Cline vs Cursor | agentconfig.ing

Cline vs CursorComparisonUpdated 2026-03-16

SUMMARY

Cline (IDE) uses markdown configuration while Cursor (IDE) uses mdc. They differ on 4 of 11 compared features. Both tools provide AI-assisted development but take different approaches to project configuration.

FEATURE COMPARISON

Feature	Cline	Cursor	Notes
Config format	markdown	mdc
Hierarchy support	✓	✓	Whether config files can be placed at multiple directory levels
Global config	✓	✓	User-wide configuration outside any project
Project config	✓	✓
Subdirectory scoping	✗	✓	Config files in subdirectories that apply only to that subtree
File inclusion / imports	✗	✗	Ability to include or reference other files from config
Ignore file	.clineignore	.cursorignore
IDE integration	✓	✓
Schema / structure	Free-form (Markdown)	Hybrid (MDC frontmatter + Markdown)	Whether config uses structured schema or free-form content
Git committed	✓	✓	Whether primary config files are intended to be version-controlled
Encoding	UTF-8	UTF-8

FILE MAPPING

Purpose	Cline	Cursor
Project rules	.clinerules/*.md	.cursor/rules/*.mdc
Ignore patterns	.clineignore	.cursorignore

SIDE-BY-SIDE CODE SAMPLES

Cline

.clinerules/*.md

markdown

---
paths:
  - "src/components/**"
  - "*.tsx"
---

# React Component Conventions

- Use functional components with TypeScript interfaces for props
- Export components as named exports
- Use Tailwind CSS for all styling
- Keep components under 150 lines; extract sub-components when larger

Cursor

.cursor/rules/*.mdc

mdc

---
description: React component conventions and patterns
globs: "*.tsx"
alwaysApply: false
---

# React Component Rules

- Use functional components with explicit return types
- Define props interface directly above the component
- Export components as named exports, never default
- Use Tailwind CSS utility classes exclusively

KEY DIFFERENCES

1. Config format

Cline: markdown. Cursor: mdc.

2. Subdirectory scoping

Cline: Not supported. Cursor: Supported.

3. Ignore file

Cline: .clineignore. Cursor: .cursorignore.

4. Schema / structure

Cline: Free-form (Markdown). Cursor: Hybrid (MDC frontmatter + Markdown).

WHICH SHOULD I USE?

Recommendation

Choose based on your IDE/CLI preference. If you use Cline, configure .clinerules/*.md. If you use Cursor, configure .cursorrules. Many projects include config files for multiple tools so each team member can use their preferred editor.

PORTABILITY TIP

sync-instructions.sh

bash

# Maintain a single source of truth:
cp AI-INSTRUCTIONS.md CLAUDE.md
cp AI-INSTRUCTIONS.md .cursorrules
cp AI-INSTRUCTIONS.md AGENTS.md