Vibe Coding Notifications: How to Use Courier with Cursor or Claude Code

Vibe Coding Notifications: How to Use Courier with Cursor or Claude Code

Read Time: 8 Minutes

Building apps with Cursor, Claude Code, or Codex changes how quickly you can ship features. UI components, API integrations, database schemas—AI coding tools handle these faster than ever. But when you prompt "add multi-channel notifications to my app," something interesting happens.

The AI generates basic send functions quickly. Then it starts scaffolding routing logic, fallback handling, delivery tracking, template management. The generated code keeps growing. You're suddenly reviewing hundreds of lines of infrastructure you didn't plan to maintain.

This guide covers a better approach: connecting Cursor to Courier's MCP server so it generates working notification code against your actual account, not generic examples.

The Problem with AI-Generated Notification Code

Without context about your specific setup, AI coding tools default to building notification infrastructure from scratch. They don't know what templates you've already created, what providers you've configured, or how your user data is structured.

The result is generic code that needs adaptation. You end up debugging generated abstractions instead of shipping features.

MCP (Model Context Protocol) solves this by giving AI tools direct access to your Courier account. Cursor can see your templates, check delivery logs, and generate code that matches your actual configuration.

Step 1: Connect Courier MCP to Cursor

Add the MCP server to your Cursor config:

// .cursor/mcp.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "courier": {
      "url": "https://mcp.courier.com",
      "headers": {
        "api_key": "YOUR_COURIER_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

For Claude Code:

claude mcp add --transport http courier https://mcp.courier.com --header api_key:YOUR_COURIER_API_KEY

Get your API key at app.courier.com/settings/api-keys.

What changes once MCP is connected: Cursor can now query your actual Courier account. It sees your templates, users, and delivery history. When you ask it to "send a password reset notification," it checks which templates exist and generates code using the right template ID—not a placeholder.

Full MCP setup guide →

Step 2: Validate Your Setup with the CLI

Before asking Cursor to generate implementation code, verify that your Courier configuration works. The CLI lets you test notifications without writing code.

npm install -g @trycourier/cli
courier login

Send a test notification:

courier send \
  --user user_123 \
  --title "Test notification" \
  --body "Testing from CLI"

Check delivery logs:

courier logs --user user_123

List your templates:

courier templates list

If notifications deliver successfully from the CLI, your provider configuration is correct. Now Cursor can generate code with confidence that the underlying setup works.

CLI reference →

Step 3: Prompt with Context

With MCP connected and your setup validated, Cursor has everything it needs. Here's how to prompt effectively:

Check what you have: > "Show me my notification templates in Courier. Which one handles order confirmations?"

Build against existing templates: > "Create a function that sends the ORDER_SHIPPED template to a user. Include the tracking URL in the data payload."

Debug delivery issues: > "The notification to user_456 didn't arrive. Check Courier logs and tell me what failed."

Add new templates: > "Create a Courier template called COMMENT_NOTIFICATION for when someone comments on a post. Send to push first, fall back to email."

The key difference from prompting without MCP: Cursor validates against your actual account. If you reference a template that doesn't exist, it tells you. If you ask for a channel you haven't configured, it flags it.

What You Can Build

Once MCP is connected, here's what becomes straightforward to implement:

In-App Notification Inbox

A notification center with unread badges, real-time updates, and mark-as-read functionality. Courier provides drop-in React components that handle the WebSocket connections and state management.

React SDK documentation →

Mobile Push Notifications

iOS and Android push with automatic token management, badge counts, and deep linking on tap. The mobile SDKs handle provider registration (APNs, FCM) and sync tokens to Courier automatically.

iOS SDK documentation → Android SDK documentation → Flutter SDK documentation → React Native SDK documentation →

Slack and Teams Integration

Send notifications to users' Slack DMs or Teams channels. Courier handles the OAuth flow, user mapping, and Block Kit formatting for rich messages.

Slack integration guide → Teams integration guide →

User Preference Management

Let users control which notifications they receive and on which channels. Courier provides a drop-in preference center component and API for custom implementations.

Preferences documentation →

Scheduled and Automated Notifications

Reminders, drip sequences, and event-triggered workflows. Set up automations that send a series of notifications based on timing or user actions.

• Automations documentation →
• Customer Journeys

When This Approach Works Well

The MCP + CLI + Cursor workflow is most effective when:

• You're adding notifications to an existing app (not building notification infrastructure as the product)
• You want multi-channel delivery without managing multiple provider SDKs
• Your team includes non-engineers who need to edit templates
• You're iterating quickly and want to test changes without redeploying
• You need sophisticated notification system, but don't want to use up engineering time

It's less suited for:

• Cases where you need to self-host everything for compliance reasons
• Simple single-channel use cases where a direct provider SDK is sufficient

Comparing Notification Platforms for AI-Assisted Development

If you're evaluating options, here's how the main platforms compare for AI coding workflows:

Courier

API-first platform that brings together developers, PMs, and marketers. Developers get clean APIs and SDKs. PMs get visual workflow builders. Marketers get template management without touching code.

• Official MCP server with embedded SDK installation guides
• Native Slack and Teams support with rich formatting
• Drop-in components for inbox, toasts, and preferences
• 50+ provider integrations with automatic failover
• Free tier: 10,000 notifications/month

Knock

Focuses on the workflow engine layer. Good for teams that want to define notification logic as code.

• Has an MCP server for workflow/API operations
• Requires third-party providers for actual delivery
• Limited Slack/Teams support compared to Courier

Novu

Open-source option. Self-host if you want full control over infrastructure.

• Has an MCP server for API operations
• Self-hosting means managing infrastructure yourself
• Community-driven integrations vary in quality

OneSignal

Comes from mobile push notifications. Strong on push and email for consumer engagement.

• Community-built MCP server (not official)
• Campaign-centric model fits marketing better than product notifications
• Limited B2B channels (no native Slack/Teams)

Resources

Getting Started

1. Create a Courier account (free tier includes 10k notifications/month)
2. Configure your first provider (email is easiest to start)
3. Connect MCP to Cursor
4. Start prompting

Related guides:

• Building a notification center
• Notification system architecture
• Slack and Teams integration patterns

Frequently asked questions

How do I connect Courier to Cursor?

Add Courier's MCP server to Cursor with the URL https://mcp.courier.com and your Courier API key in an api_key header, either in Cursor's MCP settings or in a .cursor/mcp.json file. Once connected, you can ask Cursor to list your templates, create or publish a template, or trace why a message didn't deliver. The full setup steps, including a one-click install for Cursor, are at courier.com/docs/resources/mcp.

How much does notification infrastructure cost?

Courier's Developer plan is free for 10,000 sends a month and includes Journeys, broadcasts, the MCP server, the CLI, and the SDKs. After that you pay $0.005 per send, with no per-seat or channel add-on fees. Check courier.com/pricing for current plans.

Can I use my existing email and SMS providers with Courier?

Yes. Courier is bring-your-own-provider, so you connect your own accounts, such as SendGrid, Postmark, Mailgun, Twilio, Vonage, Bird (formerly MessageBird), FCM, and APNs, and you keep your existing pricing and sender reputation. You can add more than one provider to a channel and set a routing order so Courier fails over to the next provider if one can't deliver, and switching providers is a configuration change instead of a code change.

What channels does Courier support?

Courier supports email, SMS, push (iOS and Android), in-app notifications, Slack, Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, Discord, and webhooks. Slack messages support Block Kit, Teams messages support Adaptive Cards, and Courier provides drop-in components for the in-app Inbox, toasts, and preference centers.