MCP Introduction

The Trigger.dev MCP (Model Context Protocol) Server gives AI coding assistants direct access to your Trigger.dev projects. Once connected, your assistant can search docs, trigger task runs, deploy projects, and inspect run details — all without leaving the chat.

What the MCP Server can do

Search the Trigger.dev documentation
Initialize Trigger.dev in a new project
List projects, organizations, and tasks
Trigger task runs with custom payloads
Deploy projects to dev, staging, or production
Fetch run details and list runs with status filters

Installation

The fastest way to get started is the interactive installer, which detects your installed AI clients and configures them automatically:

npx trigger.dev@latest install-mcp

You can also pass --yolo to install into all detected clients at once:

npx trigger.dev@latest install-mcp --yolo

Or target specific clients:

npx trigger.dev@latest install-mcp --client claude-code cursor

After installation, restart your AI client. You should see a server named trigger connect automatically.

Client configuration

If you prefer to configure manually, copy the snippet for your client below.

npx trigger.dev@latest install-mcp --client claude-code

Or add to ~/.claude.json (user) or .mcp.json (project):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "trigger": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["trigger.dev@latest", "mcp"]
    }
  }
}

npx trigger.dev@latest install-mcp --client cursor

Or add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (user) or .cursor/mcp.json (project):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "trigger": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["trigger.dev@latest", "mcp"]
    }
  }
}

npx trigger.dev@latest install-mcp --client windsurf

Or add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "trigger": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["trigger.dev@latest", "mcp"]
    }
  }
}

npx trigger.dev@latest install-mcp --client vscode

Or add to .vscode/mcp.json (project) or ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/mcp.json (user, macOS):

{
  "servers": {
    "trigger": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["trigger.dev@latest", "mcp"]
    }
  }
}

VS Code uses servers instead of mcpServers.

npx trigger.dev@latest install-mcp --client zed

Or add to ~/.config/zed/settings.json:

{
  "context_servers": {
    "trigger": {
      "source": "custom",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["trigger.dev@latest", "mcp"]
    }
  }
}

npx trigger.dev@latest install-mcp --client cline

Or add to ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/saoudrizwan.claude-dev/settings/cline_mcp_settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "trigger": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["trigger.dev@latest", "mcp"]
    }
  }
}

npx trigger.dev@latest install-mcp --client gemini-cli

Or add to ~/.gemini/settings.json (user) or .gemini/settings.json (project):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "trigger": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["trigger.dev@latest", "mcp"]
    }
  }
}

npx trigger.dev@latest install-mcp --client opencode

Or add to ~/.config/opencode/opencode.json (user) or ./opencode.json (project):

{
  "mcp": {
    "trigger": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": ["npx", "trigger.dev@latest", "mcp"],
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}

npx trigger.dev@latest install-mcp --client openai-codex

Or add to ~/.codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.trigger]
command = "npx"
args = ["trigger.dev@latest", "mcp"]

Authentication

The search_docs tool works without any authentication. All other tools require you to be logged in via the Trigger.dev CLI:

npx trigger.dev@latest login

The first time you use an authenticated tool, your AI client will prompt you to complete the login flow in your browser.

Getting started prompts

Once the server is connected, try these prompts in your AI assistant:

"Search the Trigger.dev docs for an ffmpeg example"
"Initialize Trigger.dev in my project"
"List all tasks in my project"
"Trigger my send-email task with a sample payload"
"Get the details of the latest run for my process-video task"
"Deploy my project to staging"

Advanced options

The install-mcp command supports several options for fine-grained control:

Flag	Description
`--client <clients...>`	Install into specific client(s)
`--scope user \| project \| local`	Where to write the config
`--project-ref <ref>`	Scope the server to a specific project
`--dev-only`	Restrict to the dev environment only
`--yolo`	Install into all supported clients automatically
`--tag <tag>`	Pin to a specific CLI version (default: `latest`)

Example: restrict to dev environment for a specific project:

npx trigger.dev@latest install-mcp --dev-only --project-ref proj_abc123

To pass options through a manual config, add them to the args array:

{
  "args": ["trigger.dev@latest", "mcp", "--dev-only", "--project-ref", "proj_abc123"]
}

Troubleshooting

If the server shows as disconnected, try restarting your AI client. MCP server connections are established on startup.

Run npx trigger.dev@latest install-mcp again — it detects and fixes common configuration issues.
Verify the server starts without errors by running npx trigger.dev@latest mcp in your terminal.
Make sure you have restarted the AI client after editing its config file.
Check that node and npx are on your PATH (some clients use a restricted environment).

Getting Started

Writing Tasks

AI Agents & Realtime

Configuration & Deployment

Observability & Management

Self-hosting

What the MCP Server can do

Installation

Client configuration

Authentication

Getting started prompts

Advanced options

Troubleshooting

Next steps

Building with AI

Quickstart

​What the MCP Server can do

​Installation

​Client configuration

​Authentication

​Getting started prompts

​Advanced options

​Troubleshooting

​Next steps

Building with AI

Quickstart

What the MCP Server can do

Installation

Client configuration

Authentication

Getting started prompts

Advanced options

Troubleshooting

Next steps