Skip to main content
Credible supports Cursor, VS Code, and Claude Code (running in VS Code) as IDEs for building semantic models. The Credible Extension connects your IDE to the Credible platform, giving the AI agent the tools and context it needs to help you build, validate, and publish semantic models. The steps below use Cursor as the example, but the same workflow applies to VS Code and Claude Code in VS Code.

​
Prerequisites

  • Cursor, VS Code, or VS Code with Claude Code installed (latest version recommended)
  • Credible organization set up by an admin
  • Database connections configured — Your organization admin should have set up connections to your data sources. See Connect to Your Data.

​
What the Credible Extension Provides

The Credible Extension configures your IDE workspace with everything the agent needs for semantic modeling:
  • Credible-Modeling MCP server — A project-scoped MCP server that gives the agent access to your data warehouse metadata, so it can discover tables, suggest modeling approaches, and look up Malloy syntax
  • Modeling skills — Slash commands (e.g., /malloy-model, /malloy-discover, /credible-publish) that guide the agent through common workflows. The agent uses these automatically based on context
  • Cursor rules — Malloy-aware coding rules that help the agent write correct Malloy syntax and follow best practices
  • Managed database connections — Access connections configured in the Credible App without storing credentials locally
  • Credible Service Panel — Browse your organization’s projects, connections, and published packages
Installing the Credible Extension also installs the Malloy extension, which provides:
  • Syntax highlighting & compilation checks for .malloy, .malloynb, and .malloysql files
  • Schema | Explore | Preview buttons above any source definition
  • Run | Show SQL buttons above any query or run statement

​
Installation

​
Install the CLI and Log In

Open a terminal and install the Credible CLI globally: 
npm i -g @credibledata/cred-cli
Install Node.js (which includes npm) from nodejs.org.
Log in to your organization (replace <yourOrgName> with the organization name provided by your admin): 
cred login <yourOrgName>
Set your project: 
cred set project <projectName>
All workspaces share the same authentication token, but each workspace can point to a different organization and project. This lets you work across multiple projects without re-authenticating.

​
Install the Extension

  1. In Cursor or VS Code, go to the Extensions view (Cmd+Shift+X on Mac, Ctrl+Shift+X on Windows/Linux)
  2. Search for Credible and install the extension
The extension will automatically connect to your organization and project based on your CLI login.

​
Enable the Credible-Modeling MCP Server

The Credible Extension writes a workspace-scoped .cursor/mcp.json (or .vscode/mcp.json in VS Code) that points to a project-specific modeling MCP server. Every time you change projects, the extension updates this config and shows a pop-up to re-enable the server. When you see the pop-up, click through to enable the Credible-Modeling MCP server — this gives the agent access to the modeling tools. Pop-up prompting to enable the Credible-Modeling MCP server
If you missed the pop-up or your agent can’t access MCP tools:
  1. Open Cursor Settings (Cmd+Shift+J) or VS Code Settings
  2. Navigate to Tools & MCP
  3. Find Credible-Modeling and toggle it on
  4. If the agent still can’t call MCP tools, reload the window (Cmd+Shift+P → “Reload Window”)
Claude Code requires manually registering the MCP server. After installing the Credible Extension, open .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace to find the url value, then run:
claude mcp add --transport http Credible-Modeling <url>
For example, if your .vscode/mcp.json shows "url": "http://127.0.0.1:62409/mcp", run:
claude mcp add --transport http Credible-Modeling http://127.0.0.1:62409/mcp
The port number is assigned dynamically and may differ in your workspace.

​
Credible Service Panel

The Credible Service Panel shows your organization’s structure. Find it at the bottom of the Explorer view (Cmd+Shift+E on Mac, Ctrl+Shift+E on Windows/Linux): Credible Service Panel in Cursor Here you can view:
  • Projects: Logical groupings of related packages and connections
  • Connections: Managed database connections (no local credentials needed)
  • Packages: Published semantic models with version history
The extension automatically discovers connections in your project, eliminating the need to store database credentials locally.
The sidebar may be hidden by default in Cursor:
  1. Open the Explorer panel (Cmd+Shift+E) (or Ctrl+Shift+E on Windows/Linux)
  2. Look for the Credible panel at the bottom of the explorer sidebar
The Credible Extension can be configured via the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P) or clicking icons in the Credible Service panel:
  • Disable Credible: Turn off the extension for this workspace
  • Refresh: Reload projects, connections, and packages
  • Select Organization: Switch between organizations
  • Sign Out: Log out of Credible
Click on a project to switch projects — you’ll see a list of available projects in the command palette.

​
Next Steps

AI-Assisted Modeling

Build semantic models with AI-assisted modeling

Malloy Notebooks

Create data stories and documentation