Setting Up the Reteno MCP Server in the Terminal

Connect your Reteno account to an AI agent from the command line. The agent can then work with your messages, contacts, segments, and analytics without opening the Reteno platform. It can also integrate the Reteno mobile SDK into your app and check that registration and push notifications work.

It covers command-line setup only. If you work in Claude Cowork, the Codex app, or the Cursor editor, follow the guide for that interface instead.

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Research Preview This integration is available as a research preview. Expect iteration and evolving capabilities.

Choose Your Setup

There are two ways to connect. The Reteno plugin installs the MCP connection together with the Reteno skills for email editing, deliverability audits, messaging analytics, and funnel analysis. The MCP server on its own gives you the Reteno tools and nothing else.

You use	Recommended setup	What you get
Claude Code	Reteno plugin	Reteno MCP tools and skills
Codex CLI	Reteno plugin	Reteno MCP tools and skills
Cursor CLI	MCP server	Reteno MCP tools

Cursor CLI has no Reteno plugin, so it connects to the server directly. In Claude Code and Codex CLI you can do the same when you only need the tools — see Connect Without the Plugin.

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Access and Permissions
The agent acts with the permissions of the Reteno user you sign in as, and it can read your account data, including contact personal data. The connection uses Reteno account authorization — you do not need a Reteno REST API key.

Requirements

An active Reteno account.
One of the following, installed and signed in, so that its command works in your terminal: Claude Code, Codex CLI, or Cursor CLI.
Git — for the plugin setup in Codex CLI only, which fetches the plugin marketplace from GitHub.

Set Up Your Client

Select your client and follow the three steps.

Step 1. Install the Reteno Plugin

Open a terminal in your working folder and start a session:

claude

In the session, add the marketplace and install the plugin:

/plugin marketplace add reteno-com/ai-plugin
/plugin install reteno@reteno-plugins

If the install summary asks you to run /reload-plugins, run that command.

Step 2. Connect Your Reteno Account

Run /mcp, select reteno, then sign in to Reteno in the browser and confirm access.

Step 3. Verify the Connection

Check that the server is connected:

claude mcp list

Then start a session and ask:

Use the Reteno MCP tools to show me my last 5 email templates.

If the agent returns templates from your account, the connection works.

To check the plugin skills separately, ask Which Reteno skills are installed? — Claude should list reteno-email-editor, email-deliverability, reteno-analytics, and web-funnel-analyzer.

Step 1. Install the Reteno Plugin

Add the marketplace and install the plugin:

codex plugin marketplace add reteno-com/ai-plugin
codex plugin add reteno@reteno-plugins

Codex adds the reteno-plugins marketplace from the Reteno AI Plugin repository. To pin a branch, add --ref main.

Step 2. Connect Your Reteno Account

The plugin requests authorization during installation. Sign in to Reteno in the browser and confirm access. When the Authorization complete page appears, close the tab and return to the terminal.

Step 3. Verify the Connection

Check that the server is connected:

codex mcp list

Then start a session and ask:

Use the Reteno MCP tools to show me my last 5 email messages.

If Codex returns messages from your account, the connection works.

Cursor CLI reads the same mcp.json as the Cursor editor, so a server you add once works in both. There is no command that adds a server — edit the configuration file first, then sign in from the terminal.

The Cursor CLI command is agent. In older installations it may be cursor-agent.

Step 1. Add the Reteno Server to mcp.json

To use the server in all projects, edit the global configuration file — ~/.cursor/mcp.json on macOS and Linux, %USERPROFILE%\.cursor\mcp.json on Windows. To use it in one project only, create .cursor/mcp.json in the project root; project configuration takes precedence over global.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "reteno": {
      "url": "https://mcp.reteno.com"
    }
  }
}

If the file already contains other servers, add the reteno entry inside the existing mcpServers object rather than replacing the file.

