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IBM Bob is a standalone AI coding IDE. It supports remote MCP servers through mcp.json, edited directly — there’s no form-based UI for this. Perfai Cloud connects as a remote streamable-http server, authenticated with a Perfai API key.
Bob supports two scopes: Global (~/.bob/settings/mcp.json, applies to every workspace) and Project (.bob/mcp.json in the project root, shareable through version control). If a server name exists in both, the project one wins.

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Get an API key

Perfai Cloud authenticates Bob with a Perfai API key. Create one and copy it — Perfai shows the full key only once.

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Installation

  1. Click the Bob icon, then Settings.
  2. In Settings, select MCP from the left sidebar.
  3. Click + next to the server search box to add a server.
  4. In the Add MCP Server dialog, pick a Configuration Scope — Global (available in every workspace) or a specific project.
  5. Click Open Configuration File — this opens the matching mcp.json for editing.
  6. Add this entry under mcpServers:
  1. Save. Back in the MCP tab, confirm perfai-cloud shows a green Connected status under the scope you chose, and that “Enable MCP tools for new tasks” is toggled on (it is by default).
If it fails, re-check the header value for trailing whitespace. If it worked before and now fails, the key has expired or been revoked — create a new one and update mcp.json.

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Confirm you’re signed in

The API key signs you in — there is no separate login step. Every tool call runs as the user who created the key, with that user’s organizations and role. Ask Bob:
It answers with the key’s id (pfk_xxxxxxxxxxxx_…), never the secret. If a tool call fails with 401, the key has expired or been revoked — create a new one and update mcp.json.

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Use it

Tell Bob:
Registers the app and runs a security test.
Shows what it found.
Fixes everything, prioritized by severity.