Jentic MCP + Windsurf

Goal — In a few minutes, you’ll enable Jentic MCP tools in Windsurf, allowing you to find, inspect, and run external APIs directly in your coding workflow.

What you’ll get

With Jentic MCP configured in Windsurf, you'll gain access to powerful tools:

Tool available in Windsurf	What it does
`/search_apis`	Type what you need (e.g., "Send Discord Message", "Find New York Times Articles") and MCP lists matching APIs.
`/load_execution_info`	Select any result to view its full spec (URL, parameters, auth requirements).
`/execute`	Fill in the parameters and run the API or workflow – the response appears in your Windsurf interaction.

Before you start

Ensure you have the following:

You need	Why	Quick install
Python ≥ 3.8	Required for uv/uvx and Jentic CLI.	python.org
Windsurf	The AI coding assistant where MCP tools run.	Windsurf
uv / uvx runtime	Launcher that runs the Jentic MCP server.	Install with pip: `pip install uv` (any OS) or with Homebrew (macOS): `brew install uv` If you have trouble with `uvx`, see Troubleshooting: Making Windsurf See `uvx` below.

1. Get Your API Key (if you don't have one already)

To use the Jentic SDK or MCP Plugin, you must obtain your API key. The easiest way is using the Jentic CLI. You can optionally include an email address for higher rate limits and for early access to new features.

pip install jentic
jentic register --email '<your_email>'

This will print your API key and an export command to set it in your environment:

export JENTIC_UUID=<your-api-key>

Alternatively, you can use curl to register and obtain your API key:

curl -X POST https://api.jentic.com/api/v1/auth/register \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"email": "<your_email>"}'

2. Configure Windsurf to use Jentic MCP

Open Windsurf. (If it's already running, you might still need to restart it later for changes to fully apply, but you can proceed with configuration.)
Access your Windsurf MCP configuration file (mcp_config.json):

The easiest way to open (or create if it doesn't exist) your mcp_config.json is through the Windsurf interface:
1. Via Windsurf's MCP Configuration UI (Recommended Method): a. In Windsurf, click the MCP status icon (it might look like a hammer), as shown below:
  
  b. From the menu that appears, select "Configure" (or a similarly named option like "Edit Configuration"). This action will directly open your mcp_config.json file in your default text editor.
If you prefer, or if the UI method isn't available or you can't locate the icon, you can manually find and open the file.
- macOS: ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json
  - Terminal:
```
mkdir -p ~/.codeium/windsurf
open ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json
```
  - Finder: ⇧⌘G → ~/.codeium/windsurf/
- Linux: Common locations:
  - ~/.config/Codeium/Windsurf/mcp_config.json
  - ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json
  - Flatpak: ~/.var/app/com.codeium.windsurf/config/Codeium/Windsurf/mcp_config.json
  - Terminal:
```
xdg-open ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json
```
- Windows: %APPDATA%\Codeium\Windsurf\mcp_config.json
  - File Explorer: paste %APPDATA%\Codeium\Windsurf\ in the address bar, create the file if missing.
  - PowerShell:
```
notepad $env:APPDATA\Codeium\Windsurf\mcp_config.json
```
Add or update the Jentic MCP server configuration: Paste the following JSON into your mcp_config.json file.
- If the file is new or was empty (Windsurf might create an empty structure if you used the "Configure" option on a non-existent file), you can paste the entire block below, potentially replacing any minimal content Windsurf added.
- If the file already contains an mcpServers object with other servers, carefully add the "jentic": { ... } entry within it, ensuring correct JSON formatting (e.g., add a comma before it if it's not the first server entry).

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "jentic": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "--from",
        "git+https://github.com/jentic/jentic-tools.git@main#subdirectory=mcp",
        "mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "JENTIC_UUID": "<<your-api-key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Save the mcp_config.json file.
Restart Windsurf for the changes to take full effect and load the Jentic MCP server. (Even if Windsurf opened the file for you, a restart is crucial after modifying the configuration.)

3. (Optional) Add API keys and Environment Variables

Some APIs discovered via /search_apis and inspected with /load_execution_info will require API keys, tokens, or specific base URLs. You can add these as environment variables in your Windsurf MCP configuration so they are automatically available to the Jentic MCP server.

Steps

Open the same ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json file.
Insert or update the env block inside the jentic server configuration.
Save the file and restart Windsurf.

Full example after adding keys

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "jentic": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "--from",
        "git+https://github.com/jentic/jentic-tools.git@main#subdirectory=mcp",
        "mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "JENTIC_UUID": "<<your-api-key>",
        "DISCORD_BOTTOKEN": "<your-discord-bot-token>",
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "<your-openai-api-key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Security tip: The mcp_config.json file is plain text. Ensure it's stored securely, especially if it contains sensitive API keys.

4. If something doesn’t work

What you see / Problem	Try this
Jentic MCP tools not available in Windsurf	Check `mcp_config.json` for JSON syntax errors (e.g., missing commas, incorrect brackets). Ensure Windsurf was fully restarted after any changes. Check Windsurf's logs for MCP-related errors.
“command not found: uvx” (in logs or error)	`uvx` is not in a path Windsurf can see. See "Troubleshooting: Making Windsurf See `uvx`" below for details.
API calls fail (e.g., 401/403 errors)	The API likely requires authentication. Use `/load_execution_info` to check its requirements, then add necessary API keys/tokens to the `env` block in `mcp_config.json` (see Step 5). Restart Windsurf.
Other errors from Jentic MCP tools	Check Windsurf's logs for more details. For advanced debugging, you can run the Jentic MCP server manually and inspect its direct output/logs.

Troubleshooting: Making Windsurf See `uvx`

Windsurf, like many applications, might not automatically pick up binaries added to your shell's PATH via files like .zshrc or .bashrc. Choose one of these options:

Option A – Homebrew / System package (macOS & Linux)

Homebrew (macOS) or your distro’s package manager / a sudo pip install uv drops uvx somewhere Windsurf already looks:
- /usr/local/bin on Intel Macs & most Linux distros
- /opt/homebrew/bin on Apple Silicon

If which uvx returns a path, you’re good – skip this section.

Option B – pip / pipx / pyenv (user-local installs)

If uvx lives in a user-local directory, expose it via a symlink (macOS/Linux) or by adding the folder to PATH (Windows).

macOS / Linux – symlink

sudo ln -sf "$(which uvx)" /usr/local/bin/uvx   # use /opt/homebrew/bin on Apple Silicon
sudo ln -sf "$(which uv)"  /usr/local/bin/uv

Windows – PATH
1. Locate the folder containing uvx.exe (e.g. %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Python\Python311\Scripts).
2. Add that folder to Path in Environment Variables….
3. Restart Windsurf (and any open terminals).

Option C – Hard-code the full path

Skip PATH tweaks entirely and set the absolute path to uvx / uvx.exe in the command field of mcp_config.json.

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