How to add Zendesk MCP Server to Windsurf

Lets agents fetch, create and update Zendesk tickets and comments, with Help Center articles as a knowledge base. Paste the config into ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json and restart Windsurf.

Last updated June 14, 2026 · 106★ · stdio · apikey

Windsurf config for Zendesk MCP Server

uv venv && uv pip install -e .

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zendesk-mcp-server": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/path/to/zendesk-mcp-server",
        "run",
        "zendesk"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Setup steps

1Open Windsurf → Cascade → the hammer/MCP icon → Configure (or edit ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json).
2Paste the Zendesk MCP Server config below.
3Fill in placeholder secrets, then save.
4Click Refresh in the MCP panel.
5Zendesk MCP Server's tools become available to Cascade.

Before you start

uv installed (server runs via `uv --directory ... run zendesk`)
A Zendesk account with an API token (Admin Center → Apps and integrations → APIs), plus your subdomain and agent email
A .env file in the repo based on .env.example holding those credentials

What Zendesk MCP Server can do in Windsurf

get_tickets

List recent tickets with pagination and sorting (created_at, updated_at, priority, status)

get_ticket

Retrieve a ticket by ID

get_ticket_comments

Retrieve all comments on a ticket

create_ticket_comment

Add a comment to a ticket, public or internal

create_ticket

Create a ticket with subject, description, priority, type, tags and custom fields

update_ticket

Update ticket fields: status, priority, type, assignee, tags, due date

Security

Zendesk credentials (subdomain, email, API token) live in a .env file inside the repo — keep it out of version control; the Docker setup reads the same file via --env-file. The server can post public comments and change ticket status on real customer threads, so review agent output before it goes customer-facing.

Zendesk MCP Server + Windsurf FAQ

Where is the Windsurf config file?

Windsurf reads MCP servers from ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json. Paste the Zendesk MCP Server config there under the "mcpServers" key and restart the client.

Is Zendesk MCP Server safe to use with Windsurf?

Is zendesk-mcp-server safe to point at a production Zendesk?

Reasonably, with one rule: it can post public comments and change ticket status, so keep a human review step before customer-facing writes. Credentials stay in a local .env (never sent anywhere but Zendesk's API), the Docker image runs non-root, and it's Apache 2.0 open source you can audit in an afternoon.

Can it search tickets or access the Help Center?

No search tool — you list recent tickets (with sort and pagination) or fetch by ID. The Help Center is fully available though: the zendesk://knowledge-base resource exposes all articles as context, which the draft-ticket-response prompt uses to ground replies in your real docs.

What credentials does it need?

Three values in .env: your Zendesk subdomain, agent email, and an API token generated in Admin Center. It authenticates to the standard Zendesk API — no OAuth app registration and no PyPI package; you clone the repo and run it with uv.

View repo Full Zendesk MCP Server page