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.

Agent Setup Skill

Use the dedicated MCP setup skill when asking an agent to configure a workstation or AI client:

Please use this skill https://www.ansight.ai/skills/ansight-mcp-setup.md to configure Ansight MCP for this workstation. Prefer the stdio bridge, register the MCP server as "ansight", verify the client can list it, and tell me any manual steps that remain.

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.