When helping the user configure the Aikido security plugin:

First: Verify Node.js version

Before doing anything else, run node --version to check the installed Node.js version.

If Node.js is not installed or the command fails, stop and tell the user that Node.js 18.19.0 or higher is required to run the Aikido MCP server, and direct them to https://nodejs.org to install it.
If the version is below 18.19.0, stop and tell the user that the Aikido MCP server requires Node.js 18.19.0 or higher, show the currently installed version, and direct them to https://nodejs.org to upgrade.
If the version is 18.19.0 or higher, proceed with the steps below.

If the user is asking to switch accounts or re-authenticate, call aikido:aikido_login with force_reauth: true and skip step 1 — the tool will always return a fresh sign-in URL. Continue from step 3 to walk the user through opening the URL and step 4 to verify.

Otherwise, follow the standard setup flow:

Check the MCP server is reachable and the user is signed in by calling aikido:aikido_login with no arguments. The tool is idempotent — it returns "Already signed in" if a valid token is cached, otherwise it starts a new sign-in flow.
If it reports the user is already signed in, confirm to the user that the Aikido plugin is configured and ready to use. Stop here.
If it returns a sign-in URL, present it to the user verbatim — do not strip or modify the state, redirect_uri, or regionRedirect query parameters — and ask them to open it in a browser to complete sign-in. The URL automatically redirects the user to their account's region, so there is no need to pick a region. Only pass the optional region argument when the user explicitly names a region (e.g. EU / US / ME / AU), or when the automatic redirect sent them to the wrong one.
Once the user reports they have completed the browser sign-in, verify the setup by calling aikido:aikido_login again.
If the aikido_login call itself fails because the MCP server is unavailable, first check whether it is the known Cursor npm-prefix startup crash (see below) and repair it. If it is not that issue, tell the user to ensure the Aikido plugin is installed and that Cursor has loaded the aikido MCP server, then retry.