Step 2. Sign In

agent mcp login reteno

Sign in in the browser and confirm access. The CLI handles the callback automatically. If the server is not approved yet, run agent mcp enable reteno.

Step 3. Verify the Connection

Check the server and the tools it provides:

agent mcp list
agent mcp list-tools reteno

Then start a session and ask:

Use the Reteno MCP tools to show me my last 5 email templates.

If the agent returns templates from your account, the connection works.

Approval settings still apply. Depending on your configuration, the agent may ask for confirmation before it uses a tool that reads or changes data in your Reteno account.

Connect Without the Plugin

Use these steps when you need the Reteno MCP tools without the plugin skills. Cursor CLI always connects this way, so its setup above already covers it.

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http reteno https://mcp.reteno.com

This adds the server for the current project only. To use it everywhere, add --scope user:

claude mcp add --transport http --scope user reteno https://mcp.reteno.com

Then sign in, either with /mcp inside a session or from the shell:

claude mcp login reteno

claude mcp login requires Claude Code v2.1.186 or later. On earlier versions, sign in from the /mcp panel.

Codex CLI

codex mcp add reteno --url https://mcp.reteno.com

Codex starts the sign-in for the server. To sign in again later, run codex mcp login reteno.

Manage the Connection

Action	Claude Code	Codex CLI	Cursor CLI
Show the configuration	`claude mcp get reteno`	`codex mcp get reteno`	`agent mcp list`
Sign in again	`claude mcp login reteno`	`codex mcp login reteno`	`agent mcp login reteno`
Sign out and clear credentials	`claude mcp logout reteno`	`codex mcp logout reteno`	—
Turn off without removing	—	—	`agent mcp disable reteno`
Remove the server	`claude mcp remove reteno`	`codex mcp remove reteno`	Delete the `reteno` entry from `mcp.json`

To update or uninstall the Codex plugin, run codex plugin marketplace upgrade reteno-plugins or codex plugin remove reteno@reteno-plugins.

Troubleshooting

Connection

The terminal keeps waiting after you sign in. The browser confirms the login, but the session does not continue. Copy the full callback URL from the browser's address bar and paste it into the URL prompt in the terminal. If that does not help, update the CLI, then sign out and sign in again.

The server shows "Needs authentication". Run claude mcp login reteno, codex mcp login reteno, or agent mcp login reteno. In Claude Code you can also open /mcp and select Re-authenticate.

The tools are not available in an open session. Start a new session after installing the plugin or adding the server. Tools added during installation may not load in a session that was already open.

Claude Code

You are working over SSH or without a browser. Force the manual flow:

claude mcp login reteno --no-browser

Open the printed URL on your local machine, then paste the full redirect URL back at the prompt. The command needs an interactive terminal, so connect with ssh -t.

The server is missing in another project. By default the server is added for the current project. Remove it and add it again with --scope user:

claude mcp remove reteno
claude mcp add --transport http --scope user reteno https://mcp.reteno.com

Codex CLI

Codex shows a "program not found" error. Codex uses Git to add the marketplace. Install Git and restart Codex. On Windows, restart your computer if Codex still does not detect Git.

Cursor CLI

Cursor CLI does not list the Reteno server. Check that mcp.json is valid JSON, with no trailing commas or missing brackets, and that the reteno entry is inside the mcpServers object. Then run agent mcp list again. If the server is listed but disabled, run agent mcp enable reteno.

A project .cursor/mcp.json takes precedence over the global file. Add the server to the global configuration to use it everywhere.

Reteno Permissions

The agent can read data but cannot make a change. Check the access rights of the connected Reteno user. The agent cannot perform actions that are unavailable to that user.

What to Do Next

Integrating Reteno with AI Agents — the full list of capabilities and limitations
Reteno MCP Server — the endpoint, authentication, and available tools
Integrating Your App with Reteno — have the agent integrate the Reteno mobile SDK and verify it through MCP
Reteno Agent in Slack: Use Cases — practical examples of what the agent can do