Cursor: run your Yirlo outbound from the editor

By the Yirlo team · Product details checked against the app

From inside Cursor, you can reach your Yirlo account via its MCP server: look at fresh hot leads, halt a campaign, or reply to someone who showed interest, all from the editor. Configuration takes a single block of JSON plus an API key. Below you will find the precise config, a first test request, example prompts, and advice on protecting the key.

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What the Cursor connection gives you

Cursor connects through a single URL: https://yirlo.com/mcp. Behind it sits a server built on the MCP spec dated 2025-06-18 and carried over Streamable HTTP. Once linked, the Cursor agent can use 33 tools, and each one maps to a single call in the public Yirlo API.

This fits anyone who is in Cursor all day: founders building their own product, technical co-founders who also handle sales, and small teams where one person both releases features and watches outbound results. Rather than opening a dashboard, they write one line in the chat panel and the agent picks the matching tool.

To set up your very first project, go to yirlo.com, paste your website address and complete the initial payment. Every project after that can be created on the same page, or from Cursor by calling create_project with your domain or a brief description of what you sell. Yirlo studies your offer and puts together proposed campaigns. When a project is created through create_project, its campaigns stay paused until you launch one yourself, and from there an agent in Cursor can take over the day-to-day management.

Step 1: Create your API key

Create a key in the Yirlo app, in its section for API keys. Keys start with yk_live_. Use the same key with the REST API, with the MCP server, and with either SDK, so you only keep track of one secret.

Copy it somewhere safe right away. You will paste it into Cursor in the next step, ideally through an environment variable, as described in the section on keeping the key safe.

Step 2: Add Yirlo to Cursor

Add the server in Cursor via Settings, then MCP, or by editing the file by hand. Put it in ~/.cursor/mcp.json to have Yirlo in every project, or in .cursor/mcp.json inside one project to limit it to that folder.

The full configuration is short:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "yirlo": {
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer PASTE_KEY_HERE"
      },
      "url": "https://yirlo.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Swap PASTE_KEY_HERE for the yk_live_ key you generated earlier.

Cursor detects Streamable HTTP by itself, so there is no transport field to set. If you prefer a different header, the server also accepts X-API-Key with the same key as its value.

After saving, return to the MCP settings in Cursor. The yirlo entry should show its tools. If the list is empty, check that the JSON is valid and that the key was pasted in full.

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Step 3: Run a first test request

Begin with a question that only reads data, so nothing in your account changes. In the Cursor chat, type: "Use Yirlo to show my account and current balance." The agent should invoke get_account plus get_balance, then report back with the results.

Next, ask for a list of your projects and the campaigns inside one of them. That exercises list_projects and list_campaigns and confirms the key can see your first project from yirlo.com, along with any you add later through create_project.

Once the figures Cursor returns agree with the numbers in the Yirlo app, the setup is confirmed and you can start giving it actual work.

What you can ask

The server exposes 33 tools covering your account, projects (create_project among them), campaigns, the inbox, suppression lists, webhooks and team management. It also has import_leads and get_import for bringing in your own lists, plus leads_from_post and list_posts for people who commented on or replied to your LinkedIn or X posts. Describe what you want in plain words, the way you would brief a colleague, and Cursor picks the right tool for the job.

Some asks that work well:

  • "What's the count of new hot leads from the past seven days?" (campaign_analytics, list_hot_leads)
  • "Pause the campaign for dentists." (list_campaigns, stop_campaign)
  • "Bump spending to $30 a day." (set_project_budget or set_campaign_budget)
  • "Show me the last conversation with an interested lead." (list_inbox, read_conversation)
  • "Answer our most recent interested lead and suggest Tuesday for a call." (reply)
  • "Log a note on that lead and set the deal to qualified." (set_lead_note, set_lead_status)
  • "Never email anyone at my competitor's domain." (suppress_domains)
  • "Register a webhook for new hot leads, then fire a test event." (add_webhook, test_webhook)
  • "Invite my co-founder to the project." (invite_teammate)

Read tools and tools that act

Reading tools make up a large share of the 33 available: get_account, get_balance, list_projects, get_project, project_analytics, get_project_budget, list_campaigns, get_campaign, campaign_analytics, list_hot_leads, list_inbox, read_conversation, list_webhooks, list_team, get_import and list_posts. They change nothing, so run them as often as you like to see how your outbound is performing.

