How do I connect Claude Code, Cursor or another agent to Dawnwood over MCP?

Short answerMint a personal access token in the console (avatar menu → API tokens), log the CLI in with npx @dawnwood/cli auth login --token …, then register the server in your agent — for Claude Code that is one command, claude mcp add dawnwood -- npx -y @dawnwood/cli mcp. Agent access is included in every plan, and your agent's own reasoning is never metered.

What you need

A Dawnwood account. Any plan works, including Free; there is no separate agent add-on.
Node.js 18 or newer on the machine that runs your agent. The server ships as the npm package @dawnwood/cli and is started with npx, so nothing else has to be installed.
An agent that speaks MCP: Claude Code, Cursor, Claude Desktop, Codex, or any client that can launch a stdio MCP server.

1. Mint a token

Sign in to the console, open the avatar menu (top right) and choose API tokens. Give the token a name that tells you which agent it is for, such as claude-code, and click Mint one →.

The token starts with dw_pat_v1_ and is shown exactly once. Copy it now; when you close the card it cannot be displayed again. If you lose it, revoke it and mint another. Tokens expire after 90 days by default. Details are in how API tokens work.

2. Log the CLI in

Paste the token into the login command:

npx @dawnwood/cli auth login --token dw_pat_v1_…

The CLI checks the token against your account, prints the email it belongs to, and stores it in ~/.config/dawnwood/config.json with owner-only permissions. Confirm it works:

npx @dawnwood/cli whoami

whoami returns your account and permissions. npx @dawnwood/cli auth status shows whether a token is stored; auth logout deletes the local copy (it does not revoke the token — do that in the console).

Running in CI, or in a client that cannot read your home directory? Skip the login step and set the environment variable DAWNWOOD_TOKEN instead. It overrides the stored token.

3. Register the server in your agent

The server is the command npx -y @dawnwood/cli mcp. It reads the token you stored in step 2 (or DAWNWOOD_TOKEN), so the agent configuration never contains the token itself.

Claude Code

claude mcp add dawnwood -- npx -y @dawnwood/cli mcp

Type /mcp inside Claude Code to confirm dawnwood is listed as connected. To make the server available in one project only, run the command inside that project; add --scope user to make it available everywhere.

Cursor

Create .cursor/mcp.json in your project (or ~/.cursor/mcp.json for all projects):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "dawnwood": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@dawnwood/cli", "mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Then enable the server under Settings → MCP.

Claude Desktop

Add the same block to claude_desktop_config.json (Settings → Developer → Edit Config). Claude Desktop launches servers with a minimal environment, so if the stored token is not picked up, pass it explicitly:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "dawnwood": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@dawnwood/cli", "mcp"],
      "env": { "DAWNWOOD_TOKEN": "dw_pat_v1_…" }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop after saving.

Codex

In ~/.codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.dawnwood]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "@dawnwood/cli", "mcp"]

Any other MCP client

Configure a stdio server whose command is npx with arguments -y @dawnwood/cli mcp. The server name is dawnwood.

4. Direct your agent

Open a conversation and ask for something the pipeline does:

"List my Dawnwood runs and show my credit balance."
"Take this premise, create a run called harbor_debts, write the bible and stop for my review."
"Estimate the art for harbor_debts before you start anything that costs credits."

The agent calls tools such as list_runs, create_run, generate_bible and art_estimate. At every approval gate — bible, scripts, world pack — it should hand you a console link from get_review_url and wait; approving is your decision, in the browser. See what your agent can do over MCP.

Prefer raw HTTP?

The same token works against the REST API directly. Send Authorization: Bearer dw_pat_v1_… on every request to the base URL https://console.dawnwood.ai/api. The machine-readable route map is at https://dawnwood.ai/llms.txt. Poll a single run with GET /runs/{id} at intervals of ten seconds or more; do not poll GET /runs.

Environment variables

Variable	Effect
`DAWNWOOD_TOKEN`	Use this token instead of the stored one
`DAWNWOOD_AGENT`	Name your agent for attribution; it appears in your usage breakdown (defaults to `mcp`)
`DAWNWOOD_API_BASE`	API base URL; leave at the default unless told otherwise
`DAWNWOOD_CONFIG_DIR`	Where the CLI stores its config (default `~/.config/dawnwood`)

Still stuck? Email support@dawnwood.ai with your account email, the series, the episode and the segment or group — see what to include.