# Set up the Meniscus MCP server: Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code

Source: https://meniscus.site/docs · Updated 2026-09-27

Meniscus is a remote MCP server. Add its URL to your assistant, sign in in the browser window that opens, and ask for a screen. No API key to paste — the sign-in is OAuth.

## Server URL

```
https://meniscus.site/mcp
```

## Add it to your client

### Claude Code

```
claude mcp add --transport http meniscus https://meniscus.site/mcp
```

Then run `/mcp` in Claude Code and choose meniscus to sign in.

### Claude desktop and claude.ai

Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, paste the server URL, then Connect.

### Cursor

Add to `~/.cursor/mcp.json` (or the project's `.cursor/mcp.json`):

```
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "meniscus": { "url": "https://meniscus.site/mcp" }
  }
}
```

### VS Code

Add to `.vscode/mcp.json`:

```
{
  "servers": {
    "meniscus": { "type": "http", "url": "https://meniscus.site/mcp" }
  }
}
```

Any other client that supports remote (Streamable HTTP) servers with OAuth works the same way: give it the URL; it discovers the sign-in by itself.

## Ask for a screen

Name the platform and the parts; your agent picks the tools. For example:

```
Design a dark macOS notes app with a glass sidebar and toolbar in Figma.
Build it in SwiftUI next. Use the meniscus tools and check your screenshot against the brief's checklist.
```

## Tools

- `create_design_brief` — One call for a concrete screen: direction, tokens, specs of the components it names, build notes and limits for your stack, a checklist and two reference images.
- `get_guidelines` — The design language; with a medium (design-tool, web, swiftui, flutter, react-native) also that medium's recipe.
- `get_component_spec` — One of 34 components: material, geometry, optics numbers, anatomy, states, rules, references.
- `get_effect_spec` — One of 10 effects or accent materials: refraction, frost, specular, dispersion, iridescence, caustics, morph, tint, liquid metal, border beam.
- `search_references` — Search the reference renders by text and filters (kind, component, effect, platform, theme).
- `get_references` — Load reference images by id, cropped to the glass or full frame.
- `get_platform_support` — What is implemented and verified on each platform.

## Plans and limits

Free: the design language, all specs, web and design-tool recipes, 1 image per spec, 30 tool calls a day. Pro, Team and Lifetime: every medium, every image, the React Native starter and 2,000 calls a day (fair use). Limits reset at 00:00 UTC. Pricing: https://meniscus.site/pricing

## Troubleshooting

- **The sign-in window did not open.** Re-run the connect step (`/mcp` in Claude Code); some clients open it only on the first tool call.
- **"Sign in required" after it worked.** Your session expired or was revoked in your account; connect again.
- **A tool says it needs a paid plan.** You are on the free plan; the rest of the answer is still usable.
- **Refraction looks like blur on the web.** SVG refraction runs in Chromium; Safari and Firefox get the frost fallback, as the web recipe explains.