Set up MCP with Cursor and Claude.
Drive your Hilla boards from any AI client. Five minutes, two config files, no surprises.
MCP (Model Context Protocol) lets external AI tools read and write to your Hilla boards directly. This guide gets it running in Cursor and Claude. It assumes a Hilla account and an active MCP key from /settings.
Grab your MCP key.
Go to Settings → MCP. Generate a new key. Copy it. Scope it to the workspaces you want to expose — never use a key that has access to boards a client shouldn't see.
Add the server to Cursor.
Open Cursor → Settings → Tools → MCP. Add a new server with the snippet below. Restart Cursor.
- server name: `hilla`
- command: `npx -y @hilla/mcp`
- env: `HILLA_KEY=<your-mcp-key>`
Add the server to Claude Desktop.
Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → Edit config. Add the same block under `mcpServers`. Restart Claude.
Test the connection.
In Cursor or Claude, ask: "List my Hilla boards." You should see your workspaces enumerated.
If you get a 401, the key is wrong or scoped to a different workspace. If you get nothing, the server didn't start — check the client logs.
Use it for real.
From inside your IDE, ask the AI to add a card, complete one, or summarize a board. It will go through MCP and the change shows up live on the canvas.
Rotate the key from /settings if you suspect a device is compromised. Every action is logged with the originating client.
MCP is the cheapest way to put Hilla into the surface you already live in. You don't switch tools to plan — you ask the tool you're already in.
Run this on your own canvas. 25 free credits, no card.
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