Install mcp/tavily in Cursor

What you need first

• Cursor, installed.
• Docker, which gives the docker command the server starts with.

Steps

1. Open ~/.cursor/mcp.json, or create it. For one project only, use .cursor/mcp.json in that project.
2. Add this block. If the file already has mcpServers, add only the entry inside it.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tavily-mcp-p8r7d2": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "docker.io/mcp/tavily"]
    }
  }
}

3. Save the file. In Cursor's settings, find the server in the MCP section and turn it on if it is off.

Check it worked

Ask Cursor: List the tools of tavily-mcp-p8r7d2.

If it does not start

Cannot connect to the Docker daemon

Docker is not running. Start it, then restart Cursor.

Nothing changes after a restart

The file is not valid JSON any more. Look for a missing comma where the block was added.