How to use Slack with Cursor
You want Slack inside Cursor so it can triage a busy Slack workspace, coordinate people in the right channels, summarize a decision thread, and publish an approved team update — without you copy-pasting between tabs. Here is the whole setup, once.
Create your Slack gateway
The gateway is the thing Cursor connects to, and it is where you decide which Slack 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 Slack tools
In the dashboard, create a gateway and pick the Slack 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.
Connect the gateway to Cursor
Heads up
If the connection drops once the access token expires, set Authorization to “Arcade Headers” on the gateway in the dashboard.
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Open MCP settings
Open Customize in the sidebar, then select MCPs.
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Add the gateway
Select Add New MCP Server, choose HTTP, paste your gateway URL and name the server. Cursor writes the entry to mcp.json:
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Sign in to Arcade
Back in MCPs, mcp-arcade shows that it needs a login. Click it and approve the Arcade sign-in that opens in your browser.
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Try it out
Open chat (⌘L / Ctrl+L), switch to Agent mode and ask it to use one of your Slack tools. The first time it calls a Slack tool, Arcade replies with an authorization link. Open it, sign in to Slack and approve access, then ask again. You do this once per account.
Get started with these Slack prompts
Cursor can now act on your Slack account. Copy a prompt and paste it in.
triage a busy Slack workspace
Search my accessible Slack messages from the last three days for customer questions, incidents, and requests that need follow-up. Group the results by topic, include links and authors, and list anything that still needs a reply; do not send messages.
coordinate people in the right channels
Find the Slack profiles for the people named in this request, identify the relevant channel, and invite anyone who is not already a member. Before inviting or sending anything, show me the proposed members, channel, and message for approval.
summarize a decision thread
Find the Slack thread about the project decision I describe, read the parent and replies, and return the decision, unresolved questions, named owners, and links to the relevant messages. Do not edit or reply to the thread.
publish an approved team update
Draft a concise Slack update from the facts I provide, targeting the channel or thread I name. Show me the exact draft and destination for approval, then send it only after I approve; return the posted message link.
A mistaken invite or message can reach the wrong people. Pair Slack with Contextual Access policies to require approval before invites or messages, and limit the conversations an agent can access.