By Ira Bodnar, Ryze AI · Updated
Quick answer
To connect Cursor to Thrad, create an API key in the Thrad Platform dashboard and paste it into the Thrad card in Ryze AI, then add https://connector.get-ryze.ai/mcp to Cursor with the Add to Cursor link or an mcp.json entry, sign in to Ryze AI and open a new chat.
- In the Thrad Platform dashboard go to Settings, API keys and create a key
- In Ryze AI open Integrations, click Connect on the Thrad card and paste the key
- In Cursor add the Ryze AI server with the Add to Cursor link or mcp.json
- Sign in on the Ryze AI page, click Allow connection and ask your first question
Before you start
- A Cursor install. Cursor's MCP documentation names no plan for remote MCP servers. On Enterprise, admins can control which MCP servers users may run in Team Settings, MCP Configuration, so ask your admin if the server is blocked.
- A Thrad account with access to the Thrad Platform dashboard. You create the API key under Settings, API keys. Thrad keys start with ak_, and Thrad allows one active key per organization.
- A Ryze AI workspace on a plan or free trial. Paid Ads is $89 per month with a 7-day free trial; Agency is $279 per month. Connecting the connector is free, but the Thrad tools need an active plan or trial.
How to connect Cursor to Thrad
Two steps happen in Thrad and Ryze AI, three in Cursor. The connector URL is the same for every user.
Create a Thrad API key
In the Thrad Platform dashboard go to Settings, API keys, create a new key and copy it. It starts with ak_. Thrad allows one active key per organization, so creating a new key later makes the old one stop working.
Connect Thrad in Ryze AI
Create a Ryze AI account or sign in, open Integrations, click Connect on the Thrad card, paste the key into API key and click Continue. Ryze AI verifies it and the card shows Connected. To add another Thrad account, click View, then Add one more account.
Add the Ryze AI server to Cursor
On the Ryze AI developers page click Add to Cursor. It opens a cursor:// install link that adds a server named ryze with the URL https://connector.get-ryze.ai/mcp. Or create ~/.cursor/mcp.json (all projects) or .cursor/mcp.json (one project) and add the entry shown in the next section.
Sign in from Cursor
Confirm the install in Cursor and complete the Ryze AI sign-in when Cursor asks. Cursor runs OAuth with PKCE and dynamic client registration. On the Ryze AI page sign in, choose the workspace and click Allow connection.
Check the server and ask your first question
Open the Customize page in the Cursor sidebar to manage or toggle the ryze server. Start a new chat and ask: List my Thrad campaigns and show impressions, clicks, spend, CTR, CPC and CPM for each.
The Ryze AI help article for Thrad covers the key and the connection, and the Cursor MCP docs cover the client side. The Add to Cursor button is on the Ryze AI developers page.
Add to Cursor link and mcp.json
Cursor accepts the Ryze AI connector three ways. Pick the one that matches how you manage your setup.
Add to Cursor link
The Add to Cursor button on the Ryze AI developers page opens a cursor:// install link. It adds a server named ryze with the URL https://connector.get-ryze.ai/mcp. Confirm the install in Cursor, then finish the Ryze AI sign-in when Cursor asks.
mcp.json with OAuth
{ "mcpServers": { "ryze": { "url": "https://connector.get-ryze.ai/mcp" } } }Save this in ~/.cursor/mcp.json to use it in all projects, or in .cursor/mcp.json for one project. Cursor runs OAuth with PKCE and dynamic client registration, so you sign in on the Ryze AI page and click Allow connection. No client ID or secret goes in the file.
mcp.json with a Ryze AI API key
{ "mcpServers": { "ryze": { "url": "https://connector.get-ryze.ai/mcp", "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${env:RYZE_API_KEY}" } } } }Set RYZE_API_KEY in your environment to the rk_live_ key from Ryze AI Workspace Settings, Profile, API keys. Cursor substitutes the variable in headers, so the key itself stays out of the file. This is a Ryze AI key, separate from the Thrad ak_ key you pasted into the Thrad card.
Cursor limits
Cursor asks for approval before using MCP tools by default and follows the same Run Modes as terminal commands. Cursor supports stdio, SSE and Streamable HTTP transports; the Ryze AI connector is a remote HTTP server. Cloud Agents keep their own MCP sign-ins on Cursor's servers, separate from the desktop sign-in, so sign in again there if you use them.
Claude and ChatGPT
The same URL works in other MCP clients. Thrad is connected once in Ryze AI, so nothing changes on the Thrad side.
Claude on the web and Desktop
Open Customize, Connectors, click + Add, choose Add custom connector, name it Ryze AI and enter https://connector.get-ryze.ai/mcp. Thrad is connected once in Ryze AI, so the same key serves every client.
