Render Tutorials
Learn Blueprints by shipping a live app

Install skills and (optional) MCP

⏱ 10 min

Skills teach your coding agent how Render works. MCP lets the agent call Render’s API (list services, deploy, read logs) from the chat.

  • If you will deploy with the Dashboard only, finish section 1 (and skim 2). Skip section 3.
  • If you want the MCP deploy path later, do all three sections.

Docs: Coding agents · MCP server · skills repo

1. Install the Render plugin (skills)

ToolInstall
Cursor (room default)Settings → Plugins → search render → install → restart Cursor
Claude Code/plugins → search render → install → restart
Codex/plugins → search render → install → restart

Alternate:

Terminal window
render skills install

2. Glance at the catalog (once)

About 21 skills. You only need a few today.

GroupSkills
Interfacesrender-cli, render-mcp
Lifecyclerender-deploy, render-docker, render-scaling
Diagnosticsrender-debug, render-monitor
Configrender-blueprints, render-domains, render-env-vars, render-networking
Service typesrender-web-services, render-static-sites, render-background-workers, render-cron-jobs, render-private-services, render-workflows
Datastoresrender-postgres, render-keyvalue, render-disks
Migrationrender-migrate-from-heroku

Focus today: render-blueprints, render-deploy, and (for MCP) render-mcp. Recovery: render-debug, render-monitor.

3. Optional: add the Render MCP server

Do this only if you plan to deploy with the agent (Path B later). Dashboard deploy does not need MCP.

3a. Create a Render API key

  1. Open API Keys Go to Account Settings → API Keys.
  2. Create a key Click Create API Key. Name it something like firstdeploy-laptop.
  3. Copy it once It starts with rnd_. Store it somewhere safe.

3b. Put the key where your agent can read it

~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc
export RENDER_API_KEY=rnd_xxx...

Then:

Terminal window
source ~/.zshrc   # or ~/.bashrc

Restart your editor after exporting the key.

3c. Confirm MCP is connected

The Render plugin points at https://mcp.render.com/mcp and uses RENDER_API_KEY.

In your agent chat, try:

Using the Render MCP tools, list my services in the current workspace.

Done when: the agent returns a list (even an empty one) without a 401 error. If you are already in the Atlanta workshop workspace, ask it to use that workspace.

What you learned

  • Plugin = skills; MCP = live Render API from the agent
  • Dashboard path can skip section 3
  • Next: write render.yaml