Add human approval to Windsurf with Impri

Gate Windsurf's Cascade agent on real-world side effects — deploys, database writes, outbound messages — behind a human decision in the Impri inbox.

60-second install

Open Windsurf's MCP config (Windsurf Settings → Cascade → MCP Servers → "View raw config", which edits ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json) and add:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "impri": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@impri/mcp"],
      "env": {
        "IMPRI_API_KEY": "im_your_key_here",
        "IMPRI_BASE_URL": "https://api.impri.dev"
      }
    }
  }
}

Self-hosting? Drop the IMPRI_BASE_URL line entirely — it defaults to http://localhost:8484 — or point it at your own server (see self-hosting); get a cloud key at impri.dev. Click "Refresh" in the MCP Servers panel and confirm impri shows as connected with 8 tools.

Tell Cascade to use it

Add to Windsurf's global rules or your project's .windsurfrules:

## Human approval
Before any action with a real side effect (send, deploy, delete, pay, publish), call
impri_push_action with a clear preview, then impri_await_decision before proceeding.

What you see

Cascade keeps working on the rest of its task while the action sits in your Impri inbox, with the title and preview visible there and, if configured, pushed to Slack/Telegram/ntfy too. Approve, reject, or edit the draft before Cascade acts on the decision.

Real example call

impri_push_action({
  kind: "infra.terraform_apply",
  title: "terraform apply: resize db.primary to db.r6g.xlarge",
  preview: { format: "diff", body: "Plan: 1 to change, 0 to destroy.\n~ aws_db_instance.primary" },
  editable: []
})

Response:

{
  "action_id": "act_2v7d...",
  "status": "pending",
  "inbox_url": "https://app.impri.dev/inbox/act_2v7d..."
}

Troubleshooting

• impri doesn't show as connected — the raw config is JSON; check for a trailing comma or an unescaped path separator on Windows configs.
• IMPRI_API_KEY is not set at call time — the env block only applies inside that mcpServers.impri entry; a key exported elsewhere in your shell isn't picked up by Windsurf's own process.
• Cascade never calls the approval tool — the model only calls it when instructed; check that .windsurfrules (or the global rule) is actually active for the workspace.

Next

Read the full human approval pattern, or see gating infra changes.