ChatGPT
OpenAI says full custom MCP server support is for ChatGPT Business and Enterprise/Edu on the web, and Pro can connect custom MCP servers with read and fetch permissions only. In Plugins choose Add custom MCP server, enter the URL and pick OAuth.
Thrad key and accounts
Three things decide what Cursor can reach in Thrad.
- Which key
- Ryze AI connects to Thrad with the API key you paste into the Thrad card. The key is created in the Thrad Platform dashboard under Settings, API keys, and Thrad allows one active key per organization. Everything Cursor does in Thrad runs through that key.
- Which accounts
- Several Thrad accounts can be connected to one workspace with View, then Add one more account; a star marks the primary. There is no Agent default accounts picker, so name the account in your prompt. Over MCP every thrads tool takes an optional connection_id.
- Read or write
- Reading and writing are separate tools, so Cursor's approval prompts can gate them one by one. For a stricter setup, keep write and delete tools on ask in Cursor and decline those calls.
Sources: Ryze AI Thrad guide and the Cursor MCP docs.
Removing access
To remove access, click View on the Thrad card in Ryze AI and disconnect it, or toggle off or delete the ryze server on the Customize page in Cursor. Creating a new key in Thrad also stops the old one, which breaks the connection until you use Reconnect with the new key.
What Cursor can do in Thrad
The Ryze AI connector exposes 5 Thrad tools: 2 read, 2 write and 1 delete. The tool prefix is thrads.
| Tool | Type | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| thrads__read | Read | Reads any Thrad resource, such as the ad account, campaigns, ad groups, ads and assets. |
| thrads__insights | Read | Returns aggregated Thrad insights combining Thrad and ChatGPT (OpenAI Ads) supply: impressions, clicks, spend, CTR, CPC and CPM. |
| thrads__write | Write | Creates or updates Thrad campaigns, ad groups and ads, and activates or pauses them. New campaigns are submitted for Thrad's review before they go live. |
| thrads__uploadFromUrl | Write | Uploads an image from a URL to Thrad to get a file id for an ad creative. Thrad currently answers this call with a 404, so existing assets are used instead. |
| thrads__delete | Delete | Archives a Thrad campaign, ad group or ad. Archiving a campaign is irreversible; an archived ad group or ad can be brought back with activate. |
Cursor asks for approval before using MCP tools by default, which depends on your Run Mode. In the Ryze AI chat the Tool approvals setting starts on Skip all approvals, so the agent runs read, write and delete tools without asking; switch it in the chat composer to Approve write & delete or Manual approve. Scheduled tasks in Ryze AI run without an approval step. Targeting is country-level only per the tool description.
First 3 prompts to run
Each answer comes from your own account, so this page describes what comes back instead of showing sample numbers.
1. Campaign insights
Use thrads insights to show impressions, clicks, spend, CTR, CPC and CPM for my Thrad account, split by source.
Tools used: thrads__insights
What comes back: The six metrics for Thrad and ChatGPT (OpenAI Ads) supply, filterable by source. The figures are your own account's.
2. List campaigns and ads
Read my Thrad campaigns with their ad groups and ads, and list which are active and which are paused.
Tools used: thrads__read
What comes back: A list of campaigns, ad groups and ads with their status, read from your Thrad account.
3. Pause an ad group
Pause the Thrad ad group named in this message and confirm its status afterwards.
Tools used: thrads__write, thrads__read
What comes back: A confirmation that the ad group is paused, and the status read back. Set write tools to ask first if you want to approve the change in Cursor.
New Thrad campaigns are submitted for Thrad's review before they go live. Thrad's own write-tool description says campaign creation needs a default card on the organization's billing; that is a Thrad requirement, not a Ryze AI one. Ask Cursor to archive only items you have named, since archiving a campaign cannot be undone.
Ryze AI and Thrad's own tools
Thrad's public documentation at docs.thrad.ai describes a publisher side: an auction that returns native ads as JSON for apps to draw in their own UI, with a staging key and then a production key. It did not list an MCP server for advertisers when this page was checked, so the Ryze AI connector is the route this guide covers for managing Thrad campaigns from Cursor.
| Option | Setup | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Ryze AI connector | Thrad API key pasted into Ryze AI, then one remote URL added to Cursor with OAuth or a Ryze AI API key | 5 Thrad tools: read, insights, write, image upload from a URL and delete. Image upload currently fails with a 404 from Thrad |
| Thrad publisher API | Staging and production keys from the Thrad Platform for apps that show ads | Bid requests and ad rendering for publishers, not campaign management |
If Thrad later publishes its own server, compare its URL, sign-in and tool list against the table above. Ryze AI publishes this page, and its connector needs a Ryze AI plan or trial.
