MCP tool schemas not populated to file system for Agent context - Agent cannot discover available tools

Support Bug Reports
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1

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

Summary

MCP servers are connected and tools are visible in Cursor Settings UI with full parameter schemas, but the Agent cannot discover available MCP tools because the tool descriptor files are not being written to the expected file system location.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Configure MCP servers (e.g., Atlassian, GitHub) via Cursor Settings > Tools & MCP
  2. Verify tools appear in the UI with parameters (e.g., getConfluencePage shows cloudId, pageId, contentFormat)
  3. Start an Agent conversation
  4. Ask Agent to list available MCP tools or use semantic search to find tool schemas

Expected Behavior

Agent should be able to discover MCP tool names and their parameter schemas, either through:

  • Pre-populated tool descriptor files at the designated path
  • Direct communication with MCP servers
  • Tool schemas injected into Agent context

Actual Behavior

  • Agent is told tool descriptors exist at /Users/<user>/.cursor/projects/<workspace>/mcps/<server>/tools/
  • These directories are empty - no JSON descriptor files exist
  • Agent cannot discover what MCP tools are available or what parameters they require
  • Agent can only call MCP tools if user manually provides tool names and parameters (e.g., from screenshots of the UI)

Workaround

MCP tools still function when called directly with CallMcpTool if the user provides the tool name and parameters. The issue is only with tool discovery.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Configure MCP servers (e.g., Atlassian, GitHub) via Cursor Settings > Tools & MCP
  2. Verify tools appear in the UI with parameters (e.g., getConfluencePage shows cloudId, pageId, contentFormat)
  3. Start an Agent conversation
  4. Ask Agent to list available MCP tools or use semantic search to find tool schemas

Expected Behavior

Agent should be able to discover MCP tool names and their parameter schemas, either through:

  • Pre-populated tool descriptor files at the designated path
  • Direct communication with MCP servers
  • Tool schemas injected into Agent context

Operating System

MacOS

Version Information

Version: 2.4.28 (Universal)
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: f3f5cec40024283013878b50c4f9be4002e0b580
Date: 2026-02-03T00:56:18.293Z
Build Type: Stable
Release Track: Default
Electron: 39.2.7
Chromium: 142.0.7444.235
Node.js: 22.21.1
V8: 14.2.231.21-electron.0
OS: Darwin arm64 25.2.0

For AI issues: which model did you use?

Opus 4.5

Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

1 Like
3

Hey, thanks for the report, this is a known issue with the discovery MCP tools.

Temporary workaround:

  • Open a new chat
  • Ask the agent: “list all MCP tools you have access to”
  • After that, the tools should become visible in that session

As far as I know, this was being worked on, but it looks like the issue is still present in 2.4.28.

Can you send:

  • The Request ID from the chat where the issue happens (three dots in the top right > Copy Request ID)
  • Logs from View > Output > “MCP File System” (if that channel shows up in the dropdown)

This will help us figure out if this is a regression or something new.

4

Thanks for quick reply. It will be very helpful on my dairy work if it can be fixed. Thanks

Request ID: aac25052-c562-4908-aefb-49732f0ed56e

output.txt (507.6 KB)

5

It didn’t work. FYI

1 Like
6

Fixed in the new version! Thanks. It helps a looooooot!

1 Like
8

The “list all MCP tools” trick works inconsistently. What’s more reliable is starting a fresh chat and explicitly mentioning the server name in your first message, like “using the confluence MCP, get page X”. Once the agent finds it once, it remembers for the rest of the session.