Cursor

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Prerequisites

• Cursor installed (Get Cursor)
• Node.js 18+ installed
• ShadowGit desktop app running with tracked repositories

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Quick Setup

1. Install the MCP server:
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   npm install -g shadowgit-mcp-server
   

2. Open Cursor Settings:
   • Press Cmd + Shift + P (Mac) or Ctrl + Shift + P (Windows/Linux)
   • Search for Cursor Settings in the search bar
   • Click on Tools and Integrations
   • Under MCP Tools, click on Add Custom MCP
3. Add ShadowGit configuration:
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   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "shadowgit": {
         "command": "shadowgit-mcp-server"
       }
     }
   }
   

4. Restart Cursor to activate the MCP server

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Verify Installation

What ShadowGit repositories are available?

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What Cursor can now do

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AI Session Intelligence

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Instant debugging

Why is this function returning null? Check what changed in the last hour.

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Code archaeology

Find when this bug was introduced by checking the history of auth.ts

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Smart suggestions

Based on my recent changes, what's the best way to refactor this?

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Pattern recognition

Have I fixed similar issues before in this project?

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Using ShadowGit in Cursor

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In Chat (Cmd+K)

@shadowgit show me recent changes to the login flow

@shadowgit when did the tests last pass?

@shadowgit what files changed together with api.ts?

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In Composer (Cmd+I)

Refactor this authentication flow. Check @shadowgit for what approaches 
I've tried before and avoid the patterns that didn't work.

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During debugging

This error started appearing today. @shadowgit check what changed 
in the last 24 hours that could cause this.

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Advanced Configuration

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Custom installation path

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "shadowgit": {
      "command": "/usr/local/bin/shadowgit-mcp-server"
    }
  }
}

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With environment variables

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "shadowgit": {
      "command": "shadowgit-mcp-server",
      "env": {
        "NODE_ENV": "production"
      }
    }
  }
}

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Example Workflows

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Morning debugging session

1. Check overnight changes:
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   @shadowgit what changed since yesterday evening?
   

2. Find breaking changes:
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   @shadowgit when did the tests last pass? Show me the diff.
   

3. Quick fix:
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   Based on @shadowgit history, revert just the breaking change
   

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Code review preparation

@shadowgit summarize all changes to the auth module this week

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Learning from history

@shadowgit show me all the different ways I've implemented this feature

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Troubleshooting

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Cursor doesn’t see ShadowGit

1. Confirm installation:
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   which shadowgit-mcp-server
   

2. Check Cursor logs:
   • Help → Toggle Developer Tools
   • Check Console for MCP errors
3. Restart Cursor completely:
   • Quit Cursor (Cmd+Q / Alt+F4)
   • Start Cursor fresh

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”Command not found”

npm list -g shadowgit-mcp-server --depth=0

"command": "/Users/you/.npm-global/bin/shadowgit-mcp-server"

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No repositories available

1. ShadowGit desktop app must be running
2. At least one repository must be tracked
3. Wait 3-5 minutes for first snapshots

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Permission denied

1. System Preferences → Security & Privacy
2. Privacy → Full Disk Access
3. Add Cursor.app

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Best Practices

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1. Context-aware queries

@shadowgit show auth.ts changes that happened during failing tests

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2. Time-box investigations

@shadowgit only show changes from the last 2 hours

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3. Cross-file analysis

@shadowgit what other files usually change when I modify config.json?

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4. Learn from patterns

@shadowgit how did I solve similar React rendering issues before?

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Security

• Read-only access: Can’t modify your code or git history
• Local processing: Your code never leaves your machine
• Safe operations: Only non-destructive git commands allowed

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Tips & Tricks

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Quick history check

• Settings → Keyboard Shortcuts
• Search for “AI Chat”
• Add custom binding for “@shadowgit log -10”

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Combine with Cursor’s context

Looking at @file:src/api.ts and @shadowgit history, 
why might this endpoint be failing?

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Use for documentation

@shadowgit help me write docs by showing how this API evolved

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Next Steps