Quick MCP toggle from chat

Ideas Feature Requests
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1

The Problem

MCP management in Cursor forces a trade-off between convenience and efficiency:

  • All MCPs enabled — Tools are always available, but each MCP’s tool descriptors consume context tokens on every request, even when irrelevant to the task. With 5-10+ MCPs, this adds up significantly.

  • All MCPs disabled — Saves context, but requires navigating to Settings → MCP → manually enabling the right server → waiting for initialization → then returning to the chat. This breaks flow and adds friction.

There’s no middle ground — and no quick way to toggle MCPs without leaving the chat.

Proposed Solution

Make MCP selection as easy as model selection:

  1. Quick picker in chat — A dropdown or command to enable/disable MCPs directly from the chat, similar to how you switch models.

  2. In-chat status indicator — Show active MCPs in the chat UI (e.g., collapsible pill or badge), so users can see what’s loaded without opening Settings.

  3. Session-scoped activation — Optionally, MCPs enabled during a session could auto-disable when the chat ends, returning to their default state.

Benefits

  • Toggle MCPs without leaving the chat

  • Visual indicator of what’s currently active

  • Faster workflow for power users with many MCPs

  • Context costs stay proportional to actual usage

Example Flow

  1. User starts a chat with no MCPs loaded

  2. User realizes they need Sentry → opens MCP picker (like model picker)

  3. Selects “Sentry” → MCP loads

  4. Status indicator shows: :green_circle: Sentry

  5. User continues working without ever opening Settings

4

Hey @Netanel_Avraham

This should really not be the case ever since we introduced Dynamic Context Discovery a few releases back. See Efficiently loading only the MCP tools needed.

With that in mind, is context utilization still a concern?

I would also call out that in the new Agents Window, it is much easier to toggle MCP servers on/off without heading into the settings.

Screenshot 2026-04-08 at 09.46.26
Screenshot 2026-04-08 at 09.46.261330×754 73.5 KB

7

Thanks for the response. For me, the context impact is secondary in this case, the main value is better visibility and easier control over MCPs directly from the chat (in chat mode, similar to agent mode), without constantly going to Settings.