
What Fetch (Reference) can do in Cursor
fetchFetch a URL and return its content as Markdown; supports max_length, start_index (for chunked paging), and raw (return unconverted HTML).
fetch (prompt)A bundled prompt that instructs the model to retrieve and summarize a URL's contents as Markdown.
Security
Because it fetches from the local machine, it can reach internal/private IPs and intranet services, which is an SSRF risk; restrict which URLs you allow it to fetch in sensitive networks. It honors robots.txt by default for model-initiated requests unless explicitly disabled.
Fetch (Reference) + Cursor FAQ
Where is the Cursor config file?
Cursor reads MCP servers from ~/.cursor/mcp.json. Paste the Fetch (Reference) config there under the "mcpServers" key and restart the client.
Is Fetch (Reference) safe to use with Cursor?
Because it fetches from the local machine, it can reach internal/private IPs and intranet services, which is an SSRF risk; restrict which URLs you allow it to fetch in sensitive networks. It honors robots.txt by default for model-initiated requests unless explicitly disabled.
Does it need an API key?
No. The fetch server uses stdio with no authentication, so there is nothing to sign up for.
Why is my response cut off?
Output is truncated to max_length (default 5000 chars). Have the model call fetch again with a higher start_index to page through the rest of the document.
It refuses to fetch a page citing robots.txt — why?
By default the server obeys robots.txt for model-initiated requests. Run it with --ignore-robots-txt to bypass this.