Connect ContextBolt to Windsurf via MCP

Windsurf is an AI code editor from Codeium, built around its Cascade AI agent. Cascade supports MCP (Model Context Protocol), meaning it can connect to external tools and data sources during coding sessions — including your ContextBolt bookmarks.

Once connected, Cascade can search your saved content from Twitter/X, Reddit, and LinkedIn without you leaving the editor. This is particularly useful during Cascade’s agentic coding flows, where it can autonomously pull in relevant bookmarks as context for the code it’s generating.

Why connect bookmarks to Windsurf

Cascade is designed to handle multi-step coding tasks autonomously. Adding your bookmarks to its toolkit means it can reference your curated knowledge when making decisions.

Say you’re building an authentication system. You’ve saved tweets about JWT best practices, a Reddit thread about OAuth pitfalls, and a LinkedIn post about session management. With the ContextBolt integration, Cascade can search those saves as part of its workflow, grounding its code generation in material you’ve already vetted.

This is different from web search. Your bookmarks are content you specifically chose to save because you found it valuable. That’s what makes them a second brain. That signal matters — it means the results are pre-filtered by your own judgement.

Configuration file

Add this to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json (macOS/Linux) or %USERPROFILE%\.codeium\windsurf\mcp_config.json (Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "contextbolt": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@contextbolt/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "CONTEXTBOLT_TOKEN": "your-token-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace your-token-here with the token from your ContextBolt extension settings. If the file doesn’t exist yet, create it with this content.

Tips for Windsurf workflows

Let Cascade discover relevant saves. During agentic coding sessions, Cascade can decide on its own to search your bookmarks when the task seems related to content you might have saved. The more descriptive your task prompts, the better it can match.

Start sessions with context. Before a big task, ask Cascade “Check my bookmarks for anything about [topic]” to front-load your saved knowledge into the conversation.

Use for architecture decisions. When Cascade suggests an approach, ask it to search your bookmarks for alternative patterns. Your saves might contain a better solution than the default.

Setup guide

1. Get your MCP token from ContextBolt

   Open the ContextBolt extension popup in Chrome and click Settings. Under the MCP section, click 'Copy MCP Token'. You need a Pro subscription (£4/month) as MCP is a Pro feature.

2. Open the MCP config file

   Open Windsurf's Command Palette (Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + P) and search for 'MCP' to find the MCP server management option. Alternatively, edit the config file directly at ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json (macOS/Linux) or %USERPROFILE%\.codeium\windsurf\mcp_config.json (Windows).

3. Add the ContextBolt MCP server

   Add the ContextBolt server entry to the mcpServers object in the config file. Set the command to 'npx', args to ['-y', '@contextbolt/mcp-server'], and add your token as the CONTEXTBOLT_TOKEN environment variable. Save the file.

4. Refresh and verify

   Restart Windsurf or use the Command Palette to refresh MCP connections. In the Cascade panel, the ContextBolt server should show a green status indicator. Ask Cascade 'Search my bookmarks for testing strategies' to confirm the connection works.

Example prompts

Once connected, try asking Windsurf:

What you can do