Sources: Thrad documentation, Cursor MCP docs, Ryze AI Thrad guide. Checked November 10, 2026.
Errors and fixes
- Ryze AI rejects the Thrad key
- Thrad keys start with ak_. A rejected key is usually copied incompletely or inactive. Copy the whole key again from Settings, API keys in the Thrad Platform dashboard and paste it into the Thrad card.
- Thrad stopped working after a new key was created
- Thrad allows one active key per organization, so a new key makes the old one stop working. Use Reconnect on the Thrad card in Ryze AI and paste the new key.
- No Thrad tools appear in Cursor
- Open the Customize page and check that the ryze server is toggled on. Start a new chat after connecting Thrad. If Thrad was connected afterwards, toggle the server off and on or sign in again.
- Cursor does not ask me to sign in
- Check the URL is exactly https://connector.get-ryze.ai/mcp in mcp.json. Cursor handles OAuth with dynamic client registration, so no client ID is needed in the file.
- The server is blocked on a team plan
- Enterprise admins control which MCP servers users may run in Team Settings, MCP Configuration. Ask your admin to allow the ryze server.
- Cloud Agents cannot use the server
- Cloud Agents keep their own MCP sign-ins on Cursor's servers, separate from the desktop sign-in. Sign in again for the Cloud Agent.
- API key header is rejected
- Check that RYZE_API_KEY is set in the environment Cursor starts from, and that it is a rk_live_ key from Workspace Settings, Profile, API keys. The Thrad ak_ key does not work here.
- Image upload returns a 404
- Thrad currently answers the upload call with a 404. Ads reference existing assets instead.
- Cursor says a subscription is required
- The Thrad tools need an active Ryze AI plan or free trial. Start the trial in Ryze AI and retry.
- An account is missing
- Name the account in your prompt, or add it with View, then Add one more account on the Thrad card. There is no Agent default accounts picker for Thrad.
Frequently asked questions
How do I connect Cursor to Thrad?
Create an API key in the Thrad Platform dashboard under Settings, API keys, paste it into the Thrad card in Ryze AI, then add https://connector.get-ryze.ai/mcp to Cursor with the Add to Cursor link or an mcp.json entry. Sign in on the Ryze AI page and click Allow connection.
Which Thrad connector should I use with Cursor?
Ryze AI is the best Thrad connector for Cursor when you want read, insights, write and delete tools behind one OAuth URL, but you need a Ryze AI plan or trial and the tool list is 5 tools. This guide did not find an official Thrad MCP server in Thrad's documentation, whose public pages describe a publisher ad API.
Does Cursor need a paid plan for MCP servers?
Cursor's MCP documentation names no plan. Enterprise admins can control which MCP servers users may run in Team Settings, MCP Configuration, so a team install may need admin approval.
Where do I put the mcp.json file?
Use ~/.cursor/mcp.json in your home directory for all projects, or .cursor/mcp.json in a project root for one project. Manage or toggle the server from the Customize page in the Cursor sidebar.
Do I need a Ryze AI API key?
No. OAuth through the Add to Cursor link or a plain url entry is enough. A Ryze AI rk_live_ key from Workspace Settings, Profile, API keys is optional and goes in a headers entry as Bearer ${env:RYZE_API_KEY}. It is separate from the Thrad ak_ key.
Can Cursor change my Thrad campaigns?
Yes. The thrads write tool creates or updates campaigns, ad groups and ads and activates or pauses them, and the delete tool archives them. New campaigns are submitted for Thrad's review before they go live. Cursor asks for approval before MCP tools by default.
What do the Thrad insights include?
The insights tool returns aggregated figures combining Thrad and ChatGPT (OpenAI Ads) supply: impressions, clicks, spend, CTR, CPC and CPM. They can be filtered by source.
Can I upload images to Thrad from Cursor?
Not reliably. The upload tool exists, but Thrad currently answers it with a 404, so ads reference existing assets instead.
Can I connect more than one Thrad account?
Yes. Click View on the Thrad card, then Add one more account. A star marks the primary. There is no Agent default accounts picker, so name the account in your prompt.
What happens if I create a new key in Thrad?
Thrad allows one active key per organization, so the old key stops working and the connection breaks. Use Reconnect on the Thrad card and paste the new key.
How much does it cost?
Connecting the connector is free, but the Thrad tools need an active Ryze AI plan or free trial. Paid Ads is $89 per month with a 7-day free trial and Agency is $279 per month. Annual billing takes 30% off the first year.
How do I disconnect Thrad from Cursor?
Remove the ryze server on the Customize page in Cursor or delete its mcp.json entry. To remove Thrad itself, click View on the Thrad card in Ryze AI and disconnect it.