Deploy from Cursor

5 min read Updated 1 day ago

Deploy from Cursor

Cursor is an AI-first code editor with built-in support for the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Once you add Ploi Cloud as an MCP server, Cursor's chat panel can create applications, attach databases, deploy from Git, and read logs without leaving your editor. The setup is one small JSON file and one OAuth approval. After that, you describe what you want in plain English and Cursor's agent calls the right tools on your behalf.

Add Ploi Cloud to Cursor

Cursor reads its MCP config from a JSON file. Create or edit .cursor/mcp.json in your project root, or ~/.cursor/mcp.json for global access, and add:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ploi-cloud": {
      "url": "https://ploi.cloud/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Cursor watches this file and reloads MCP servers automatically when it changes. You should see ploi-cloud appear in the MCP panel within a few seconds.

Project-level vs global

Project-level config (.cursor/mcp.json in the repo root) is best when the team shares the same hosting target. Commit the file and every teammate gets the same MCP server list. The OAuth tokens are still per-user and stored locally, so committing the config is safe.

Global config (~/.cursor/mcp.json) is best when you want Ploi Cloud available in every project on your machine without duplicating files. Use this when you are the only developer on the projects, or when you prefer to keep editor config out of the repo.

The two are not mutually exclusive. Cursor merges both, with project-level entries taking precedence.

Authorize and verify connection

Open the Cursor MCP panel under Settings, Features, MCP. The ploi-cloud entry should show a "Needs login" badge. Click it, approve the OAuth consent screen in your browser, and Cursor stores the token locally.

After authorization, the entry switches to "Connected" with a tool count next to it. Ploi Cloud exposes the full set of tools generated automatically from its OpenAPI spec, covering applications, services, secrets, domains, deployments, and more. You can now invoke any of them from chat.

Deploy your first app

Three prompts, one per common deployment style.

You: Deploy my Laravel app from the main branch of github.com/myorg/checkout-service.

Cursor: Creating checkout-service. PHP 8.3, MySQL added (detected from composer.json), Redis added. Build command set, deploying. Live at https://checkout-service.ams.preview.ploi.it.

You: Deploy this Next.js project from github.com/myorg/dashboard.

Cursor: Creating dashboard. Next.js 15 detected, Postgres attached. Deploying. Live at https://dashboard.ams.preview.ploi.it.

You: I do not have a Git remote yet. Upload this folder and deploy it.

Cursor: Packing the project, uploading the source archive, creating local-prototype in upload mode. Deploying. Live at https://local-prototype.ams.preview.ploi.it.

Use Cursor agents to monitor deployments

Cursor's agent mode can keep watching after the initial prompt finishes. Useful examples:

"Watch the deploy of checkout-service and tell me when it is live or if it fails."

"Tail the logs for dashboard while I keep coding. Ping me if you see an error."

"Compare the last two deploys of checkout-service. What changed?"

Tool calls show up inline in the chat panel as collapsible blocks. You can expand any of them to see the request and response payload, which is useful when debugging unexpected behavior.

Common prompts

Prompt What Cursor does
Deploy my app from github.com/org/repo Creates the application and triggers a deploy
List my apps Calls applications_index
Add Redis to my-app Calls v1_applications_services_store
Set the secret DATABASE_URL Calls applications_secrets_store
Show me the logs for my-app Calls applications_logs
Roll back the last deploy Calls applications_rollback
Add example.com as a domain Calls applications_domains_store
What is the SSL status Calls applications_domains_ssl-status
Bump memory to 2Gi Calls applications_resources_update
Suspend my-staging-app Calls applications_suspend

Troubleshooting

Cursor does not list ploi-cloud under MCP servers

Confirm the config file location. Cursor watches .cursor/mcp.json in the project root and ~/.cursor/mcp.json globally, nothing else. Check that the JSON is valid (a missing comma will silently break the load). If both look right, restart Cursor.

Auth loops back to login screen

This happens when your browser is signed into a different Ploi Cloud account than the one you want to use. Sign out of Ploi Cloud in the browser, then click "Needs login" again. The fresh consent flow lets you sign in with the correct account.

Token expired

After a token expires, the next tool call returns 401 and Cursor displays a "Reauthorize" link in the MCP panel. Click it and re-approve.

MCP tools missing after Cursor update

Updates can occasionally reset the MCP cache. Open the MCP panel, click the refresh icon next to ploi-cloud, and the tools reload from the server.

Next steps