How to set up the VSL Max MCP in Claude Code, Cursor and Claude Desktop

What you need

Open Settings › MCP in the dashboard with MCP turned on. That is where you find the two things every client asks for:

The endpoint, on the MCP server card. Copy it from there: it differs by environment.
The agent key, shown once when MCP is first turned on. If you no longer have the key, see how to replace it in What MCP is.

The Quick setup card already has the ready-made block, in this format:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vslmax": {
      "url": "PASTE_THE_ENDPOINT_HERE",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer PASTE_THE_KEY_HERE" }
    }
  }
}

The key always goes in the Authorization header, after the word Bearer.

Claude Code

In your terminal, run the command below with your endpoint and key:

claude mcp add --transport http vslmax PASTE_THE_ENDPOINT_HERE --header "Authorization: Bearer PASTE_THE_KEY_HERE"

Then open Claude Code and run /mcp to check that the vslmax server shows as connected.

Cursor

Open Cursor's mcp.json file: ~/.cursor/mcp.json to apply it to every project, or .cursor/mcp.json inside a project.
Paste the Quick setup block. If the file already has other servers, add only the vslmax entry inside mcpServers.
Save and check in Cursor's MCP settings that the server shows as active.

Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop's configuration file (claude_desktop_config.json) works with servers that run on your computer. To connect a remote server with the key in a header, use the mcp-remote bridge, which requires Node.js:

In Claude Desktop, open Settings › Developer › Edit config.
Add the entry below with your endpoint and key:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vslmax": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "PASTE_THE_ENDPOINT_HERE", "--header", "Authorization:${VSLMAX_AUTH}"],
      "env": { "VSLMAX_AUTH": "Bearer PASTE_THE_KEY_HERE" }
    }
  }
}

Save and restart Claude Desktop.

The key goes in the VSLMAX_AUTH variable to avoid spaces inside the arguments, which break command parsing on some systems.

Other clients

Any client that supports MCP over HTTP works. Give it the endpoint from the MCP server card and the Authorization: Bearer header with the agent key.

How to test

Ask the assistant: "list my VSL Max videos". If it answers with your library, the connection is working. If you get an authorization error, check that MCP is on for the account and that the key hasn't been revoked. Turning MCP off in the dashboard cuts access immediately, and the assistant starts getting errors.

Set up MCP in Claude Code, Cursor and Claude Desktop