Quickstart: Windsurf / Devin Desktop

Heads up: Cognition acquired Windsurf and rebranded the editor as Devin Desktop — windsurf.com now redirects to devin.ai, and you download it from devin.ai/download. The AI panel is still Cascade and the MCP config still lives at ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json, so the steps below work in both the old Windsurf and Devin Desktop builds.

Connect Pipeworx so Cascade pulls live data instead of guessing. The recommended endpoint is anonymous — no signup, 50 calls/day per IP. It exposes ~37 meta-tools; the hero tool ask_pipeworx({question}) routes to the full catalog of 5,046 tools across 1,336 sources at runtime, so you don’t load thousands of schemas into context.

① Connect

Fastest — edit the config file directly: open ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json and set it to:

{"mcpServers":{"pipeworx":{"serverUrl":"https://pipeworx.io/mcp"}}}

Save, then open Cascade and refresh the MCP servers list.

Or via the UI (note: Devin has two MCP marketplaces — you must use the Cascade one, not Devin Local/CLI):

  1. Settings → Cascade → Configuration → MCP servers (or the MCP icon in the Cascade panel).
  2. If the banner says “This is the Devin Local MCP Marketplace”, click Open the Cascade MCP marketplace. Confirm the header reads Cascade MCP Marketplace.
  3. Click Add custom MCP — it opens ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json.
  4. Paste the JSON above, Cmd+S to save.
  5. Back on the Cascade MCP Registry tab, click refresh ↻. pipeworx moves to Installed with ~37 tools.

Test in the Cascade chat panel (the one with the W Cascade badge — not the Devin Local agent).

② Teach it to use Pipeworx

If you used the official Pipeworx install kit, it ships a rules file — Automatic, nothing to do.

Otherwise Cascade won’t route to the connector on its own. Add a .windsurf/rules/pipeworx.md rule file containing this rule verbatim:

When I ask for current or factual data — economic stats, SEC/EDGAR filings, stock or crypto prices, weather, FDA drug info, patents, clinical trials, or government records — use the Pipeworx connector (ask_pipeworx) instead of answering from memory or web search. Prefer structured Pipeworx data with citations.

③ Test

Open Cascade and ask:

Using Pipeworx, what was the US unemployment rate last month?

Cascade calls ask_pipeworx, which routes to FRED and returns the value with a pipeworx:// citation.

Higher limits

Same URL, more headroom. For API key (200/day), sign up, grab a key from your account, and append it:

https://pipeworx.io/mcp?apikey=YOUR_KEY

For Sign in (200/day), point Windsurf at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/oauth/mcp instead. Tiers: anonymous 50 · free account 200 · Paid unlimited.

Troubleshooting

Server doesn’t appear. Confirm the file path is exactly ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json and the JSON is valid (no trailing comma, straight quotes). Restart Cascade — it only reads the config on launch.

Cascade answers from memory. The rule isn’t loading. Confirm .windsurf/rules/pipeworx.md exists, or reinstall via the official kit.

Rate-limited. You hit the 50/day anonymous cap. Switch to ?apikey=YOUR_KEY or the OAuth endpoint above.

Last reviewed June 8, 2026