Catalyst by Zoho — Cursor Plugin

Official Cursor plugin for Catalyst by Zoho — Zoho's full-stack serverless cloud platform.

This plugin gives Cursor deep knowledge of Catalyst services, SDK patterns, CLI workflows, and architecture guidance. With Zoho MCP connected, the agent can also manage Catalyst infrastructure (tables, cache, buckets, ZCQL) directly from chat.

What's included

Component	Path	Description
Rules	CATALYST.md	Always-on behavioral rules and MCP routing for Catalyst projects
Skills	skills/	Specialized agent skills (functions, AppSail, Data Store, Stratus, Slate, Signals, SmartBrowz, SDKs, pricing, and more)
Hooks	hooks/	sessionStart context bootstrap from .catalystrc + local toolchain checks
Commands	commands/	Agent commands (e.g. switch-dc guides DC changes via Plugins → Configure)
MCP	.mcp.json	Zoho MCP server; URL uses plugin variable CATALYST_MCP_TLD
Manifest	.cursor-plugin/plugin.json	Plugin metadata, including the DC TLD variables enum

Skills

Skill	Description
catalyst-by-zoho	Skill router — start here; loads the most specific skill for the task
catalyst-basics	Architecture, project setup, CLI, environments
catalyst-functions	Serverless functions, handlers, API Gateway
catalyst-appsail	Backend PaaS, Docker, managed runtimes
catalyst-slate	Frontend hosting, frameworks, Git deploy
catalyst-datastore	Relational Data Store, ZCQL, permissions
catalyst-stratus	S3-compatible object storage
catalyst-nosql	Document storage, collections
catalyst-cache	In-memory key-value cache
catalyst-authentication	User auth, ZAID, Connections/OAuth
catalyst-signals	Event-driven triggers, pub/sub (replaces Event Listeners)
catalyst-smartbrowz	Headless browser, PDF/screenshot, Browser Logic, Dataverse
catalyst-pricing	Free tier, pay-as-you-go, cost estimation
catalyst-sdk	Node.js, Web, Python, Java, mobile SDKs
catalyst-zia	Zia Services, QuickML, OCR/ML
catalyst-zoho-mcp	MCP setup and CatalystbyZoho_* via ZohoMCP_executeTool

Note: For edge-case lookups not covered by skill reference files, agents are instructed to search docs.catalyst.zoho.com and fetch individual pages — keeping the plugin lean while ensuring up-to-date answers.

Installation

Option 1: Cursor Marketplace (recommended)

When published, install from Cursor Settings → Plugins or the Cursor Marketplace.

Option 2: Local testing

1. Copy this repository into Cursor's local plugins directory:

   mkdir -p ~/.cursor/plugins/local
   cp -R /path/to/cursor-plugin ~/.cursor/plugins/local/catalyst-by-zoho

   Use cp -R rather than symlinks — symlink resolution for local plugins is unreliable in some Cursor versions.

2. Restart Cursor or run Developer: Reload Window.

3. Confirm the plugin loaded under Cursor Settings → Plugins. Skills, rules, and MCP are bundled automatically — authorize MCP once (see below).

Option 3: Install from a Git URL

If your Cursor version supports installing plugins from a repository URL, point it at:

https://github.com/catalystbyzoho/cursor-plugin

Catalyst MCP server (pre-configured)

The plugin ships the Catalyst MCP server in .mcp.json with "url": "https://catalystbyzoho.zohomcp.${CATALYST_MCP_TLD}/mcp/message". Pick your data center TLD once via the plugin variable — no manual URL copying required.

Choose your data center

1. Open Cursor Settings → Plugins → Catalyst by Zoho → Configure.
2. Set Catalyst MCP data center (CATALYST_MCP_TLD) to your region TLD (default: com / US).
3. Reload the window if the MCP endpoint does not update.

