Already Vibe Coding? Make It Context-Aware.
Connect your AI coding assistant to your actual documentation. No more explaining your codebase from scratch every time.
Key Takeaways
- AI coding assistants (Cursor, Copilot) lack persistent context - every conversation starts from scratch
- Needle's MCP (Model Context Protocol) integration connects your documentation directly to your coding environment
- Setup is 3 steps: add docs to a Needle Collection, connect MCP to Cursor, and your AI assistant has full context
- Prompts go from paragraph-long context dumps to single-sentence instructions like "Add password reset to auth"
If you're using Cursor, Copilot, or any AI coding assistant, you've probably noticed the pattern: every conversation starts from scratch.
You explain your architecture. Again. You describe your coding conventions. Again. You provide context about why things are built a certain way. Again.
It's like having a brilliant colleague with amnesia.
The Context Problem in AI Coding
AI coding assistants are great at the code part. They struggle with the context part. They don't know:
- Your product requirements
- Why you made certain architectural decisions
- What your internal style guide says
- The history behind that weird workaround in the auth module
This context lives in your docs, your Notion pages, your Confluence wikis, your README files scattered across repos. The AI can't access any of it.
The Fix: MCP Integration in 3 Steps
We built an MCP (Model Context Protocol) integration that connects Needle to your coding environment. Here's how to set it up:
- Add your docs to Needle - Put your documentation, specs, and architecture docs in a Needle Collection
- Connect the MCP server - Link to Cursor or any MCP-compatible tool (a few lines of config)
- Start coding with context - Your AI assistant now has access to your actual documentation
When you ask about implementing a feature, the AI can now reference your product spec. When you ask about coding patterns, it can check your style guide. When you ask why something works a certain way, it can find the original design doc.
Before vs. After: The Context Difference
| Aspect | Without MCP | With Needle MCP |
|---|---|---|
| Prompt length | Paragraph of context every time | Single sentence instruction |
| Architecture awareness | Must re-explain every session | AI reads your architecture docs |
| Style guide compliance | Manual reminders needed | AI checks your style guide automatically |
| Decision history | Lost between sessions | AI finds original design docs |
| Documentation sources | Copy-paste from Notion, Confluence, etc. | All docs searchable in one Collection |
Before:
"I'm building a user auth system. We use NextAuth with a custom adapter for our Postgres database. Our convention is to put all auth logic in /lib/auth and we prefer explicit error handling over try-catch blocks..."
After:
"Add password reset to auth."
The AI already knows your setup. It's read your docs.
Get Started
The MCP integration is available now. If you're already using Needle for documentation, it's a few lines of config to connect it to Cursor.
Summary
AI coding assistants like Cursor and Copilot are powerful but lack persistent context about your project. Every conversation starts from scratch, forcing you to re-explain architecture, conventions, and design decisions. Needle's MCP (Model Context Protocol) integration fixes this by connecting your documentation directly to your coding environment. In 3 steps - add docs to a Needle Collection, connect MCP to Cursor, start coding - your AI assistant gains access to your product specs, style guides, and design docs. Prompts shrink from paragraphs of context to single-sentence instructions.
Jan Heimes is Co-founder at Needle. He vibes codes daily and hasn't explained his auth system from scratch in weeks.
