Emacs MCP Server

A small MCP server that lets Claude Code and Cursor talk to your running Emacs via emacsclient.

Requirements

• Emacs with the server enabled (e.g., add (server-start) to your init, or run emacs --daemon).
• Python 3.12.

Quick install (recommended)

Install and run with uvx (requires uv):

uvx git+https://github.com/thornjad/emacs-mcp-server.git --smoke

Run the server (for MCP clients that launch it for you, see config below; you can also run it manually to test). It will fail fast if Emacs isn't reachable:

uvx git+https://github.com/thornjad/emacs-mcp-server.git

Alternative install (development)

For development or if you need to modify the code:

brew install uv
uv venv -p 3.12
uv sync
uv run emacs-mcp-server --smoke

Configuration: Claude Code CLI

Use the claude mcp add command to register this server with the CLI.

• uvx (recommended):

claude mcp add --scope user --transport stdio \
  emacs uvx git+https://github.com/thornjad/emacs-mcp-server.git

• Development (uv):

claude mcp add --scope user --transport stdio \
  emacs uv run emacs-mcp-server

Confirm and manage:

claude mcp list
claude mcp get emacs

Configuration: Cursor

Cursor also supports MCP servers.

1. Open Cursor Settings and find the MCP Servers section.
2. Add a new custom server:
   • Name: emacs
   • Command and Args: same options as described above for Claude Code
   • Environment (optional): same as above
   • Stdio: enabled

After saving, ask Cursor to read the visible text in your current Emacs window or to evaluate a small form to confirm everything works.