The system prompt version control layer for your IDE. Keep your Cursor rules, Claude Code skills, .cursorrules, and AI knowledge bases in sync between your workspace and ModelBound.co — automatically. The ModelBound MCP server gives Cursor, Claude Code, Copilot, and any MCP client live access to your shared prompts, eval results, and token-health insights.
Open source. Local-first. Zero source code leaves your machine.
If you've ever dealt with:
.cursorrulesfiles drifting out of sync across repos- Manually copying system prompts between Cursor, Claude, and Copilot
- No version history for your AI rules and context
- Wanting an MCP prompt server that actually works with your IDE
- No CI/CD pipeline for testing and validating prompt changes
- Rebuilding your entire prompt library when switching AI tools
This extension solves all of it.
Your prompts, rules, and skills shouldn't be locked into a single IDE or agent. ModelBound acts as the shared layer underneath — write a skill once, and it's available everywhere you work:
- Switch from Cursor to Claude Code mid-project? Your context follows you.
- Try a new AI tool next month? Your entire prompt library is already there.
- Run Copilot at work and Cursor at home? Same skills, same quality, no re-work.
Stop rebuilding context from scratch every time you change tools. ModelBound makes your investment in prompt engineering portable — so you get full value from every AI subscription you're paying for, regardless of which editor or agent you're using today.
Search "ModelBound" in the Cursor/VS Code Extensions panel, or download the .vsix from GitHub Releases.
On first activation, you'll be prompted to authenticate. Two options:
- Sign In with Browser (recommended): Opens your browser for a one-click OAuth sign-in. No tokens to copy — the extension handles everything automatically via the Device Authorization Grant flow.
- Paste API Key: For users who prefer manual setup or CI environments. Grab your key from modelbound.co/settings and paste it when prompted.
You can also sign in later via Cmd+Shift+P → "ModelBound: Sign In with Browser".
That's it. Save any file in a watched context directory and it syncs to ModelBound cloud automatically. Pull skills from your team's shared library with Cmd+Shift+P → "ModelBound: Pull Skill/Context to Local Workspace".
- One-Click OAuth Sign-In: Browser-based authentication — no manual token management. The extension opens your browser, you approve, and you're connected.
- Cursor Rules Sync: Edit
.cursor/rules/files natively. On save, changes push to ModelBound cloud and stay versioned. .cursorrulesManager: Pull shared rules from your team's ModelBound workspace directly into your local Cursor config.- Claude Code Skills Sync: Same bi-directional sync for
.claude/— your Claude skills stay current across machines. - System Prompt Version Control: Every edit is tracked. Roll back, branch, or share prompts across your team from the ModelBound dashboard.
- Skill Development Pipeline: Run test, optimize, and production stages against your skills directly from the IDE. Visual status panel shows pass/fail results in real time.
- MCP Prompt Server: The ModelBound MCP server exposes 40+ tools to any MCP-compatible agent. This extension handles the local filesystem bridge — writing files and syncing edits back to the cloud.
- IDE-Aware File Placement: Automatically writes pulled skills to the correct native location for your IDE —
.kiro/skills/,.cursor/rules/,.claude/, and.modelbound/. - Git-Aware Sync: Detects your repo URL and branch, associating synced skills with the correct project context server-side.
- Local Isolation: Only context directories are watched. No application source code, credentials, or telemetry ever leave your machine.
+--------------------+ +---------------------------+ +---------------------+
| ModelBound Cloud | <===========> | This Extension (Local) | <===========> | IDE / Agent |
| (Context Hub) | Secure API | File Watcher + Sync | Filesystem | (Cursor, Kiro, etc) |
+--------------------+ +---------------------------+ +---------------------+
|
v
Watches & syncs these directories:
• .modelbound/**/*.{md,json}
• .kiro/skills/**/*.md
• .cursor/rules/**/*.md
• .claude/**/*.md
• .agents/skills/**/SKILL.md
The ModelBound MCP server runs remotely and handles agent-facing tools (fetching skills, searching context, running evals). Since it can't see your local filesystem, this extension acts as the local bridge — writing files to the right places and syncing edits back.
| IDE / Tool | Context Directory | What Syncs |
|---|---|---|
| Cursor | .cursor/rules/ |
Cursor rules, .cursorrules |
| Kiro | .kiro/skills/ |
Skills and steering files |
| Claude Code | .claude/ |
Claude skills and context |
| Agents | .agents/skills/ |
SKILL.md files |
| Copilot | .github/ |
Copilot instructions (coming soon) |
| Any MCP client | .modelbound/ |
All skills (canonical) |
The extension never creates IDE parent directories from scratch — it only writes into them if they already exist in your workspace.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
ModelBound: Sign In with Browser |
OAuth sign-in — opens browser, no token copy needed |
ModelBound: Sign Out |
Clear stored credentials |
ModelBound: Pull Skill/Context to Local Workspace |
Fetch a skill by ID and write to all detected IDE locations |
ModelBound: Set API Key (Manual) |
Manually set or update your API key |
ModelBound: Run Skill Development Pipeline |
Run test/optimize/production pipeline against a skill |
Run CI/CD-style validation on your AI skills without leaving the IDE:
Cmd+Shift+P→ "ModelBound: Run Skill Development Pipeline"- Select a stage: Full pipeline, Test & Optimize only, or Production only
- Choose production targets: Save, Publish to Marketplace, Export to Claude
- A live status panel opens showing pass/fail results for each stage
The pipeline runs server-side via the ModelBound MCP server and reports results back in real time.
- Team prompt libraries: Share system prompts and Cursor rules across your org. Everyone pulls from the same source of truth.
- Multi-IDE workflows: Use Cursor and Claude Code on the same project? Edits in either sync back to ModelBound and propagate to both.
- Tool-agnostic prompt investment: Build your skills once in ModelBound and use them across every AI tool you subscribe to — no vendor lock-in, no re-work when you switch.
- Prompt version control: Track changes to your AI rules over time. See who changed what and roll back if needed.
- Skill CI/CD: Validate prompt changes before publishing — run test gates, optimization passes, and production deploys from the command palette.
- MCP-native agents: Let your AI agent fetch and scaffold context directly via the ModelBound MCP server — no manual file management.
| Setting | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
modelbound.apiKey |
string | "" |
Your ModelBound.co API Key (set automatically via sign-in) |
modelbound.autoSync |
boolean | true |
Auto-sync context file changes back to cloud |
modelbound.mcpUrl |
string | https://mcp.modelbound.co |
MCP Streamable HTTP endpoint |
modelbound.authUrl |
string | https://modelbound.co/api/extension-device-auth |
Device auth endpoint (advanced) |
This extension is open-sourced so enterprise security teams can audit exactly what data moves off their machines:
- Directory Isolation: The file watcher only targets known context directories listed above. It cannot index outside them.
- Exclusion Manifest: A
.modelboundignorefile prevents accidental tracking of source code or secrets. - No telemetry. No analytics. Just file sync.
- OAuth tokens stay local: API keys are stored in your VS Code/Cursor settings — never transmitted anywhere except the ModelBound API.
- Clone and install:
git clone https://github.com/ModelBound/modelbound-cursor-extension.git
cd modelbound-cursor-extension
npm install- Watch for changes:
npm run watch- Press
F5to launch the Extension Development Host for testing.
Distributed under the terms of the MIT License.