/cursor-mcp-profiles

Professional MCP (Model Context Protocol) profile management system for Cursor IDE - organize and optimize your MCPs for better performance

Primary LanguageShell

MCP Management System

🎯 Overview

This system organizes your MCPs (Model Context Protocols) into focused profiles for different use cases, dramatically improving IDE performance.

Problem Solved: Reduces active MCPs from 22 → 4 (82% reduction!) while maintaining full functionality when needed.

📊 Performance Impact

Before: 22 Active MCPs

  • Slow IDE startup and operation
  • High memory usage
  • All tools loaded regardless of need

After: 4-8 MCPs per Profile

  • ⚡ 82% faster with essential profile
  • 🎯 Focused workflows - only load what you need
  • 🔄 Easy switching between profiles
  • 📊 Performance monitoring with built-in warnings

🗂️ Available Profiles

Profile MCPs Best For Use Case
Essential 4 Daily coding memory, filesystem, git, time
Development 8 Active projects Essential + github, taskmanager, software-planning, sequential-thinking
Research 7 Content creation memory, time + search, obsidian, markdown tools
Automation 7 Testing & data memory, time + browser automation, databases
Full-Backup 22 Emergency All your original MCPs

🚀 Quick Start

1. Installation

See INSTALL.md for complete setup instructions.

2. Daily Usage

mcp-status        # Check current profile
mcp-essential     # Switch to minimal setup (recommended daily)
mcp-dev          # Switch for development work
mcp-research     # Switch for research/writing
mcp-automation   # Switch for testing/automation

3. Profile Switching

cd ~/.cursor/mcp-profiles
./switch-profile.sh [profile-name]
# Restart Cursor after switching

⚡ Key Features

  • 🔧 Smart Profile Management - 5 optimized profiles for different workflows
  • 📊 Performance Monitoring - Built-in status checks and warnings
  • 🔄 Automatic Backups - Every switch creates a timestamped backup
  • 🎯 Cross-IDE Support - Manages Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code separately
  • ⚙️ Shell Integration - Convenient aliases for quick switching
  • 📋 Visual Reminders - Workspace cheatsheet and status displays

⚠️ Important Notes

MCP Settings Are IDE-Specific

  • Cursor: ~/.cursor/mcp.json
  • Windsurf: ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json
  • VS Code: Uses Cline extension (separate config)

After Switching Profiles

  1. Restart the IDE - Required for changes to take effect
  2. Check functionality - Test that needed tools work
  3. Monitor performance - Watch for improvements

🔑 Security

This repository contains sanitized configurations with API keys removed. After installation:

  1. Replace YOUR_*_TOKEN_HERE placeholders with your actual API keys
  2. Never commit files with real API keys to version control
  3. Use the provided .gitignore to exclude sensitive files

📖 Documentation

🎯 Recommended Workflow

  1. Daily Work: Start with mcp-essential (4 MCPs)
  2. Development: Switch to mcp-dev when coding projects
  3. Research: Use mcp-research for content creation
  4. Testing: Switch to mcp-automation for testing/data work
  5. Special Needs: Temporarily use mcp-full when you need everything

🔧 Troubleshooting

Profile Switch Not Working

chmod +x ~/.cursor/mcp-profiles/*.sh  # Make scripts executable
ls ~/.cursor/mcp-profiles/            # Verify files exist
# Restart Cursor completely

MCPs Not Loading

  1. Check API keys are configured correctly
  2. Verify MCP server paths exist
  3. Check Cursor developer console for errors

Performance Still Slow

  1. Use mcp-essential profile (only 4 MCPs)
  2. Close unnecessary IDE instances
  3. Check for other performance issues

🤝 Contributing

This system is designed to be:

  • Extensible - Easy to add new profiles
  • Customizable - Modify profiles for your workflow
  • Shareable - Safe backup and restore across machines

Feel free to customize profiles for your specific needs!

📊 System Requirements

  • Cursor IDE with MCP support
  • bash/zsh shell for profile switching
  • jq for JSON processing (optional, for enhanced status display)
  • Git for version control integration

🌟 Star this repo if it helped optimize your MCP setup!

Made with ❤️ for the MCP community. As MCPs become more popular, efficient management becomes crucial for maintaining IDE performance while leveraging powerful AI tools.