Configure other clients
Connect Zed or any stdio-capable MCP client to Hoursmith — the command, args, and HOURSMITH_API_TOKEN env var you need.
The Hoursmith MCP server works with any MCP client that supports stdio servers — not just Claude Desktop and Cursor. This page covers Zed and the general pattern for everything else.
- Plan
- StudioAgency
You need Node.js 18+ and an hsk_ API token. Have the token ready before
you start.
Zed
Zed configures context servers in its settings.json.
Add the Hoursmith context server
Paste this in, replacing hsk_live_... with your own token:
{
"context_servers": {
"hoursmith": {
"command": {
"path": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@hoursmith/mcp-server"],
"env": { "HOURSMITH_API_TOKEN": "hsk_live_..." }
}
}
}
}Note that Zed nests path, args, and env inside a command object — that's different from the
flat mcpServers shape Claude Desktop and Cursor use.
Restart Zed
Restart Zed so it loads the new context server.
Any other stdio MCP client
Any client that can launch a stdio MCP server can run Hoursmith. Whatever the config format, you're supplying three things:
- Command:
npx - Args:
["-y", "@hoursmith/mcp-server"] - Environment:
HOURSMITH_API_TOKENset to yourhsk_…token
Optionally set HOURSMITH_API_URL (for self-hosted or staging) and HOURSMITH_MCP_CLIENT (a label
for the calling client). See Install for the full list of environment variables.
The server speaks stdio and logs to stderr only. If your client offers an HTTP/SSE transport instead, it won't work — Hoursmith's server is stdio-based.
Verify it worked
After restarting, ask the assistant a read-only question like "Show me my Hoursmith profile." (which
runs get_me). See Available tools and
Example prompts.