The Sequential Thinking MCP Server provides a tool for dynamic and reflective problem-solving through a structured thinking process. It helps break down complex problems into manageable steps while allowing revision and refinement of thoughts as understanding develops.
The server provides a tool that facilitates a detailed, step-by-step thinking process for problem-solving and analysis.
Inputs:
thought
(string): The current thinking stepnextThoughtNeeded
(boolean): Whether another thought step is neededthoughtNumber
(integer): Current thought numbertotalThoughts
(integer): Estimated total thoughts neededisRevision
(boolean, optional): Whether this revises previous thinkingrevisesThought
(integer, optional): Which thought is being reconsideredbranchFromThought
(integer, optional): Branching point thought numberbranchId
(string, optional): Branch identifierneedsMoreThoughts
(boolean, optional): If more thoughts are neededAdd the MCP server to your claude_desktop_config.json
using one of the following configurations:
{
"mcpServers": {
"sequential-thinking": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@modelcontextprotocol/server-sequential-thinking"
]
}
}
}
{
"mcpServers": {
"sequentialthinking": {
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run",
"--rm",
"-i",
"mcp/sequentialthinking"
]
}
}
}
You can manually add the server to your VS Code settings:
Ctrl + Shift + P
Preferences: Open Settings (JSON)
{
"mcp": {
"servers": {
"sequential-thinking": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@modelcontextprotocol/server-sequential-thinking"
]
}
}
}
}
{
"mcp": {
"servers": {
"sequential-thinking": {
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run",
"--rm",
"-i",
"mcp/sequentialthinking"
]
}
}
}
}
Alternatively, you can add the configuration to a .vscode/mcp.json
file in your workspace to share it with others. In this case, the mcp
key is not needed.
The Sequential Thinking tool is designed for:
When using the tool, you can:
There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json
file so that it is available in all of your projects.
If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json
file.
To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > MCP and click "Add new global MCP server".
When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json
file will be opened and you can add your server like this:
{
"mcpServers": {
"cursor-rules-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"cursor-rules-mcp"
]
}
}
}
To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json
file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.
Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.
The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.
You can also explictly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.