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Runpod integrates with AI coding agents through two complementary tools: agent skills and MCP servers. Together they let your agent create Pods, deploy Serverless endpoints, transfer files, and query GPU availability — in natural language, without switching to the console.

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What’s available

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Agent skills

The Runpod skills plugin teaches your coding agent how to perform tasks on Runpod. Once installed, you describe what you want — “create a Pod with an RTX 4090” or “deploy this function to Serverless” — and the built-in router sends the request to the right skill. Skills work with Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf, Cline, and other agents. → Set up agent skills

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MCP servers

Runpod provides two Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers:
  • Runpod API MCP server — gives your agent structured tools to manage Pods, endpoints, templates, network volumes, and registries through the REST API. Requires a Runpod API key.
  • Runpod docs MCP server — lets your agent search Runpod documentation for features, code examples, and guides. No authentication required.
MCP servers work with any MCP-compatible client, including agents that don’t support the skills plugin. → Set up MCP servers

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Which should I use?

For most coding agents, install both — they complement each other. The skills plugin handles high-level task execution (e.g. deploying a full workflow), while the MCP server provides the underlying API tools the skills rely on. If your agent supports the Runpod skills plugin, start there — it sets up the MCP server automatically for Claude Code, and the guided installer handles other agents. If your agent only supports MCP (no skills marketplace), use the MCP server directly.

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One-shot setup for coding agents

The fastest way to get started is the Onboard your agent to Runpod banner on your Runpod console home page. It gives you a one-line prompt you can copy directly into your coding agent:
Paste this into your agent and it fetches the setup instructions, installs the skills plugin and MCP server, and confirms the connection — no manual config steps. This works with Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf, Cline, opencode, and Gemini. You can also copy the prompt from this page if you have dismissed the banner.