AI Setup
Set up your AI-powered development environment for the First Break AI cohort — IDE, MCP server, and agentic AI tools.
First Break AI is built for AI-native development. You'll use an AI-based IDE throughout the cohort, and you can connect AI agents directly to your coding environment using the Model Context Protocol (MCP). This page covers what to install and how to configure it.
Choose your AI IDE
The cohort works with any editor, but we recommend an AI-powered IDE that supports MCP:
- Cursor — AI-first IDE with built-in MCP support. The most popular choice among cohort learners. Free tier available.
- Claude Code — Anthropic's coding agent in the terminal. Supports MCP natively. Great for learners who prefer terminal workflows.
- VS Code — works with GitHub Copilot or other AI extensions. No native MCP, but you can use the CLI alongside it.
Connect AI agents via MCP
The First Break AI MCP server lets AI agents inside your IDE call cohort tools directly — answer questions, validate homework, find lessons, and suggest your next step. This is what makes the cohort completely agentic.
Two ways to connect:
- Remote MCP server — paste the URL
https://fba-mcp.throbbing-thunder-4d33.workers.dev/mcpinto your IDE's MCP settings. Works with Cursor, Claude Desktop, Claude Code, HuggingChat, and OpenAI Codex. - Local MCP server — install
@aiedx/firstbreakaifrom npm and runfirstbreakai mcp. This gives you offline access to environment checks, validation, and progress tracking.
Step-by-step setup instructions for each IDE are on the Docs page.
Other tools
- ChatGPT — useful as a general-purpose AI assistant alongside your IDE
- Open Router — one API key for many models (Claude, GPT, Llama, Qwen). Useful for Step 3+ when you're serving models
- Google Colab — free GPU access for training experiments in Step 4