MCP Configuration

Configure Ansight Studio as a local stdio-backed MCP server in Codex, Cursor, Claude Code, and other developer tools.

For agent setup, prefer the local stdio bridge:

ansight-daemon mcp-stdio

The stdio bridge proxies MCP traffic to the running local Ansight Studio endpoint and avoids direct client handling of Ansight Studio’s localhost TLS certificate.

Ansight Studio also exposes a local HTTPS MCP endpoint on your desktop for clients that cannot use stdio:

https://localhost:45125/mcp/

Use localhost rather than 127.0.0.1 so hostname validation matches the Ansight Studio certificate.

Before You Configure a Client

  • Launch Ansight Studio on the same machine as your AI client.
  • Confirm the MCP panel in Ansight Studio shows the server as running.
  • Prefer the ansight-daemon mcp-stdio bridge when your client supports stdio MCP servers.
  • Use the full /mcp/ path only for direct HTTP fallback configuration.
  • If your MCP client rejects the certificate, use stdio if supported; otherwise trust the exported Ansight Studio certificate from the local data/mcp/localhost.cer file.
  • Restart the client after changing MCP settings if it does not hot-reload server config.

Ansight Studio is a local desktop MCP server. For normal local development, you do not need extra authentication headers.

Client-Specific Setup

Codex

Codex supports MCP in both the CLI and the IDE extension, and the configuration is shared between them.

Recommended setup:

Add Ansight from the Codex CLI:

macOS:

codex mcp add ansight -- /Applications/Ansight.app/Contents/Helpers/ansight-daemon mcp-stdio

Windows:

codex mcp add ansight -- "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\Ansight\ansight-daemon.exe" mcp-stdio

Verify it is configured:

codex mcp list

Manual config:

You can also add the server directly to ~/.codex/config.toml:

macOS:

[mcp_servers.ansight]
command = "/Applications/Ansight.app/Contents/Helpers/ansight-daemon"
args = ["mcp-stdio"]

HTTP fallback:

codex mcp add ansight --url https://localhost:45125/mcp/

Official Codex MCP docs:

Cursor

Cursor reads MCP configuration from mcp.json. Prefer stdio for local Ansight setup.

Global config:

Create ~/.cursor/mcp.json on macOS:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ansight": {
      "command": "/Applications/Ansight.app/Contents/Helpers/ansight-daemon",
      "args": ["mcp-stdio"]
    }
  }
}

Windows:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ansight": {
      "command": "C:\\Users\\<you>\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Ansight\\ansight-daemon.exe",
      "args": ["mcp-stdio"]
    }
  }
}

Project config:

If you want the server scoped to one repository, create .cursor/mcp.json in the project. Prefer global config for Ansight because the installed helper path is machine-specific.

HTTP fallback:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ansight": {
      "url": "https://localhost:45125/mcp/"
    }
  }
}

For a local desktop service like Ansight, global stdio config is usually the simpler choice.

Official Cursor MCP docs:

Claude Code

Claude Code supports local stdio MCP servers, remote HTTP MCP servers, and local/project/user configuration scopes.

Recommended setup:

Launch Ansight Studio on the same machine, then add Ansight with the Claude CLI:

macOS:

claude mcp add --transport stdio --scope user ansight -- \
  /Applications/Ansight.app/Contents/Helpers/ansight-daemon mcp-stdio

Windows:

claude mcp add --transport stdio --scope user ansight -- `
  "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\Ansight\ansight-daemon.exe" mcp-stdio

Verify it is configured:

claude mcp get ansight

You can also list all configured MCP servers:

claude mcp list

JSON config:

If you prefer JSON-based setup, add the equivalent config. On macOS:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ansight": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "/Applications/Ansight.app/Contents/Helpers/ansight-daemon",
      "args": ["mcp-stdio"]
    }
  }
}

On Windows, use the installed helper path for your user account:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ansight": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "C:\\Users\\<you>\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Ansight\\ansight-daemon.exe",
      "args": ["mcp-stdio"]
    }
  }
}

The stdio bridge keeps Claude Code away from Ansight Studio’s localhost TLS certificate while still forwarding MCP traffic to the running Ansight Studio endpoint. For a machine-local Ansight Studio endpoint, prefer a user or local scope instead of checking workstation-specific config into a shared repo.

HTTP fallback:

If you need to use Claude Code’s HTTP transport directly, configure the same endpoint used by other clients:

claude mcp add --transport http --scope user ansight https://localhost:45125/mcp/

Official Claude Code MCP docs:

Developer Tools

For IDE-specific MCP setup, use the vendor documentation directly:

Prefer stdio when the tool supports command-based MCP servers:

ansight-daemon mcp-stdio

If stdio is not supported, use the local HTTPS endpoint:

https://localhost:45125/mcp/

Troubleshooting

  • Make sure Ansight Studio is running before you open the AI client.
  • Prefer ansight-daemon mcp-stdio for local agent setup.
  • For HTTP fallback, use the exact MCP endpoint path, including /mcp/.
  • For HTTP fallback, use https://localhost, not 127.0.0.1, so the certificate hostname matches.
  • If the TLS handshake fails, use stdio if the client supports it; otherwise trust Ansight Studio’s exported localhost.cer certificate and retry.
  • Restart the client if the MCP server does not appear after editing config.
  • If you have multiple MCP servers configured, keep the Ansight server name short and explicit, such as ansight.
  • Remember that Ansight Studio listens locally, so the client must run on the same desktop machine.