Scrubby

Editor Not Connecting

Symptoms and fixes when your AI editor can't reach the Scrubby MCP server.

When Scrubby is correctly wired up, your AI editor lists scrubby_* tools alongside its built-in ones. If those tools aren’t appearing or every call fails, work through this checklist.

Symptom: tools don’t appear in the editor

Most common cause: the MCP config isn’t being loaded.

  1. Verify the config file path. Each editor reads from a specific location:

    • Claude Code: .mcp.json in the project root.
    • Cursor: .cursor/mcp.json in the project root or an entry in Cursor Settings › MCP.
    • Windsurf: ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json (macOS/Linux) or %USERPROFILE%\.codeium\windsurf\mcp_config.json (Windows).
    • VS Code: .vscode/mcp.json at the workspace root or mcp.json in your user profile.
    • Zed: in your settings.json under context_servers.

  2. Verify the JSON is valid. A trailing comma will silently break the entire config in some editors. Run it through a linter (or paste into jsonlint.com).

  3. Reload the editor. Most editors only read MCP config on startup or when the workspace opens. After editing the config, restart the editor (or in VS Code: Command Palette › Developer: Reload Window).

  4. Check the editor’s MCP listing. Each editor has a way to view registered MCP servers:

    • Claude Code: run /mcp.
    • Cursor: Settings › MCP.
    • VS Code: Command Palette › MCP: List Servers.
    • Zed: Agent Panel settings view.
    • Windsurf: Settings › Cascade › MCP Servers.

    Scrubby should be listed. If it isn’t, the config isn’t being loaded.

Symptom: server is listed but every call fails with “not authenticated”

The OAuth session expired or never completed.

  • Claude Code: run /mcp to re-authenticate.
  • Other editors: trigger any Scrubby tool call. The first one prompts a browser OAuth flow.

If the OAuth flow itself is hanging, see Auth & OAuth Issues.

Symptom: tool calls fail with “repository not indexed”

The repo Scrubby is being asked about hasn’t been indexed yet.

  • Ask your editor to run scrubby_index with the owner/repo path.
  • If the repo was indexed before but the call still fails, the auto-detection may be picking the wrong repo. Pass repo_name or repo_id explicitly.

See Indexing Stuck or Failing if the index never completes.

Symptom: tool calls hit a network error

Scrubby’s MCP server is reachable at https://mcp.scrubby.ai/mcp. If you get a connection error:

  • Check you can reach https://scrubby.ai from the same machine via curl.
  • If you’re on a corporate network, check that outbound HTTPS to scrubby.ai isn’t blocked.
  • Check your editor’s MCP logs for the underlying error message.

Symptom: tool calls work but findings are wrong / stale

This isn’t a connection issue — the tools are reaching the server. The index may be stale (file added since the last index, or content drift after a refactor). Trigger an incremental re-index:

"Re-index this repo with Scrubby, incremental."

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