MCP client

Keep Cursor work tied to the accountable task

Use Aestus tools in Cursor while task ownership, handoff, and hosted-run accounting stay explicit.

Join the waitlist See the Cursor example

Cursor with Aestus

Keep the tool. Change what the team can see.

Cursor can use Aestus as a remote MCP server. A developer opens the card, receives its context, and uses task tools under a signed-in identity. Card changes and artifacts remain attributable even when the code edit happens on the laptop.

The example run is an Aestus-hosted coding run started from the workflow. Local Cursor activity does not get invented tokens, latency, or cost. That boundary keeps the ledger honest while engineering keeps its editor.

Good first workflows

Continue a team task in the editor
Load the same requirements and artifacts the rest of the team sees on the board.
Record a local handoff
Attach the branch and review notes without claiming that local tokens were metered by Aestus.
Run a hosted follow-up
Start a separate Aestus coding run when the work needs a metered, policy-bound execution record.

A complete Cursor example, from trigger to proof.

The example names the people, task event, tool boundary, returned evidence, and acceptance state. The run row below it is a fixed product example, not customer data.

Example — fictional team and data. Not a live run or customer result.

Inside the connected tool

What the handoff looks like in Cursor

The developer stays in the editor while the task, ownership, and final artifact stay shared with the team.

settings-route.tsx×

41  export async function updateSettings(input) {42    const parsed = settingsSchema.parse(input);43    await saveSettings(parsed);44    return { ok: true };45  }

Example — fictional team and data. Not a live run or customer result.

Concrete workflow example

Use Cursor locally while the team keeps one truthful task record

A developer repairs a settings route in Cursor and uses Aestus MCP tools for ownership, progress, artifacts, and handoff.

TriggerAES-529 is opened from Cursor through MCP

1
Priya · Engineering
Opens the full task before editing
Cursor receives the requirements, comments, and linked route contract through Aestus.
get_task · 2 artifacts loaded
2
Cursor
Claims the card under Priya’s signed-in identity
The task action is attributed even though the editor and model run on the laptop.
claim · actor: Priya
3
Priya · Engineering
Attaches the pull request and test result
Local editor activity is not presented as an Aestus-hosted model charge.
PR #211 · local run boundary
4
Owen · Reviewer
Reviews the route and accepts the handoff
The review can follow the task history without reconstructing work from editor chat.
accepted · review linked

Example — fictional team and data. Not a live run or customer result.

Deterministic product example — not a production run

Verify the settings route

Example run		Runtime	Outcome
EXAMPLE-CU-01	Aestus coding agent	aestus	Completed	$0.42	135.0s

Tokens in / out: 14,000 / 900
Failure code: —
Agent: coding-agent

Example source: lib/marketing/integration-run-examples.ts

Example run cost

$0.4213 in the deterministic product example

This complete checked-in Aestus example has a 135-second duration. Cursor-only editor activity has no invented Aestus run charge.

Set it up in four steps.

Follow the real Cursor connection path. Provider steps link to the provider documentation. Aestus steps name the contract they follow.

01
Create the project MCP file
Add a remote Aestus server entry to .cursor/mcp.json for the repository.
{ "mcpServers": { "aestus": { "url": "https://aestus.app/api/mcp" } } }Read the provider docs
02
Complete the OAuth prompt
Open Cursor settings, enable the server, and finish Aestus sign-in and consent.
Read the provider docs
03
Load a named task
Ask Cursor to open one Aestus card and read its comments and artifacts before changing the repository.
Aestus contract: docs/agent-ticket-workflow.md
04
Keep the board truthful
Claim before edits, report changed phases, attach the result, and release after the review handoff.
Aestus contract: docs/agent-ticket-workflow.md

The boundary stays visible while the work moves.

See what Cursor can do, where a person still decides, and what Aestus records for every governed run.

Where control lives

Cursor approves MCP tools locally

Cursor shows tool calls for approval according to its own MCP client settings.

Aestus governs Aestus actions

Task moves, comments, artifacts, and hosted runs still pass through Aestus identity and policy.

External edits have a clear boundary

A local Cursor edit outside a hosted Aestus run is not presented as an Aestus runtime event or billed run.

What Aestus records

Hosted run identity

When Aestus launches the work, the ledger records runtime aestus and the coding-agent identity.

Usage and duration

Tokens, cost, latency, and terminal status belong to that hosted run.

MCP audit trail

Cursor tool actions on the card remain attributed to the signed-in Aestus actor even when no hosted run exists.

Questions teams ask

Is Cursor a hosted Aestus runtime?

No. Cursor is an MCP client. Aestus-hosted work is recorded with the Aestus runtime; local editor work keeps its MCP audit trail but has no invented run row.

Where does the MCP configuration live?

A project connection can live in .cursor/mcp.json so the repository carries the server definition.

Are local edits governed by Aestus?

Only the actions that pass through Aestus are checked and recorded by Aestus.

See all integrations See the security controls

Start with one Cursor run.

Bring one real run. Map its actors, boundary, evidence, cost, and acceptance step.

Talk to us

Example — fictional team and data. Not a live run or customer result.

Concrete workflow example

Use Cursor locally while the team keeps one truthful task record

A developer repairs a settings route in Cursor and uses Aestus MCP tools for ownership, progress, artifacts, and handoff.

TriggerAES-529 is opened from Cursor through MCP

1
Priya · Engineering
Opens the full task before editing
Cursor receives the requirements, comments, and linked route contract through Aestus.
get_task · 2 artifacts loaded
2
Cursor
Claims the card under Priya’s signed-in identity
The task action is attributed even though the editor and model run on the laptop.
claim · actor: Priya
3
Priya · Engineering
Attaches the pull request and test result
Local editor activity is not presented as an Aestus-hosted model charge.
PR #211 · local run boundary
4
Owen · Reviewer
Reviews the route and accepts the handoff
The review can follow the task history without reconstructing work from editor chat.
accepted · review linked

Example run

Runtime

Outcome

EXAMPLE-CU-01

Aestus coding agent

aestus

Completed

$0.42

135.0s

Questions teams ask

Is Cursor a hosted Aestus runtime?

No. Cursor is an MCP client. Aestus-hosted work is recorded with the Aestus runtime; local editor work keeps its MCP audit trail but has no invented run row.

Where does the MCP configuration live?

A project connection can live in .cursor/mcp.json so the repository carries the server definition.

Are local edits governed by Aestus?

Only the actions that pass through Aestus are checked and recorded by Aestus.

Keep Cursor work tied to the accountable task