Add a Form Backend in Cursor with the splitforms MCP (2026)

Why wire a form backend through MCP instead of by hand

Ask Cursor to "add a contact form" and it will happily generate a beautiful form — and then a backend API route, an email integration, and some spam handling, all of which you now own, maintain, and debug. For a contact, waitlist, or lead form, that's effort spent rebuilding infrastructure that already exists as a service.

The splitforms MCP server changes the shape of the task. Instead of generating a backend, Cursor talks to splitforms through the Model Context Protocol — a typed tool interface — and lets splitforms be the backend. The agent can create a real form on your account, read your access key, and generate front-end code that points at the right form. You get a working, hosted backend without a single server file in your repo.

This is also more reliable than prompt-only wiring. When the agent has live account context (real form IDs, your actual key), it stops guessing and starts confirming — fewer "it generated a placeholder key" mistakes.

Step 1: Connect the splitforms MCP server

Grab your MCP token from the MCP settings in your splitforms dashboard (it looks like sk_mcp_... and is a secret — not the same as your public access key). Then either let the installer write your config:

npx @splitforms/mcp install --token sk_mcp_xxxxxxxxxxxx

Or add the server manually to Cursor's MCP configuration (Cursor Settings → MCP):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "splitforms": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@splitforms/mcp"],
      "env": { "SPLITFORMS_TOKEN": "sk_mcp_xxxxxxxxxxxx" }
    }
  }
}

Restart Cursor. The agent now has access to seven splitforms tools: list_forms, get_form, create_form, list_submissions, get_submission, generate_form_html, and get_access_key — all on the free tier. Keep the SPLITFORMS_TOKEN in your MCP config only; never put it in app code.

Step 2: Ask the agent to build and wire the form

With the server connected, describe what you want. The agent will use the tools rather than inventing a backend:

Using the splitforms MCP server, create a contact form named
"Website Contact" with fields name, email, and message. Fetch the
account access key, then generate a Tailwind-styled React component
whose onSubmit POSTs the form data plus the access_key to
https://splitforms.com/api/submit. Include a hidden honeypot field.

Behind the scenes the agent calls create_form to make the form, get_access_key to retrieve your public key, and generate_form_html (or just writes the component) to produce front-end code wired to the real endpoint. You end up with a styled form whose submissions land in your account — no API route, no email provider, no SMTP.

Later you can ask things like "show me the last 10 submissions for the Website Contact form" and the agent calls list_submissions / get_submission to read them inline — useful for debugging a live form without opening the dashboard.

Step 3: The generated submit handler

However the agent styles it, the core is the same lightweight client handler — no backend involved:

const ACCESS_KEY = "sf_live_..."; // public, from get_access_key

async function onSubmit(e) {
  e.preventDefault();
  const data = new FormData(e.currentTarget);
  data.append("access_key", ACCESS_KEY);
  const res = await fetch("https://splitforms.com/api/submit", {
    method: "POST",
    body: data,
  });
  // handle res.ok success / error states
}

The access key here is the public identifier — safe in client code. The private MCP token never appears in the app; it only lives in your Cursor MCP config. That separation is the whole security model: the agent acts on your account with the secret token, the shipped form authenticates with the public key.

Step 4: Test and ship

Run the app, submit a test entry, and confirm it appears in your splitforms dashboard and inbox within ~5 seconds — or just ask the agent to list recent submissions. Before launch, add your production domain to Allowed Domains in the security tab. If something doesn't arrive, the contact form not working checklist covers it.

What to do next

• Same flow in Claude Code: give Claude Code a form backend via MCP
• Prompt-only AI builders: Lovable · v0 · Bolt.new
• Full tool reference: splitforms MCP and /docs
• Ready to start: get a free access key

FAQ