MCP Server Setup

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Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that enables AI models to interact with external tools and services through a unified interface. The ESLint CLI contains an MCP server that you can register with your code editor to allow LLMs to use ESLint directly.

Set Up ESLint MCP Server in VS Code

To use MCP servers in VS Code, you must have the Copilot Chat extension installed. After that, follow these steps so add the ESLint MCP server:

1. Create MCP Configuration File

Create a .vscode/mcp.json file in your project with the following configuration:

{
	"servers": {
		"ESLint": {
			"type": "stdio",
			"command": "npx",
			"args": ["@eslint/mcp@latest"]
		}
	}
}

Alternatively, you can use the Command Palette:

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+P (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Shift+P (macOS)
2. Type and select MCP: Add Server
3. Select Command (stdio) from the dropdown
4. Enter npx @eslint/mcp@latest as the command
5. Type ESLint as the server ID
6. Choose Workspace Settings to create the configuration in .vscode/mcp.json

2. Enable MCP Server in User Settings (Optional)

If you want to use the ESLint MCP server across all workspaces, you can follow the previous steps and choose User Settings instead of Workspace Settings to add the MCP server to your settings.json file.

Use the ESLint MCP Server with GitHub Copilot

Once your MCP server is configured, you can use it with GitHub Copilot's agent mode:

1. Open the Copilot Chat view in VS Code
2. Ensure agent mode is enabled (look for the agent icon in the chat input)
3. Toggle on the ESLint MCP server tools using the "Tools" button in the chat view
4. Ask Copilot to perform ESLint tasks, such as:
   • "Check this file for linting errors"
   • "Fix all ESLint issues in the current file"
   • "Show me what ESLint rules are being violated"

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues with the ESLint MCP server:

1. Check the MCP server status by running MCP: List Servers from the Command Palette
2. Select the ESLint server and choose Show Output to view server logs
3. Ensure that ESLint is installed in your project or globally
4. Verify that your MCP configuration is correct

Set Up ESLint MCP Server in Cursor

To configure the ESLint MCP server in Cursor, follow these steps:

1. Create MCP Configuration File

Create a .cursor/mcp.json file in your project directory with the following configuration:

{
	"mcpServers": {
		"eslint": {
			"command": "npx",
			"args": ["@eslint/mcp@latest"],
			"env": {}
		}
	}
}

2. Global Configuration (Optional)

If you want to use the ESLint MCP server across all your Cursor workspaces, create a ~/.cursor/mcp.json file in your home directory with the same configuration.

3. Verify Tool Availability

Once configured, the ESLint MCP server should appear in the "Available Tools" section on the MCP settings page in Cursor.

Set Up ESLint MCP Server in Windsurf

To configure the ESLint MCP server in Windsurf, follow these steps:

1. Access Windsurf Settings

Navigate to Windsurf - Settings > Advanced Settings, or open the Command Palette and select "Open Windsurf Settings Page".

2. Add ESLint MCP Server

Scroll down to the Cascade section and click the "Add Server" button. Then select "Add custom server +".

3. Configure MCP Server

Add the following configuration to your ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json file:

{
	"mcpServers": {
		"eslint": {
			"command": "npx",
			"args": ["@eslint/mcp@latest"],
			"env": {}
		}
	}
}

4. Refresh Server List

After adding the configuration, press the refresh button to update the list of available MCP servers.

5. Use ESLint with Cascade

Once configured, you can use ESLint tools with Cascade by asking it to:

• Check files for linting errors
• Explain ESLint rule violations

Note: MCP tool calls in Windsurf will consume credits regardless of success or failure.

Use TypeScript Configuration Files

If your project uses a TypeScript configuration file (eslint.config.ts, eslint.config.mts, or eslint.config.cts), additional setup is required for the MCP server to load it. There are two approaches depending on your environment. For more details, see TypeScript Configuration Files.

Option A: Local Installation with jiti (Node.js)

When you run the MCP server with npx @eslint/mcp@latest, ESLint is installed into a temporary directory and cannot resolve jiti from your project's node_modules. To use jiti for TypeScript config loading, install both @eslint/mcp and jiti locally:

{{ npm_tabs({ command: "install", packages: ["@eslint/mcp", "jiti"], args: ["--save-dev"] }) }}

Then update your MCP configuration to use the locally installed server (without @latest, so npx resolves the local binary):

VS Code (.vscode/mcp.json):

{
	"servers": {
		"ESLint": {
			"type": "stdio",
			"command": "npx",
			"args": ["@eslint/mcp"]
		}
	}
}

Cursor / Windsurf (.cursor/mcp.json or ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json):

{
	"mcpServers": {
		"eslint": {
			"command": "npx",
			"args": ["@eslint/mcp"]
		}
	}
}

When @eslint/mcp is installed locally, its bundled ESLint resolves jiti from the shared node_modules directory via standard Node.js module resolution.

Yarn Plug'n'Play (PnP)

Yarn 2+ uses Plug'n'Play by default and does not create a node_modules directory. To run npx @eslint/mcp in a Yarn project, set nodeLinker to node-modules in your .yarnrc.yml and run yarn install again:

nodeLinker: node-modules

With a node_modules directory present, the npx configuration shown above works as expected. The nodeLinker: pnpm setting also works. Only the default Plug'n'Play (nodeLinker: pnp) mode is not supported with npx @eslint/mcp.

Option B: Native Node.js TypeScript Support

If you're using Node.js >= 22.13.0, you can load TypeScript configuration files without jiti by enabling Node.js type stripping and the ESLint unstable_native_nodejs_ts_config flag. Set these as environment variables in your MCP configuration.

VS Code (.vscode/mcp.json):

{
	"servers": {
		"ESLint": {
			"type": "stdio",
			"command": "npx",
			"args": ["@eslint/mcp@latest"],
			"env": {
				"ESLINT_FLAGS": "unstable_native_nodejs_ts_config",
				"NODE_OPTIONS": "--experimental-transform-types"
			}
		}
	}
}

Cursor / Windsurf (.cursor/mcp.json or ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json):

{
	"mcpServers": {
		"eslint": {
			"command": "npx",
			"args": ["@eslint/mcp@latest"],
			"env": {
				"ESLINT_FLAGS": "unstable_native_nodejs_ts_config",
				"NODE_OPTIONS": "--experimental-transform-types"
			}
		}
	}
}

Example Prompts

Here are some example prompts to an LLM for running ESLint and addressing its findings:

Lint the current file and explain any issues found

Lint and fix #file:index.js

Additional Resources

• Model Context Protocol Documentation
• VS Code MCP Servers Documentation
• GitHub Copilot in VS Code Documentation
• Model Context Protocol in Cursor documentation
• Model Context Protocol in Windsurf documentation