You might assume that the AI-powered code editor Cursor is mainly for engineers. But earlier this year, our marketing team ran an internal Cursor build contest in which non-technical folks built real, working projects with it. (You can read about how one of those projects went here).Â
So Cursor is a lot more accessible than it looks. The catch is that connecting Cursor to your other apps can come with real security risks. The most common approach—hardcoding your API keys—means embedding your credentials directly into your project files as plain text. If those files are ever shared, synced, or uploaded somewhere accidentally, anyone who gets access to them can use those keys to act as you across every service they unlock. That exposure can be hard to detect and harder to undo.
That's where Zapier MCP can help. It gives Cursor governed access to 8,000+ apps in Zapier's directory and 30,000+ actions, so you can work across your tech stack from your chat window. Here are four non-technical workflows, complete with copy-paste prompts and tool bundles, to get you started quickly.
Note: The tool bundles in this post are pre-populated with apps, but you can easily swap them out for any app you want from our directory.
Table of contents
How to connect Cursor to Zapier MCP
Before you try these workflows, you'll need to equip Cursor with a Zapier MCP server if you haven't already. If you can click, type, and copy-paste, you can set this up in minutes. Just follow these steps:
1. Head to the Zapier MCP dashboard.
2. Click +New MCP Server and choose Cursor as the client.
3. Now set up your first action. Click +Add tool.
4. Search for the app you want to connect to, then click its corresponding tile.
5. Select whichever action events you want to connect, then click Connect.
6. Connect your app accounts as needed.
7. In the dashboard, configure each action according to your needs by clicking the kebab menu (â‹®) and then Configure and adjusting values as needed. Hover over the tooltip icons next to any field for more details. When you're done, click Save.
8. Finally, click Connect at the top of the MCP dashboard and follow the instructions to add this server to your Cursor account.
Now you're ready to try the workflows below in Cursor.
Pro tip: Want to bake an extra layer of security into your MCP workflows? Try connecting AI Guardrails by Zapier, a built-in tool for detecting PII, toxic language, prompt injection attempts, and negative sentiment in your workflows. Learn how it works in our feature guide.
Build a pipeline report from your CRM
You're a sales ops or RevOps manager, and someone just asked you where the pipeline stands. Instead of dropping everything to pull and format the data yourself, ask Cursor to build the report while you stay focused on whatever else you were working on.
What to prompt Cursor
Pull all open deals from HubSpot where the close date is within the next 30 days. Group them by stage and owner, calculate total projected value per stage, and create a Google Doc called "Pipeline Report – [1. Today's date]" in [2. Folder name] with a summary table and a short written overview of where deals stand.
Apps to connect: HubSpot, Google Docs
Pull open deals from HubSpot, group by stage and owner, and create a summary report in Google Docs
Write a personalized follow-up email for a new lead
You just got a form submission from someone who looks promising, and a generic auto-reply isn't going to cut it. Before you write a single word, you want to know if they're already in your CRM, what they expressed interest in, and what a relevant follow-up actually looks like for them specifically.
What to prompt Cursor
Look up [1. Lead name or email] in HubSpot and pull any existing activity, deal history, or notes on their record. Based on what you find, draft a personalized follow-up email I can send from Gmail. If there's no prior activity, treat them as a new contact and tailor the email accordingly.
Apps to connect: HubSpot, Gmail
Look up a lead in HubSpot and draft a tailored follow-up email in Gmail
Summarize your team's Slack activity into a stakeholder update
You're a team lead or ops manager who needs to keep stakeholders informed without spending Friday afternoon writing a summary of things your team already said somewhere. Cursor can pull the week's highlights and draft the update for you.
What to prompt Cursor
Search Slack for messages posted this week in [1. Channel name] that mention launches, results, blockers, or decisions. Summarize the five most important updates in plain language, then create a draft email in Gmail with the subject "Team Update – [2. Week of date]" addressed to [3. Recipient email].
Pull the week's highlights from Slack and draft a stakeholder update email in Gmail
Draft a content brief from this month's top-performing posts
You're a content or marketing manager planning next month's calendar and want to double down on what's already working before you go chasing new topics. Cursor can pull your performance data and turn it into a brief you can hand to a writer the same day.
What to prompt Cursor
Search Google Analytics for the top five blog posts by page views from the last 30 days. For each one, note the topic, word count, and traffic source. Then draft a content brief in Google Docs saved to [1. Folder name] for a follow-up post on the highest-performing topic, including suggested angle, target keyword, and recommended length.
Apps to connect: Google Analytics, Google Docs
Pull top blog posts from Google Analytics and create a follow-up content brief in Google Docs
Start building with Zapier MCP and Cursor
The real unlock isn't any single workflow—it's what Zapier MCP makes possible. Cursor can now pull context from your tools, make decisions, and take action across 8,000+ apps. These templates are just the starting point for what you can build. And if you don't use Cursor? You can connect Zapier MCP to any AI client that supports the Model Context Protocol, including Claude, ChatGPT, and Microsoft Copilot Studio.
If you're ready to get started, jump into the Zapier MCP dashboard. Or, for a full walkthrough of the setup process, check out our Zapier MCP feature guide.
