Why is Desktop Commander MCP not working in Cursor?

Partly: some steps were verified in our test on Oct 15, 2026. We saw no errors; use the exact setup on this page.

Desktop Commander MCP not working in Cursor? Fixes

Partial Partly: some steps were verified in our test on Oct 15, 2026. Below is the exact setup we used in Cursor (2026.10.12-d47ca18), what each check showed, and what to check, all from our own run log.

Date tested: Oct 15, 2026 · From our harness, not the maker’s claims · How we test

1. Use the install config we tested in Cursor

{
 "mcpServers": {
  "desktop-commander": {
   "command": "npx",
   "args": [
    "-y",
    "@wonderwhy-er/desktop-commander@latest"
   ]
  }
 }
}

Replace any <YOUR_…> placeholder and local test paths with your own. Every client’s tested snippet is on the Desktop Commander page.

2. Check that Cursor connects to it

In our run the connect check was OK (connect time not recorded). Our check output:

desktop-commander: ready

3. Confirm the tools are visible

Cursor listed 25 tools from this server in our run (the protocol check found 25). Fewer or none usually means the server did not start; check the config above.

Errors we observed

We saw no errors in this run.

Quoted from our run log. Secrets redacted. We list only what we saw.

More help

Desktop Commander: all results and setup · Full Cursor run · General Cursor MCP troubleshooting