How to connect Cursor to a local video editor

How do you connect Cursor to a video editor?

This guide covers one setup: Cursor, the code editor, driving a desktop timeline editor that runs on the same computer. We built it from Cursor’s MCP documentation and Rushilo’s released setup code, both read on October 20, 2026. We did not run a live Cursor session against Rushilo while writing it, so the interface names below are the ones Cursor’s docs gave on that date. Cursor changes often. If a label has moved, the idea stays the same.

We make Rushilo, so weigh the Rushilo specifics accordingly. The Cursor steps follow Cursor’s own documentation and apply to any local MCP server. Most Cursor and video pages we found point at cloud editors that start with a sign-in. This one is the local version: no URL, no account and no token for the connection.

What do you need before you start?

• Rushilo installed and open with a project loaded. It is a one-time purchase from $19; Buy Rushilo or download it to try the setup.
• A current Cursor build. Cursor’s MCP page does not state a plan requirement for servers added through mcp.json as of October 20, 2026. We could not read Cursor’s pricing page, so we state no tier. Check your account.
• About five minutes, and a footage clip short enough to check by eye.

On a Team or Enterprise account an admin policy may block a local command. If the server never starts and the JSON is fine, ask your admin. We did not test that.

Global or project config: which file?

Cursor reads servers from two files, both with a top-level mcpServers object.

Our rule of thumb is global for a personal editor. The project file usually sits inside a repository, so it can end up committed. Rushilo’s pasted entry holds paths that belong to your computer, so do not commit them. If you use the project file, add .cursor/mcp.json to .gitignore. Locations are from Cursor’s MCP documentation.

What are the steps?

1. 1Copy the JSON from Rushilo. Open the connect screen in Rushilo and find the block for Cursor and other MCP apps. Copy the MCP JSON. Rushilo fills in the paths for your machine, so copy it from the app rather than from a web page.
2. 2Open or create the file. Open ~/.cursor/mcp.json for every project, or .cursor/mcp.json in the project. Create it if it does not exist.
3. 3Add rushilo under mcpServers. If the file is empty, paste the whole block. If it already lists servers, add the rushilo entry beside them inside the one existing mcpServers object instead of replacing them.
4. 4Save and restart Cursor. Cursor's docs say to update your local files and restart Cursor for custom servers. Quit it fully rather than just closing a window.
5. 5Confirm the server in Customize. Cursor's docs say you enable or disable MCP servers from Customize in the sidebar. Look for rushilo, make sure it is on, and check that its tools are listed.
6. 6Try a request that changes nothing. With Rushilo open, ask the agent to read your project and describe the timeline. Then ask for one small edit and check it in Rushilo. Undo it in the app if you do not like it.

What to ask first

Start with requests that change nothing, so you learn what the agent can see before it touches the timeline. Ask it to list the clips and say how long the project is. Ask it to look at a few frames and describe them. Ask it to read the transcript of one clip and quote the first sentence. Only then ask for an edit, and keep it narrow: remove one filler word, trim the start of one clip, or add one caption line.

Check each result in Rushilo itself, not in the chat summary. A reply can describe an edit that did not land, and the timeline is the record. Saving a named version before a larger session gives you a clean point to return to. Because Cursor keeps your code and your footage tasks in one window, start a fresh chat for editing so the agent is not carrying unrelated code context into a video job.

What the pasted entry looks like

The shape is a standard stdio entry. The values below are placeholders. Do not type these; Rushilo writes the real ones, which depend on where the app is installed.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "some-other-server": {
      "command": "<existing entry, leave it alone>"
    },
    "rushilo": {
      "command": "<path filled in by Rushilo>",
      "args": ["<path to the bundled MCP shim>"],
      "env": {
        "ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE": "1",
        "RUSHILO_DATA_DIR": "<this app's data folder>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Rushilo may add a skills-folder setting too. Keep whatever the app gives you. Leave the absolute paths as they are; Cursor can expand variables such as $${workspaceFolder} in some fields, but Rushilo’s paths point at the installed app, not at a project.

