Connect AI Agents to GrowthBook - GrowthBook Documentation

GrowthBook works directly inside your AI coding agent: Claude Code, Cursor, and others. There are two ways to connect, and they’re complementary — they share the same playbooks (skills), but different transports:

MCP Server: a thin MCP bridge your agent can call mid-conversation. On GrowthBook Cloud, point your client at https://mcp.growthbook.io/mcp and sign in with OAuth. The server loads bundled Agent Skills and calls the REST API on your behalf.
Agent Skills: the same workflows installed as a plugin. Your agent follows each skill step by step and calls the REST API through a small local helper — no MCP server to run.

You can use either. Prefer MCP when your host speaks MCP (including chat clients without a shell). Prefer the plugin when you already use Claude Code / Agent Skills install and don’t want an MCP process. Watch GrowthBook’s Head of Experimentation, Luke Sonnet, run an experiment end to end using the skills.

Which should I use?

	MCP Server	Agent Skills
What it is	Thin server: skill loader + authenticated API read/write tools	Markdown playbooks your agent follows step by step
Setup	Cloud: add `https://mcp.growthbook.io/mcp` (OAuth). Self-hosted: stdio or the official Docker image	Install the plugin (no running server)
Best for	MCP-native hosts, Claude Desktop, remote/OAuth connect, teams that want one Cloud URL	Coding agents that already run shell commands and prefer slash commands
Lifecycle coverage	Flags, experiments, and product analytics via bundled skills	Same skills, installed locally
Governance	Draft → review → publish and other guardrails live in the skills the server loads	Same guardrails, enforced as the agent follows each skill
Where it runs	Any MCP-compatible host	Agents that can run shell commands: Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and other agentskills.io agents

Agent can’t run a terminal? Use the MCP serverThe Agent Skills plugin works by having your agent run a local Node helper, so it only works in agents that can execute shell commands, such as Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex. The MCP server is started by your host from a one-time config entry (Cloud URL + OAuth, or a local process). That works in MCP-compatible hosts that don’t give the agent a terminal, like Claude Desktop. If your agent can’t run shell commands, use the MCP server.

Not sure where to start?On GrowthBook Cloud, start with the MCP Server — add the hosted URL and sign in. If you live in Claude Code and want slash commands without MCP, install Agent Skills instead.

Next steps

Set up the MCP Server
Install the Agent Skills plugin
Browse the GrowthBook REST API, which both call under the hood

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​Which should I use?

​Next steps

Which should I use?

Next steps