Setup Skill (MCP Configuration)

Core Philosophy

Configure Atlassian (two servers: atlassian, atlassian-tech), Datadog, and Playwright MCP servers for Claude or Cursor so the agent can use Jira, Confluence, Datadog (logs, metrics, monitors), and browser automation for UI testing during workflows.

Official MCP docs

For full MCP management (add, remove, list, auth, scopes), use the official docs:

Refer to these when the user asks how to manage MCP in general, add other servers, or troubleshoot.

Protocol: /setup Flow

1. Initialize PARA (/init)

Before MCP configuration, run /init for PARA so the project has a consistent workflow context:

• Ensure the project has a PARA structure: context/ with context.md, plans/, summaries/, archives/, data/, servers/ (create any missing dirs and context/context.md). Note: context/ is git-ignored so .gitkeep files are not needed.
• Ensure a project-level CLAUDE.md exists (create a minimal one if missing).

If the structure already exists, skip or only add missing pieces. Then proceed with MCP setup below.

2. Ask Target

Ask the user which client(s) to configure. Use the official config locations:

If the user doesn’t specify, offer Cursor and Claude and default to both (Cursor + Claude Code) unless they say otherwise.

3. Ask for Keys (Do Not Store in Repo)

Prompt for credentials. Prefer environment variables for security; accept one-time input if the user prefers.

Datadog (required for Datadog MCP):

• DATADOG_API_KEY – from Datadog API Keys
• DATADOG_APP_KEY – from Datadog Application Keys

Atlassian (optional):

• ATLASSIAN_API_TOKEN – from Atlassian API Tokens (for API-token auth; some setups use OAuth in browser instead)
• ATLASSIAN_EMAIL – Atlassian account email (if using API token)

Playwright (no keys required):

• No API keys needed – Playwright MCP runs locally via npx
• Optional: --headless flag for headless mode (useful in CI)
• Optional: --browser flag to specify browser (chrome, firefox, webkit, msedge)

If the user already has Cursor MCP configured (e.g. OAuth for Atlassian), keep existing mcpServers and only add or update atlassian, datadog, and playwright entries.

4. Paths to Use

• Datadog MCP (stdio): Use the user's local path for the Node server. Default from snippet:
  • command: node
  • args: ["<YOUR_MCP_DATADOG_PATH>/src/index.js"] If the user has a different path (e.g. MCP_DATADOG_PATH), use that in args.
• Atlassian MCP (HTTP) – two servers:
  • atlassian: url: https://mcp.atlassian.com/v1/mcp, type: http
  • atlassian-tech: same URL by default; override with ATLASSIAN_TECH_URL in env when running the setup script if the tech endpoint differs Add env (e.g. ATLASSIAN_API_TOKEN, ATLASSIAN_EMAIL) only if the user provides them and the client supports env-based auth for HTTP MCP.
• Playwright MCP (stdio): Uses npx to run the latest version:
  • command: npx
  • args: ["@playwright/mcp@latest"] Optional args: --headless, --browser <browser>, --viewport-size <WxH>, --config <path>

5. Write Config

Cursor (~/.cursor/mcp.json):

• Read existing file if present.
• Ensure top-level key mcpServers exists.
• Set or merge:
  • mcpServers.atlassian: { "url": "https://mcp.atlassian.com/v1/mcp", "type": "http" } (and optional env if provided).
  • mcpServers["atlassian-tech"]: same structure; URL from ATLASSIAN_TECH_URL if set.
  • mcpServers.datadog: { "type": "stdio", "command": "node", "args": ["<path-to-mcp_datadog/src/index.js>"], "env": { "DATADOG_API_KEY": "<user-key>", "DATADOG_APP_KEY": "<user-app-key>" } }.
  • mcpServers.playwright: { "command": "npx", "args": ["@playwright/mcp@latest"] } (add --headless to args for CI environments).
• Write back valid JSON; preserve any other servers (e.g. atlas, cursor-ide-browser).

Claude Code (~/.claude.json):

• Same structure under mcpServers: add or update atlassian, datadog, and playwright. This is the correct config for the Claude Code CLI (claude). Preserve existing mcpServers and other top-level keys.

Claude Desktop (optional; ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS):

• Same structure under mcpServers. Use only when the user targets the Claude Desktop app; the setup script uses this path when CLAUDE_DESKTOP=1 is set.

6. Post-Setup

• Tell the user to restart the client (Cursor or Claude Desktop) so MCP changes load.
• Remind them not to commit real keys to the repo; use env vars or the setup script.

Setup Script (Optional)

The skill includes skills/setup/setup_mcp.sh and skills/setup/setup_mcp.js, which use the official config locations:

1. Read from env: DATADOG_API_KEY, DATADOG_APP_KEY, optional MCP_DATADOG_PATH, optional TARGET (cursor|claude|both), optional CLAUDE_DESKTOP=1 for Claude Desktop app.
2. Cursor: merge into ~/.cursor/mcp.json (per Cursor MCP docs).
3. Claude: merge into ~/.claude.json (Claude Code CLI) by default, or into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json when CLAUDE_DESKTOP=1 (per Claude Code MCP docs).
4. Preserve existing mcpServers; never log keys (keys come from env only).

Usage:

export DATADOG_API_KEY="your-api-key"
export DATADOG_APP_KEY="your-app-key"
export TARGET="both"   # or "cursor" or "claude"
# Optional: export CLAUDE_DESKTOP=1   # use Claude Desktop app config instead of Claude Code
./skills/setup/setup_mcp.sh

Run from the project root so the path to the script is correct (e.g. ./skills/setup/setup_mcp.sh or bash skills/setup/setup_mcp.sh).

Config Snippets (Reference)

Quick reference:

• Atlassian (HTTP): Two servers (atlassian, atlassian-tech) for Jira/Confluence
• Datadog (stdio): Node.js with API keys for monitoring/observability
• Playwright (stdio): npx @playwright/mcp@latest for UI testing, optional --headless for CI

For complete configuration examples: See reference/CONFIG_EXAMPLES.md, which covers:

• Full JSON configuration for each MCP server (Atlassian, Datadog, Playwright)
• Config file locations (Cursor, Claude Code, Claude Desktop)
• Advanced options (browser selection, viewport size, persistent sessions, environment variables)
• Merging with existing config (preserve existing mcpServers entries)
• Security best practices (use environment variables, never commit secrets)
• Troubleshooting common issues

When to Use This Skill

• User runs /setup or asks to set up MCP.
• User wants to add or reconfigure Atlassian (atlassian, atlassian-tech), Datadog, or Playwright MCP for Claude or Cursor.
• User asks to connect to Atlassian, connect to Datadog, or setup Playwright in the IDE.

After setup, the workflow, ci-cd, debugging, documentation, and testing skills can use these MCPs (see those skills for when to call Atlassian/Datadog/Playwright tools). Use atlassian or atlassian-tech tools as appropriate (e.g. atlassian-tech for tech-specific Jira/Confluence use). Use playwright for UI testing and browser automation.

Checklist

• Target client(s) identified (Cursor, Claude Code, Claude Desktop, or both).
• PARA structure initialized (/init) before MCP configuration.
• API keys collected securely (env vars preferred; never committed to repo).
• Atlassian MCP configured (atlassian and atlassian-tech servers).
• Datadog MCP configured with valid API key and app key.
• Playwright MCP configured (npx @playwright/mcp@latest).
• Existing mcpServers entries preserved (not overwritten).
• Config written to correct location for target client(s).
• User reminded to restart client after config changes.

Cross-Skill Integration