One detail we cannot settle. Cursor’s docs list a type field for stdio entries, yet its own examples leave it out, and Rushilo’s block has none. If Cursor rejects the entry, adding "type": "stdio" beside command is the documented field to try. We did not need to test it, so we cannot say whether your Cursor build asks for it.

How do tools and approvals work?

Cursor’s docs say it uses MCP tools listed under Available Tools when they look relevant, and that this includes Plan Mode. You can also name a tool or describe the job. Cursor asks for approval before using MCP tools by default, and the arrow next to a tool name shows its arguments. Read those arguments the first few times, especially on export and delete calls.

How often it asks is set by Run Modes, under Settings, then Agents, then Approvals and Execution. Cursor’s Run Modes page says MCP follows the same modes as terminal commands.

Rushilo’s tool names make the split easy to see. Status, frames, transcript and listen tools only read the project. Export, cut and save change things. We suggest allowing the first group and approving the second by hand. That is our judgement from the tool names, not behaviour we watched in Cursor.

For bigger jobs, Plan Mode is worth a look. Cursor’s Plan Mode page says Shift+Tab switches to it, and the agent writes a plan you review before it builds. That page does not mention MCP, and we did not run a plan that edits, so treat it as a way to review a rough-cut plan first, then switch to Agent to apply it. For test ideas, the MCP evaluation checklist works with any client.

What if Cursor does not connect?

Work from the most common causes to the logs.

1. Rushilo is not open. Open the app with a project, then retry. The connect screen says to keep it open while the agent works.
2. The JSON is broken. A missing comma or a second mcpServers key stops the file loading. Merge everything into one object and check the syntax.
3. The paths went stale. If you moved or reinstalled Rushilo, copy the JSON from the connect screen again and replace the old entry.
4. Cursor was not restarted. Quit Cursor completely and reopen it, then look at Customize again.
5. The toggle is off. In Customize, switch the server off and on again.
6. Read the log. Open the Output panel with Cmd+Shift+U on macOS or Ctrl+Shift+U on Windows, then choose MCP Logs from the dropdown. Cursor’s docs say a failing server shows an error in chat and marks the tool call failed, and that other servers keep working.
7. Green in settings, unknown to the agent. One r/cursor poster on macOS reported custom servers in ~/.cursor/mcp.json showing a green dot with tools listed, while the agent in chat said the server did not exist. They had tried quitting, reloading and re-adding. The post did not give a fix and we do not know the cause. Start a new chat, then check MCP Logs.
8. Stuck on the type field. Try the "type": "stdio" addition described above.

Cursor’s own page and older guides label the settings area differently, with names like Tools and Integrations or Tools and MCP. The October 20, 2026 docs say Customize, so a Cursor build of a different age may show something else.

Cursor or another client?

The same JSON shape works in other MCP apps, and each has its own config file and restart rules. If you prefer a chat app, connecting Claude Desktop to a local video editor covers its config, logs and the “connector” wording. For other editors that expose MCP, see video editing MCP servers, and the setup page has the short version of each client. If you want a cloud service instead, its vendor’s remote server uses a URL and sign-in, which is a different path from this one.

Where does your data go?

Rushilo has no AI of its own and receives nothing from the connection. Your project and media stay on your computer. What Cursor’s model sees is what the tools return, such as transcript text, and that passes through Cursor and its model provider under their terms. Rushilo’s server reaches the app over a local socket guarded by a launch token. We read that in the code and did not audit it. Cursor’s docs also advise you to verify the source of any server and review its permissions before adding it, which is good advice for this one too: you are letting an agent run a command on your computer.

Patel, O. (2026, October 20). How to connect Cursor to a local video editor. Rushilo. https://rushilo.com/guides/connect-cursor

About the author

Om Patel

Founder, Rushilo

Om Patel is the founder of Rushilo, a desktop video editor driven by the user's own AI, and of BigIdeasDB, a research platform that reads real complaints and reviews to help founders validate products. He writes Rushilo's research articles with the same method: primary sources, dated numbers and the words real users write.

• X (Twitter)
• BigIdeasDB