Platform Comparison
All 6 MCP Clients vs anonym.legal
Every platform supports all 7 MCP tools and 6 operators. The differences lie in transport protocol, config format, LLM flexibility, and setup complexity. This page breaks down every relevant difference.
Feature Matrix
| Feature | Claude Desktop | Cursor | VS Code | Windsurf | Continue | Cline |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HTTP transport | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Config key | mcpServers | mcpServers | servers ⚠ | mcpServers | mcpServers (array) | cline.mcpServers |
| Config format | JSON file | JSON file | JSON file | UI or JSON | JSON file | UI or JSON |
| Per-project config | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | partial | ✗ (global only) | ✗ (global only) |
| Multiple LLMs | Claude only | Claude, GPT, Gemini… | Copilot (Claude, GPT…) | Claude, GPT, Gemini… | Any (configurable) | Any (configurable) |
| Agent/agentic mode | basic | ✓ Composer Agent | ✓ Copilot Agent | ✓ Cascade | ✓ Chat + Agent | ✓ Fully autonomous |
| IDE integration | standalone app | full IDE | full IDE | full IDE | extension | extension |
| Requires Node.js | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Setup complexity | ⭐ Very Easy | ⭐ Very Easy | ⭐⭐ Medium | ⭐ Very Easy | ⭐⭐ Medium | ⭐ Easy |
| Open source | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ (FOSS ext.) | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
Transport Protocol
Streamable HTTP — the only transport anonym.legal's MCP server uses
A single POST https://anonym.legal/mcp endpoint, authenticated with a Bearer API key. anonym.legal does not ship an npm package or a stdio subprocess — there is nothing to install or run locally, on any platform.
- No local subprocess
- No Node.js, no npm, no npx
- TLS 1.3 encrypted
- Works behind corporate firewalls
- Same setup on every platform: a URL and an API key
The MCP specification also defines a stdio transport (a local subprocess communicating over stdin/stdout), which some other MCP servers use. anonym.legal does not offer a stdio server — any instructions telling you to run an anonym.legal server via npx are incorrect.
Config Format Differences
The biggest source of confusion when switching between platforms. Pay attention to the top-level key and how the server entry is structured:
{
"mcpServers": {
"anonym-legal": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://anonym.legal/mcp",
"headers": {"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_KEY"}
}
}
}
{
"mcpServers": {
"anonym-legal": {
"url": "https://anonym.legal/mcp",
"headers": {"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_KEY"}
}
}
}
{
"servers": {
"anonym-legal": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://anonym.legal/mcp",
"headers": {"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_KEY"}
}
}
}
{
"mcpServers": [
{
"name": "anonym-legal",
"transport": {
"type": "streamableHttp",
"url": "https://anonym.legal/mcp",
"requestOptions": {"headers": {"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_KEY"}}
}
}
]
}
Which Platform Should I Use?
| Use Case | Recommended Platform | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Non-technical users / simplest setup | Claude Desktop | One config file, no local install, Anthropic's reference client |
| Developer coding workflows | Cursor | Best AI IDE experience, per-project config, HTTP is zero-friction |
| VS Code power users (already using Copilot) | VS Code + Copilot | Stays in existing IDE, Copilot Agent mode is powerful |
| Multi-LLM workflows (Claude + GPT + Gemini) | Windsurf or Continue | Both support multiple LLM providers per session |
| Autonomous/agentic coding tasks | Cline | Designed for autonomous multi-step tasks with tool use |
| Open-source preference | Continue or Cline | Both are fully open-source, self-hostable configs |
| JetBrains IDE users | Continue | Only major MCP client with native JetBrains support |
| Zero local installation | Any platform above | anonym.legal's MCP server is HTTP-only — no npm package or subprocess to install on any client, including Claude Desktop |
Key Gotchas & Differences
VS Code uses "servers" — not "mcpServers"
This is a breaking difference. Every other client uses "mcpServers" as the top-level config key. VS Code uses "servers". Copying config from Cursor to VS Code will silently fail.
anonym.legal has no npm package or stdio server
Only cloak.business ships a real, installable stdio MCP server (cloak-business-mcp-server on npm). anonym.legal's MCP server is HTTP-only — there is no npx command for it on any platform. See the Claude Desktop guide for the correct HTTP setup.
Continue uses an array for mcpServers
Continue's config format uses an array: "mcpServers": [{ ... }] — not an object like Cursor/Claude Desktop. You also need to specify a "transport" object with a "type" field.
VS Code requires "type" field for each server
Unlike Cursor which infers the transport type from the presence of a "url" vs "command", VS Code requires an explicit "type": "http" or "type": "stdio" field in each server entry.
Windsurf and Cline prefer UI configuration
Both Windsurf and Cline are designed to configure MCP servers through their UI — not raw JSON files. This is simpler for setup but less portable for team sharing.