Data Center	CATALYST_MCP_TLD	MCP Server URL
US (default)	com	https://catalystbyzoho.zohomcp.com/mcp/message
EU	eu	https://catalystbyzoho.zohomcp.eu/mcp/message
IN	in	https://catalystbyzoho.zohomcp.in/mcp/message
AU	com.au	https://catalystbyzoho.zohomcp.com.au/mcp/message
CA	ca	https://catalystbyzoho.zohomcp.ca/mcp/message
SA	sa	https://catalystbyzoho.zohomcp.sa/mcp/message
JP	jp	https://catalystbyzoho.zohomcp.jp/mcp/message
UAE	ae	https://catalystbyzoho.zohomcp.ae/mcp/message

To change regions later, use Configure again, run the switch-dc command, or ask the agent (see skills/catalyst-zoho-mcp/references/dc-switching.md).

Authorize once

1. Open Cursor Settings → MCP.
2. Find catalyst-by-zoho (may show "Needs authentication").
3. Click Connect and complete Zoho OAuth in your browser.
4. Confirm ZohoMCP_* meta-tools appear in the tool list.

The first time you invoke a Catalyst MCP tool, you may be prompted to authorize again if the session has expired — click Connect to re-authenticate.

Fallback: If the Configure picker is unavailable, create a project .cursor/mcp.json with the URL for your DC, or copy a personal URL from mcp.zoho.com.

For detailed MCP tool reference and verification steps, see skills/catalyst-zoho-mcp/references/zoho-mcp.md.

Pre-flight checklist

Before asking Cursor to write or deploy Catalyst code:

• catalyst login --dc <dc> -ni has been run in your terminal
• catalyst init --org <orgId> -p <projectId> -ni has been run in your project directory
• .catalystrc and catalyst.json exist at the project root
• Catalyst MCP data center matches your account region (Plugins → Configure)
• catalyst-by-zoho shows connected in Cursor Settings → MCP (click Connect if needed)

Plugin structure

cursor-plugin/
├── .cursor-plugin/
│   └── plugin.json       # Manifest + CATALYST_MCP_TLD variable enum
├── CATALYST.md           # Behavioral rules (wired via manifest)
├── .mcp.json             # MCP server (url = …zohomcp.${CATALYST_MCP_TLD}/…)
├── hooks/
│   ├── hooks.json        # sessionStart hook registration
│   └── catalyst-context.js
├── commands/
│   └── switch-dc.md      # Guide DC change via Plugins → Configure
├── skills/               # Agent skills (auto-discovered)
│   ├── catalyst-by-zoho/
│   ├── catalyst-basics/
│   └── ...
├── assets/
│   └── catalyst_logo.svg
└── README.md

Session start hook

When an Agent session starts in a Catalyst workspace (.catalystrc present), the plugin's sessionStart hook injects org/project/environment context and reports local CLI/runtime gaps. It is fire-and-forget and does not block session creation. The readiness gate in skills/catalyst-basics/references/preflight.md still verifies MCP parity before mutations.

About CATALYST.md

CATALYST.md is a lightweight rules file — MCP routing and core behavioral guardrails for Catalyst work. It is registered in plugin.json as the plugin's rules source.

It is not a replacement for the full skill library. For application development, agents should route through skills/catalyst-by-zoho/SKILL.md and load the matching service skill and its references/ files. CATALYST.md alone is insufficient for building a complete Catalyst app.

What this plugin enables

• Architecture recommendations — Catalyst-specific service picks for your use case (including Signals and SmartBrowz)
• Production-ready code generation — correct handler signatures, SDK patterns, catalyst-config.json, and project structure compatible with catalyst deploy
• Local-first workflow — sessionStart context from .catalystrc, CLI/runtime prerequisite checks, and serve-before-deploy guidance
• Platform migration guidance — maps AWS, GCP, Azure, Vercel, Firebase, Supabase, and Heroku services to Catalyst equivalents
• Infrastructure management via Zoho MCP — create tables, insert data, run ZCQL, manage cache/buckets from chat (ZohoMCP_* meta-tools → CatalystbyZoho_* operations)
• DC switching — switch-dc command + Plugins → Configure for CATALYST_MCP_TLD
• Pricing estimation — cost breakdowns with unit prices and free tier offsets

Other AI tools

This repository is the Cursor-specific distribution (skills, rules, hooks, commands, MCP). For Claude Code, see claude-plugin. For a multi-tool skills pack, see agent-skills.

License

Apache 2.0 — see LICENSE.

Resources

• Catalyst Documentation
• Catalyst Pricing
• Catalyst GitHub
• Zoho MCP
• Cursor Plugins Docs