A second group modifies state. create_campaign, start_campaign, stop_campaign, archive_campaign, set_campaign_budget and set_project_budget control how Yirlo spends your prepaid credit. suppress_emails and suppress_domains put people and companies on your do-not-contact lists. add_webhook, invite_teammate, set_lead_note and set_lead_status change your configuration and lead records.

Pay closest attention to reply, because it delivers an actual email to the lead. Have Cursor post the draft in the chat, review the wording, and only then tell it to go ahead. Putting "draft the reply and wait for my OK" in your prompt builds that habit.

Keeping the key safe

Your yk_live_ key gives access to account data and campaign controls, and it doubles as the credential for the API and both SDKs. Treat it as you would a password.

Cursor lets the config pull the key from an environment variable. Set YIRLO_API_KEY in your shell profile or system environment, then write the header as "Authorization": "Bearer ${env:YIRLO_API_KEY}" in mcp.json. The file then holds a reference, and the key itself stays out of it.

Put the config in ~/.cursor/mcp.json when you can. A project-level .cursor/mcp.json often sits inside a git repository, and a literal key in a committed file ends up in history. If you want the project-level file, use the ${env:YIRLO_API_KEY} form or add the file to .gitignore.

Keep the key out of chat messages, screenshots and any snippet you pass around. Should it ever show up somewhere public, create a new one in the key management section of the Yirlo app, update your environment variable with it, and relaunch Cursor so the new value takes effect.

Within the Yirlo project you also set a daily budget, which caps spending on any day, whatever an agent asks for.

Pairing Cursor with the rest of your stack

Cursor handles the conversation with your account, and your CRM can sit beside it. Through Yirlo's signed webhooks, replies and hot leads can be passed along to HubSpot, Pipedrive, Salesforce or whatever else you use, with Zapier, n8n or Make catching the events. The agent can also register that webhook with add_webhook and fire test_webhook to produce sample data for field mapping.

For a typical morning, ask Cursor for this week's hot leads, read the two or three conversations that look closest to a booking, send replies pointing to your Calendly or Cal.com link, and add the do-not-contact domains you came across. The whole check takes a few prompts.

Questions

Which page issues the API key for use in Cursor?

Create one in the key settings of the Yirlo app.

What is the MCP server URL?

Cursor's MCP settings take the address https://yirlo.com/mcp. The server uses Streamable HTTP as its transport, following the 2025-06-18 revision, and Cursor detects this without any extra setup.

Where does the config go?

In Cursor, go to Settings and then MCP. Alternatively, edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json to apply the setup to every project, or .cursor/mcp.json to limit it to one. Inside mcpServers, add an entry named yirlo containing a headers object, with an Authorization header whose value is Bearer, a space, then your API key, plus a url field set to https://yirlo.com/mcp.

Can I keep the key out of the config file?

Yes. Set an environment variable named YIRLO_API_KEY and use ${env:YIRLO_API_KEY} in the header value, so the file holds the variable reference and the key stays out of it.

Can I use X-API-Key instead of the Authorization header?

Yes. The server accepts the key as Authorization: Bearer <key> or as an X-API-Key header.

How many tools does Cursor get?

33. They cover account and balance, projects (create_project among them) and budgets, campaigns, lead imports (import_leads, get_import), leads from your LinkedIn or X posts (leads_from_post, list_posts), analytics, hot leads, the inbox, notes and lead status, suppression lists, webhooks and the team.

Can Cursor start a new project for me?

Set up your first project on yirlo.com by entering your website and paying there. Every later project can be handled from Cursor: the agent runs create_project with a domain, checks get_project until the status reads ready, then builds and launches campaigns, changes budgets, goes through the inbox and writes the replies.

Does the reply tool send a real email?

Yes. reply sends an actual email to the lead. Ask Cursor to show you the draft first and send it once you approve the wording.

What does it cost to use Yirlo through Cursor?

Connecting through the MCP server adds nothing to your bill. Each email Yirlo sends costs about five cents of prepaid credit. Monthly plans and seat charges never come into it, and the daily limit you choose sets the ceiling on spending.

Can my teammates use the same setup?

To add a teammate, send an invitation by email, either through the invite_teammate tool or under Integrations, then Team, in the app. Everyone logs in using their personal email and can generate a separate key for their own Cursor.

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