How to use Daytona with Cursor
You want Daytona inside Cursor so it can run and inspect code in an isolated sandbox, review a repository change before pushing it, prepare a branch with a targeted fix, and run a long-lived development process — without you copy-pasting between tabs. Here is the whole setup, once.
Create your Daytona gateway
The gateway is the thing Cursor connects to, and it is where you decide which Daytona tools an agent may use. You create it once and every client reuses it.
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Create an Arcade account
Sign up and open the dashboard. The free tier is enough to follow this through.
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Create an MCP Gateway and select your Daytona tools
In the dashboard, create a gateway and pick the Daytona tools you want to expose. The gateway is what your client connects to, and it is where tool access is decided.
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Copy your gateway URL
Every client below needs it.
https://api.arcade.dev/mcp/<YOUR-GATEWAY-SLUG>
Connect the gateway to Cursor
Cursor does not refresh MCP OAuth tokens automatically. For a persistent connection, set Authorization to “Arcade Headers” on the gateway in the dashboard.
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Open MCP settings
Command Palette (⌘⇧P / Ctrl+Shift+P) → Open MCP Settings, then click “New MCP Server”.
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Add the gateway to mcpServers
{ "mcpServers": { "mcp-arcade": { "url": "https://api.arcade.dev/mcp/<YOUR-GATEWAY-SLUG>" } } } -
Try it out
Ask Cursor to use one of your Daytona tools.
Full Cursor guide in the docs steps verified 2026-08-13
Try these Daytona prompts
Cursor can now act on your Daytona account. Click a prompt to copy it.
Running code, deleting files, and pushing commits can change a project or its remote repository. Use tool permissions with Contextual Access policies to limit which actions an agent can take and require approval for consequential changes.