@shopify/dev-mcp fails with "shopify-dev-mcp: command not found" in Cursor IDE (was working previously)

Agentic Commerce
1

Hi all,

The @shopify/dev-mcp MCP server has stopped working in Cursor IDE. It was running fine previously with the exact same configuration, but now it fails on every startup attempt with:

sh: shopify-dev-mcp: command not found

The confusing part: running the exact same command manually in my terminal works perfectly:

$ npx -y @shopify/dev-mcp@latest

Shopify Dev MCP Server v1.7.1 running on stdio

So the package is valid, the binary shopify-dev-mcp exists in the package, and npx resolves it fine, just not when Cursor spawns the MCP process.

Full MCP output log (repeats on every retry):

[info] Starting new stdio process with command: npx -y @shopify/dev-mcp@latest

[error] sh: shopify-dev-mcp: command not found

[info] Client closed for command

[warning] [V1] initializing -> error: Client closed

Environment:

  • macOS 15.7.4 (Apple Silicon / arm64)

  • Cursor 2.6.20

  • Node v22.16.0 (via nvm 0.39.5)

  • npm / npx 10.9.2

  • @shopify/dev-mcp v1.7.1

What I’ve observed:

  • The error comes from sh (not zsh), which suggests the MCP process spawner isn’t inheriting the full shell environment.

  • npx itself is being found and executed – it’s the downloaded shopify-dev-mcp binary that fails to resolve.

  • No changes were made to my Node.js setup, nvm config, or MCP configuration between when it was working and when it broke.

  • Only recent changes were updates to Cursor. All other installed MCP servers work.

I’d rather not have to hardcode absolute paths to npx or install globally as workarounds, this was zero-friction before. Any guidance appreciated.

Thanks!

—

Edit: Credit to this thread where @Joakim and @Evonux identified the cache fix for a related error.

Hope this helps someone else.

2

Hi @johnvp

Just to confirm, based on your edit, did the approach in this thread resolve the current issue: