User MCP Servers in Agents Window are inconsistent with Editor Window when using Remote SSH

[zhbf_jeff (Jeff)]

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

When using Remote SSH to develop a project on a remote machine, the User MCP Servers shown in the Agents Window are inconsistent with those in the Editor Window.

Steps to Reproduce

1. I have two environments:
   • Ubuntu 22: where the code is located
   • Windows 11: where Cursor is installed and used for Remote SSH development
2. The MySQL MCP is installed on Ubuntu:

cat ~/.cursor/mcp.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mysql": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@benborla29/mcp-server-mysql"],
      "env": {
        "MYSQL_HOST": "",
        "MYSQL_PORT": "",
        "MYSQL_USER": "",
        "MYSQL_PASS": "",
        "MYSQL_DB": "",
        "ALLOW_INSERT_OPERATION": "true",
        "ALLOW_UPDATE_OPERATION": "true",
        "ALLOW_DELETE_OPERATION": "true",
        "ALLOW_DDL_OPERATION": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

3. No MCP is configured on Windows:

Get-Content -Path "C:\Users\User\.cursor\mcp.json"
{
  "mcpServers": {
  }
}

4. In the Editor Window, everything works correctly — the MCP Server appears in the Settings page.
5. In the Agents Window, no MCP Server appears in Settings. It seems to be reading the mcp.json file from the Windows (local) machine instead of the remote Ubuntu environment.

Expected Behavior

The Agents Window should read the MCP configuration from the remote SSH host (Ubuntu), consistent with the Editor Window.

Screenshots / Screen Recordings

Operating System

Windows 10/11
Linux

Version Information

Version: 3.5.17 (user setup)
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: d5b2fc092e16007956c9e5047f76097b9e626ca0
Date: 2026-05-20T02:43:31.559Z
Layout: editor
Build Type: Stable
Release Track: Default
Electron: 39.8.1
Chromium: 142.0.7444.265
Node.js: 22.22.1
V8: 14.2.231.22-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26200

Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

[deanrie]

Hey, thanks for the detailed report. The repro steps and the comparison with the Editor Window really help.

This is a known limitation. In the Agents Window, MCP settings are resolved using the local workspace context, so it reads ~/.cursor/mcp.json from your Windows machine, not from the remote Ubuntu host. The Editor Window correctly delegates the read to the remote via the extension host, which is why you see the difference. This is part of a broader set of SSH parity gaps in the Agents Window that the team is tracking.

I’ve reported your case internally. I can’t share an ETA for a fix yet.

As a temporary workaround, for servers that should run on the remote machine, you can keep the config in the Editor Window. MCP from the remote ~/.cursor/mcp.json is picked up correctly there.