Introduction

Using Instant with LLMs

You can supercharge your Instant experience by using it with LLMs. For best results we recommend doing two things:

Add rules or context to your LLM to help it understand how Instant works
Use the Instant MCP server to enable LLMs to create and update your apps

Instant Rules

We've created a set of rules to help LLMs understand how Instant works. If you start a new project with create-instant-app you'll get these rules automatically. If you have an existing project you can add the rules manually by reading below.

You can verify you set up the rules correctly by asking your LLM "How do you make queries and transactions in InstantDB?" If everything is set up correctly, you should see a response with information about db.useQuery and db.transact

Claude Code

Save these instructions for your framework at the root of your project as CLAUDE.md:

Save these instructions for your framework at the root of your project as instant-rules.md:

If you already had claude running, restart it for the rules to take effect.

Codex

Save these instructions for your framework at the root of your project as AGENTS.md:

Save these instructions for your framework at the root of your project as instant-rules.md:

If you already had codex running, restart it for the rules to take effect.

Cursor

Save these rules for your framework at the root of your project in .cursor/rules/instant.mdc:

You may need to restart Cursor for them to take effect.

When using Cursor we recommend turning off "Auto" and using at least Claude Sonnet 4

Windsurf

Save these rules for your framework at the root of your project in .windsurf/rules/instant.md:

You may need to restart Windsurf for them to take effect.

Zed

Save these rules for your framework at the root of your project in AGENT.md:

You may need to restart Zed for them to take effect.

Other Tools

Use these rules for your framework to give other tools context on how to use Instant:

If you want to manually add in more documentation, you can also append .md to the end of any doc page url to get the raw markdown

Markdown Docs and llms.txt

You can attach .md to the end of any doc page url to get raw markdown. This can be helpful to paste into your LLM if you're stuck on particular functionality. For example, here's the recommended docs for adding auth

We recommend starting with the rules files above and adding more docs as needed. If you want though you can get all our docs at once in markdown format via llms-full.txt

Instant MCP Server

We built @instantdb/mcp to enable creating, managing, and updating your Instant apps. Combine the MCP with our rules file to build full-stack apps directly in your editor.

The easiest way to get started is to use our hosted remote MCP server. Use the instructions below to add the Instant MCP server to your favorite LLM editor or tool.

When you add the MCP server, you'll be sent through an OAuth flow to grant access to your Instant Account.

Claude Code

If you're on a paid Claude plan, you can add the the server via the command line

claude mcp add instant -s user -t http https://mcp.instantdb.com/mcp

Now you can run claude to start Claude Code and then run /mcp to see your list of MCP servers. instant should be listed there. Select it and go through the auth flow to enable the Instant MCP server in your claude code sessions!

Codex

If you're on a paid OpenAI plan, you can add the the server via the command line

codex mcp add instant -- npx -y mcp-remote "https://mcp.instantdb.com/mcp"

Now run codex to start Codex. Within a few seconds this should load a browser to authenticate with Instant. After authenticating you can run /mcp to see Instant in your list.

Cursor

Or edit your ~/.cursor/mcp.json directly:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instant": {
      "url": "https://mcp.instantdb.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

You can add the Instant MCP server through the Windsurf UI

Open Windsurf Settings.
Under Cascade, you'll find Model Context Protocol Servers.
Select Add Server and paste the relevant snippet for your OS.

Alternatively you can directly edit your ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

MacOS/Linux

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instant": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.instantdb.com/sse"]
    }
  }
}

Windows

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instant": {
      "command": "cmd",
      "args": ["/c", "npx", "-y", "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.instantdb.com/sse"]
    }
  }
}

Windows WSL

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instant": {
      "command": "wsl",
      "args": ["npx", "-y", "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.instantdb.com/sse"]
    }
  }
}

Zed

Open your Zed settings and add the following

{
  "context_servers": {
    "instant": {
      "command": {
        "path": "npx",
        "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.instantdb.com/mcp"],
        "env": {}
      },
      "settings": {}
    }
  }
}

Other Tools

For other tools that support MCP servers, you can configure Instant using either our streamable HTTP endpoint (recommended if your tool supports it)

https://mcp.instantdb.com/mcp

Or our SSE endpoint

https://mcp.instantdb.com/sse

Local MCP server

We recommend using our hosted MCP server but we also support running @instantdb/mcp locally via stdio. This will avoid OAuth but requires you to manage your personal access token.

Get your Personal Access Token

If you haven't already, make sure to get a personal access token from your Instant dashboard

Once you have your token, you can set up the local Instant MCP server in your favorite editor with MCP support.

Cursor/Windsurf/Cline

You can set up the Instant MCP server in Cursor, Windsurf, or Cline by adding the following configuration to your MCP settings:

MacOS/Linux

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instant": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@instantdb/mcp", "--token", "<token>"]
    }
  }
}

Windows

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instant": {
      "command": "cmd",
      "args": ["/c", "npx", "-y", "@instantdb/mcp", "--token", "<token>"]
    }
  }
}

Windows WSL

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instant": {
      "command": "wsl",
      "args": ["npx", "-y", "@instantdb/mcp", "--token", "<token>"]
    }
  }
}

Replacing <token> with your personal access token. Save the file and reload the editor! You should now see the Instant MCP server active and enabled!

Zed

Open your Zed settings and add the following

{
  "context_servers": {
    "instant": {
      "command": {
        "path": "npx",
        "args": ["-y", "@instantdb/mcp", "--token", "<token>"],
        "env": {}
      },
      "settings": {}
    }
  }
}

Replacing <token> with your personal access token. Save the file and reload the editor. You should now see the Instant MCP server active and enabled!

Claude Desktop

You can set up the Instant MCP server in Claude Desktop by following these steps:

Open the file ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Add the following configuration to the claude_desktop_config.json file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instant": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@instantdb/mcp", "--token", "<token>"]
    }
  }
}

Replacing <token> with your personal access token. Save the file and restart Claude Desktop. You should now see the Instant MCP server active and enabled!

MCP Tools

Below is a list of the current tools we expose

App Management

create-app Creates a new InstantDB application with optional schema and permissions.
get-apps Lists all apps owned by the authenticated user.
get-app Fetches a single app by ID.

Schema Management

get-schema Retrieves the schema for a specific app.
plan-schema-push Dry-run a schema update to preview changes.
push-schema Applies schema changes to an app. Run plan-schema-push first to preview.

Permissions Management

get-perms Retrieves permission rules for an app.
push-perms Updates permission rules for an app.

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