MCP Config Lab
Conversion guide

Cursor MCP config
to Claude.

Translate Cursor’s .cursor/mcp.json into a clean Claude Desktop or Claude Code configuration and identify fields that will not travel safely.

Cursor and Claude look similar—but differ

Both clients use an mcpServers wrapper, but Cursor may add fields such as type or envFile. Claude configuration locations also differ between the desktop application and project-scoped Claude Code.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "database": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@example/database-mcp"],
      "envFile": "${workspaceFolder}/.env"
    }
  }
}

The converter keeps portable MCP fields, removes unnecessary transport hints, and warns about envFile so you can replace it with explicit environment-variable references.

Convert Cursor to Claude →

Which Claude target should I choose?

Choose Claude Code for a project-level .mcp.json. Choose Claude Desktop when configuring the desktop app’s claude_desktop_config.json. Their core server definitions are compatible, but their file locations and configuration scopes differ.

Security reminder

MCP servers can launch local processes and receive data from the client. Read package names and arguments carefully, pin dependencies where practical, and keep credentials in environment variables.