Windsurf MCP server configuration for a task backlog

Add the Autoplans MCP server to Windsurf Cascade through mcp_config.json, using the serverUrl field Cascade expects for a remote server.

The configuration

File: ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json · Transport: Streamable HTTP or stdio

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "autoplans": {
      "serverUrl": "https://autoplans.dev/api/v1/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer apk_live_..." }
    }
  }
}

The endpoint is https://autoplans.dev/api/v1/mcp. Create the key in the dashboard under Settings → API keys; see Accounts and API keys.

Step by step

1
Create an API key in the dashboard under Settings → API keys.
2
Click the MCPs icon in the top right menu of the Cascade panel, which is where Cascade's MCP servers are managed.
3
Add the block under mcpServers in ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json and save.
4
Open the MCPs panel again and confirm autoplans is listed; clicking it opens its settings page, where each of its tools can be toggled.
5
Turn off tools you do not need on each server's settings page, so the whole list stays under Cascade's limit of 100 tools.
6
Ask Cascade what is in progress on the project.

Specific to Windsurf

•Windsurf documents the remote field as serverUrl, not url. A block copied from Cursor or Claude Code carries the wrong field name, so that is the first thing to check.
•Cascade has a limit of 100 tools in total at any one time, and this server contributes around forty of them. If tools start disappearing after you add it, that ceiling is the reason.
•Cascade speaks stdio as well as Streamable HTTP and SSE, so npm install -g autoplans-mcp with a command and env entry is a working fallback if the remote entry gives trouble.
•The hosted endpoint is a paid capability: a free-plan key is authenticated and then refused with a 403 and an upgrade message, rather than returning an empty tool list.

What the agent can do once connected

Around forty tools: list and create projects, read the whole task graph in one list_tasks call, ask code_agent_get_task_with_dependencies whether a task is blocked, move it to in progress, comment on it, and mark it done. Every tool and its arguments is in the MCP tools reference; the server itself is described on the MCP server page.

curl -s https://autoplans.dev/api/v1/mcp \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -H "authorization: Bearer $AUTOPLANS_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/list"}'

Questions

Where does the Windsurf MCP server configuration file live?

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json, described in Windsurf's documentation as the list of servers Cascade can connect to. It is a JSON file with an mcpServers object, the same outer shape other clients use, and the MCPs icon at the top right of the Cascade panel is where the same servers are managed from the UI.

Why does Cascade not list the Autoplans tools?

Check the field name first: Windsurf expects serverUrl for a remote server, not url. If the entry is right, check the total tool count — Cascade holds 100 tools at most, and around forty of them come from this server, so a long list of other servers can push it out. Then check the key with a tools/list request against the endpoint.

Can Windsurf run the stdio bridge instead of the remote URL?

Yes. Install autoplans-mcp globally and use a command entry with AUTOPLANS_API_KEY in env, exactly as Claude Desktop does. It reaches the same server and exposes the same tools; the only difference is that the process runs on your machine. The remote entry is simpler when it works, so try that first.

Checked against the Windsurf documentation on 2026-08-28.