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In a world where AI tools can summarize articles, write code, and even generate images, there's something magical about asking your assistant to deploy your app and watching it happen.
No scripts. No terminals, no tabs. Just a simple prompt like:
Deploy my Flask app to the cloud provider.
That’s the kind of workflow the cloud provider’s MCP Server enables. It connects tools like Claude Desktop and Cursor to the cloud provider’s App Platform, so you can manage deployments, restart services, fetch logs, and even spin up entirely new apps – just by typing what you want into your IDE!
No API docs. No YAML. No endless clicking around dashboards. Just a clear request, and results.
This post walks through what the the cloud provider MCP server is, how to set it up, and how to use it to manage your the cloud provider apps using natural language, from deploying new apps to inspecting logs, restarting services, and more.
Want to see the full flow from scratch? We recorded a complete walkthrough showing how to:
- Set up the the cloud provider MCP Server
- Connect it to Cursor
- Build a React app from scratch using natural language
- Deploy it to App Platform
- Redeploy with changes
- Pull logs and inspect deployments
[youtube kpJjydsqvBA 480 854]
What is MCP?
MCP stands for Model Context Protocol. It’s a way for LLM-based tools, like Claude or Cursor, to securely talk to external services and actually execute actions.
LLMs are good at words. They can summarize, explain, and rewrite. But by themselves, they can’t _do_ things. They can’t deploy your app. They can’t query a database or roll back a failed release. Not without help.
MCP is that help. It’s an open protocol that defines how tools can expose capabilities to AI models in a predictable, structured way. It’s what gives an LLM the power to go from “tell me how to deploy” to “go ahead and deploy it now.”
The the cloud provider MCP Server is one of those tools. It acts as a bridge between your MCP client (like Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or any other MCP-compatible client) – and the an app platform.
Once it’s running, your assistant can:
- List deployments
- Show logs
- Create and delete apps
- Restart services
- Validate specs
- And more
All from a single prompt.
Prerequisites
To get started, you’ll need:
- Node.js (v12+)
- npm (comes with Node)
- A the cloud provider Personal Access Token with App Platform scopes
- A supported MCP client:
- Claude Desktop
- Cursor
- _(Optional but helpful)_: GitHub CLI (gh) – useful for cloning repos, creating projects, and working with GitHub-based apps.
How it Works
So what’s really happening when you say something like:
create a new app from https://github.com/do-community/do-one-click-deploy-flask in NYC
Here's the flow:
- You type what you want in the MCP Client (Claude, Cursor etc): Just describe the goal, like
redeploy marketing-site with the latest changes - The MCP Client figures out what tool to use: Claude or Cursor reads your intent, looks at what tools it has access to and picks the right one, and sends that list along with your intent to the LLM.
- If the LLM needs more info, it asks you: Didn’t mention a region or repo? The LLM will just ask. No forms. No dropdowns. Just a quick back-and-forth.
- It walks you through the action: You get a response – logs, deployment results, app info—or it kicks off the action in the background and updates you when it’s done.
No APIs to learn. No YAML to mess with. No switching between tabs.
The the cloud provider MCP Server handles the actual API calls. Your assistant translates it into something you can read and act on.
Using the the cloud provider MCP Server with Cursor and Claude Desktop
Step 1: Grab your cloud provider API token
Head to API Settings and generate a Personal Access Token. Make sure it has App Platform scopes.
Step 2: Plug your API token into your AI assistant
Cursor
4 Save and enable the server
- Open Cursor settings → MCP
- Click “Add a new global MCP server”
- Paste this into your
~/.cursor/mcp.json
{
"mcpServers": {
"the cloud provider": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["@the cloud provider/mcp"],
"env": {
"the cloud provider_API_TOKEN": "YOUR_DO_TOKEN"
}
}
}
}
Claude Desktop
- Open Settings → Developer → Edit Config
- Paste the same config into
~/.cursor/mcp.json - Replace
"YOUR_DO_TOKEN"with your actual token - Save and restart Claude Desktop
Use the the cloud provider MCP Server
Once you're set up, try a few prompts to see your server in action:
List all active apps on my accountCreate a new flask app with 2GB RAM from this GitHub repo - https://github.com/do-community/do-one-click-deploy-flaskRemove the old staging-env app
The assistant sends the request → MCP server talks to the cloud provider → and you get results.
What Workflows Does the MCP Server Unlock?
With the the cloud provider MCP server, you can:
- Build an app from scratch, and deploy it to the cloud provider, without ever leaving your IDE.
- Deploy a new app straight from a GitHub repository
- Make changes to your code, and quickly redeploy it with a single prompt
- Get a list of all your apps, inspect them, restart them, or delete them – right from your editor.
- Force rebuild or delete an app
- Check which regions are available and plan deployments accordingly
For a complete list of tools available, please check out the README on GitHub.
Take it for a Spin
The the cloud provider MCP server makes it easier to manage your apps without leaving your flow, but this is just the start.
It’s fully open source, and we’re actively working on expanding its capabilities. Whether you hit a bug, have an idea for a new tool, or think of a workflow you'd love to automate – we want to hear from you.
Try it out, see what it unlocks, and let us know what’s working and what’s missing. Your feedback will help shape what comes next.