Connect the MCP server

Add every pre.dev tool, plus your own Chrome, to Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and your other coding agents with one command, or connect the hosted server.

One command adds the pre.dev MCP server to every coding agent on your Mac, with every pre.dev tool plus your own Chrome. Without Node.js, connect the hosted server instead.

Set up with one command

npx -y @predotdev/mcp setup

Setup signs you in to pre.dev in the browser, or creates a free account, and saves your key for every agent. It registers the server as predev in every coding agent it finds, including Claude Code, Codex, Hermes, Pi, OpenClaw, Cursor, GitHub Copilot CLI, Cline, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, Claude Desktop, and the pre.dev CLI (Chrome tools only, since the CLI has the rest built in), then connects to Chrome. See Browser Agents Local for every agent and for agents without MCP. Already signed in to the pre.dev CLI? Setup uses that login. From the pre.dev CLI, predev mcp setup runs the same setup. It replaces any pre.dev server you added before, such as the hosted one, because the local server carries all of its tools. Run it again at any time to update to the newest version.

You need Node.js 22 or later, and Google Chrome for the Chrome tools. Setup is tested on macOS.

Or let your agent do it. Paste this into Claude Code or any coding agent:

Run `npx -y @predotdev/mcp setup` with a 10 minute timeout and tell me what to click.

Tools	What they do
fast_spec, deep_spec, get_spec, list_specs, get_plan	Specifications and project plans
browser_agent, browser_agent_get, browser_agent_list	Cloud Browser Agents: tasks on pre.dev’s browsers with structured results
chrome_*	Browser Agents Local: your agent drives the Chrome you already have open, with your profiles and logins

The specification, plan, and cloud browser tools are the hosted server’s tools, passed through on your key. They accept personal accounts on a paid plan and team workspaces; see API and MCP access. The Chrome tools run on your computer. For manual configuration of each agent, commands such as check, login, and uninstall, and troubleshooting, see Browser Agents Local.

No Node.js? Connect the hosted server

The hosted pre.dev MCP server is https://api.pre.dev/mcp, over Streamable HTTP. It runs pre.dev’s specification and browser tools. Searching this documentation is a separate MCP server, https://docs.pre.dev/mcp, which needs no key.

One connection exposes eight primary tools for specifications, project plans and cloud browser automation, without the Chrome tools. It accepts the same accounts as the local server.

Claude Code

Register the remote HTTP server:

claude mcp add --transport http predev https://api.pre.dev/mcp

In Claude Code, run /mcp, select predev, and follow the browser authentication flow. Sign in to pre.dev and select the account or organization to connect. See the Claude Code MCP documentation for client-specific settings.

Cursor

Add this to your Cursor MCP configuration, then use the server’s authentication control:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "predev": {
      "url": "https://api.pre.dev/mcp"
    }
  }
}

You can also add pre.dev to Cursor. The client opens a browser when authentication is needed.

Other clients

Add a remote server with Streamable HTTP transport and URL https://api.pre.dev/mcp. Use browser OAuth if your client supports it.

For a programmatic client, send your pre.dev API key in one of the supported headers:

Interface	Send the key as
REST and AI Gateway	Authorization: Bearer <key> (recommended) or x-api-key: <key>
MCP server	Browser sign-in (OAuth) in interactive clients, or Authorization: Bearer <key>, x-api-key, or predev-api-key

The hosted server needs no package. See authentication for the key.

Try a tool

Ask your assistant:

Use pre.dev fast_spec to plan a team task manager with projects,
assignees, due dates, and organization-scoped access. Retrieve the
completed specification and show me its milestones.

Or try browser automation:

Use pre.dev browser_agent to read https://example.com and extract
its main heading. Fetch the complete structured result afterward.

With the local server, try your own Chrome:

List my Chrome profiles and the tabs I have open.

Tool execution uses your account’s credits and access. Connecting a server does not change your plan. A Free account can use browser REST and the local Chrome tools, but not the hosted tools; see authentication.

Connection lifecycle

This section and the next describe the hosted server. The local server talks to it the same way on your behalf.

1. The client authenticates with browser sign-in (OAuth) or an API-key header.
2. It sends initialize. pre.dev responds with its capabilities and the negotiated protocol version.
3. It sends notifications/initialized.
4. It calls tools/list to get the tool names and their input schemas.
5. It calls tools/call with a tool’s arguments. Progress notifications can arrive on the active response before the result.
6. It reads the tool result. When the result carries an ID for unfinished work, the client retrieves the work later, for example with get_spec.

Use a standard MCP client library to handle JSON-RPC initialization and response streams. For Streamable HTTP, requests should accept both application/json and text/event-stream.

Transport details

Endpoint	Purpose
POST /mcp	Current Streamable HTTP transport; stateless requests
GET /mcp/info	Public metadata and tool inventory
GET /mcp	Returns 405 Method Not Allowed; this is expected
GET /mcp/sse	Deprecated legacy SSE connection
POST /mcp/messages?sessionId=…	Message endpoint for a legacy SSE session

The server advertises protocol versions 2024-11-05, 2025-03-26, 2025-06-18, and 2025-11-25. Let the client negotiate a supported version. An unsupported MCP-Protocol-Version header returns 400.

The current transport does not create a persistent MCP session ID or provide a server-initiated GET stream. Notifications arrive on the active POST response. Legacy clients must use the separate /mcp/sse endpoint.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	What to check
Opening /mcp in a browser returns 405	Open service metadata; configure the MCP client to POST
Authentication fails	Reauthenticate in the client; check the selected account, key, and plan
Tools are missing	Restart or refresh the client, then rediscover tools/list
A cloud tool on the local server says it needs a pre.dev account or plan	Sign in with npx -y @predotdev/mcp login, then check your plan’s MCP access
Chrome or setup problems with the local server	See Browser Agents Local troubleshooting
A spec tool returns before the spec is ready	Save its ID and poll get_spec
A browser result contains only a summary	Call browser_agent_get for full data
Progress is missing	Logging support varies by client; progress notifications require a progressToken

For exact arguments and return formats, use the MCP tool reference. To attach a third-party server to the pre.dev Coding Agent, use external MCP servers.