AI Network Labs 01 — Setup on Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code and Codex

Setup has two halves: the MCP server, which your AI client starts, and the Packet Tracer extension, which opens a bridge inside Packet Tracer. Both must be running before the first prompt.

Step 1 — Install uv

The server runs through uvx, which downloads the package from PyPI into an isolated environment on demand — nothing is installed globally.

# macOS / Linux
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

# Windows (PowerShell)
powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"

# check
uvx --version

cisco-pt-mcp needs Python 3.10 or newer; uv will fetch a suitable interpreter if you don't have one.

Step 2 — Register the server with your client

Pick the client you use. The command is the same everywhere: uvx cisco-pt-mcp.

Claude Code

claude mcp add cisco-pt-mcp --scope user -- uvx cisco-pt-mcp

Cursor — ~/.cursor/mcp.json (all projects) or .cursor/mcp.json (one project):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cisco-pt-mcp": { "command": "uvx", "args": ["cisco-pt-mcp"] }
  }
}

VS Code — .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "cisco-pt-mcp": { "type": "stdio", "command": "uvx", "args": ["cisco-pt-mcp"] }
  }
}

Codex CLI — ~/.codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.cisco-pt-mcp]
command = "uvx"
args = ["cisco-pt-mcp"]

Step 3 — Add the Packet Tracer extension

1. Download cisco-pt-mcp.pts from the extension folder of the cisco-pt-mcp repository.
2. In Packet Tracer: Extensions → Scripting → Configure PT Script Modules… → Add, and pick the .pts file.
3. Restart Packet Tracer.

Step 4 — Open the bridge

In Packet Tracer, open Extensions → Packet Tracer MCP. A bridge window appears with a status pill. Start (or restart) your AI client; within a second the pill should read connected.

Step 5 — Smoke test

Ask your client:

Using cisco-pt-mcp, add one 2911 router named R1 to the canvas,
then show me the network snapshot.

You should see the client call addDevice, then getNetwork, and a router appear in Packet Tracer. Delete it with removeDevice (or just ask) and you're ready for the labs.

Troubleshooting checklist