Tools: Use Cursor with LM Studio

install (macOS example) ## authenticate ## start a tunnel for LM Studio's port Elevate Your Coding: Integrating Cursor with Local LLMs (LM Studio) and GitHub Copilot Prerequisites Before you begin, make sure you have: Cursor installed LM Studio installed (see lmstudio.ai) ngrok (optional, discussed later) A GitHub Copilot subscription (optional but recommended) One or more local models downloaded (e.g. Gemma2, Llama3, DeepSeekCoder) Part 1: Setting Up the Engine – LM Studio & ngrok The goal of this section is to run a local LLM and expose it as an API that Cursor can consume. Example model selector inside LM Studio. Llama3(8B) or Gemma2(9B) for general use DeepSeekCoder for coding-heavy tasks GLM4 for modern language capabilities Click Download and wait for the model to finish downloading. Server configuration panel with model selected. ngrok config add-authtoken grok http 1234 Copy the resulting "Forwarding" URL (e.g. https://a1b2-c3d4.ngrok-free.app); you'll need it when configuring Cursor. ngrok running and showing a forwarding URL. Sample API call via ngrok Traffic arriving at LM Studio through the ngrok tunnel. Part 2: Connecting the Cockpit – Configuring Cursor Now lets teach Cursor to use your local model endpoint instead of the default cloud API. Configure the Custom OpenAI API In the OpenAI API area enter a placeholder key such as lm-studio. Set the Base URL to your endpoint: Local: http://localhost:1234/v1 ngrok: https://.ngrok-free.app/v1 Tip: don’t forget the trailing /v1 LM Studio mimics the OpenAI path. Model Overrides Cursor may not recognize your model name automatically. Add a custom model name matching the ID shown in LM Studio (e.g. llama-3-8b-instruct). If you get an "Invalid Model" warning, rename the model in LM Studio to something Cursor expects (like gpt-4), or use the override option. Github : https://github.com/ketanvijayvargiya/Cursor-LMStudio Templates let you quickly answer FAQs or store snippets for re-use. Are you sure you want to ? It will become hidden in your post, but will still be visible via the comment's permalink. as well , this person and/or - Install LM Studio Download the appropriate package for your OS. Run the installer and launch the application. LM Studio Model List - Choose and Download a Model Use the search bar to find a model. Some good starting points: - Start the Local Server Switch to the Local Server tab ( icon). Select your downloaded model from the dropdown. Ensure CORS is enabled and note the default port (1234). Click Start Server. You'll see logs confirming the service is running. Server Settings - Expose the API with ngrok (Optional but Recommended) While Cursor can hit http://localhost, using ngrok provides a stable, publicly reachable URL and avoids sandbox restrictions. - Open Cursor AI Settings Launch Cursor. Open Settings (Ctrl+Shift+J / Cmd+Shift+J). Navigate to the Models section. - Configure the Custom OpenAI API In the OpenAI API area enter a placeholder key such as lm-studio. Set the Base URL to your endpoint: Local: http://localhost:1234/v1 ngrok: https://.ngrok-free.app/v1 Tip: don’t forget the trailing /v1 LM Studio mimics the OpenAI path. - Model Overrides Cursor may not recognize your model name automatically. - Verify the Connection Open Cursor Chat (Ctrl+L / Cmd+L). Send a simple prompt: "Are you running locally?". Watch the LM Studio logsyou should see POST requests hit the server. LM Studio Logs