Use BiOS from Windsurf

AI code editor with Cascade agent

Works today

Windsurf wires MCP servers into Cascade, its agent panel. Add one JSON block and Cascade can run the whole BiOS workflow: data upload, training, monitoring, and deployment.

Before you start

You need a BiOS API key. In your dashboard, open API Keys, click Create API Key, pick a permission preset, and copy the sk_live_ key. It is shown only once.

Node.js 18 or newer must be installed; the server runs with npx, so there is nothing else to install.

Setup

1
Open the MCP config
In Windsurf, open Settings, find the Cascade section, and click the option to manage or view raw MCP config. It opens ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json. You can also edit that file directly.

Add the BiOS server

Paste this and save:

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "usfbios": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@usfbios/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "USFBIOS_API_KEY": "sk_live_your_api_key"
      }
    }
  }
}

3
Refresh and go
Click the refresh button in the Cascade MCP panel (or restart Windsurf). The usfbios tools appear in the panel, and you can start asking Cascade to use them.

Check that it works

The MCP panel in Cascade lists usfbios with its tools after a refresh.
Ask Cascade "Check my BiOS wallet balance and list my datasets" and confirm both tool calls run.

Try these prompts

“Search for Llama models under 13B parameters and recommend a GPU for LoRA fine-tuning”

“Upload ~/data/support-qa.jsonl and start an SFT job on Llama 3.1 8B with LoRA”

“What is the status of my running training jobs? Show the loss curve for the latest one”

“Deploy my finished fine-tune and give me the endpoint URL”

Your assistant has 38 BiOS tools in total. The tool reference documents each one.

Troubleshooting

The server does not show up after saving the file

Use the refresh button in the MCP panel; Windsurf does not always watch the file for changes. If it still does not appear, validate the JSON.

The server never starts, or logs show "npx: command not found"

The MCP server runs on Node.js. Install Node 18 or newer from nodejs.org, restart your client, and try again. Run npx -y @usfbios/mcp-server in a terminal to confirm it starts (it waits for input; press Ctrl+C to exit).

Tools appear but every call fails with an authentication error

Check that USFBIOS_API_KEY is set to a key that starts with sk_live_ and has not expired. Keys are shown only once at creation, so if in doubt create a fresh one under Dashboard, then API Keys.

A tool call fails with a permission error

Your key may be scoped too narrowly. Ask the assistant to call introspect_api_key to see exactly which scopes the key has, then create a key with the preset you need (Read Only, Training, or Full Access).

Frequently asked questions

Does this count against Windsurf credits?

MCP tool calls are made by your machine directly to BiOS. Windsurf model usage follows its own plan; BiOS usage is billed to your BiOS wallet per second of GPU time you consume.

Can I keep the API key out of the config file?

Windsurf reads the env block from the config file, so the key lives there. Keep the file in your home directory (the default), which stays out of your repositories.