How to Migrate from Cursor to ProjectCode
Cursor is a great local code editor - but if you need deployment, hosting, and a full product platform without stitching tools together, here is how to move to ProjectCode.
ProjectCode Insights Desk · Product strategy and engineering research
Cursor is one of the best AI-augmented code editors available. If your team is productive in a local editor environment, Cursor's autocomplete, chat, and multi-file edit capabilities are genuinely useful. But Cursor is an editor - it does not handle deployment, hosting, live collaboration on a running product, or the full product-to-production workflow.
Teams that have built an app with Cursor's help often reach a point where they need more than an editor: they need a live environment, a way to share a working product with users, and a platform to iterate quickly without managing DevOps themselves. That is where ProjectCode fits.
What Cursor does well (and what it does not)
| Capability | Cursor | ProjectCode |
|---|---|---|
| AI code suggestions | Excellent (autocomplete + chat) | Yes (prompt-to-feature) |
| Multi-file edits | Yes | Yes |
| Local editor experience | Full IDE | Browser-based editor |
| Live preview / hosting | No - you run locally | Yes - live shareable URL |
| Deployment | Manual - you configure CI/CD | Built-in one-click deploy |
| Database | You provision separately | Integrated, managed |
| Collaboration | Local only | Real-time multi-user |
| Domain and DNS | Manual | Integrated DNS management |
| Non-technical user access | Not possible | Full product access |
When to migrate
- Your team is spending more time on DevOps and deployment than on product features.
- Non-technical stakeholders need access to a live, shared product environment.
- You want to stop managing servers, CI/CD pipelines, and hosting configurations.
- You need real-time collaboration where multiple people can work on the same product simultaneously.
- You want a live preview at every step without running a local dev server.
What carries over cleanly
If your Cursor project produces standard code - React/Next.js frontend, Node.js or Python backend, PostgreSQL database - it imports into ProjectCode without changes. The code is just code.
- All your TypeScript/JavaScript, Python, or other source files.
- Your package.json or requirements.txt dependencies.
- Your database schema and migrations.
- Your API endpoints and business logic.
- Your environment variable names (you re-enter values in ProjectCode's env manager).
What changes
- Deployment is handled by ProjectCode - no CI/CD configuration needed.
- Your database runs on ProjectCode's managed infrastructure - migrate data once.
- Environment variables are managed in the ProjectCode dashboard, not a local .env file.
- Collaboration happens live in the browser - team members see changes in real time.
- Custom domain is configured through ProjectCode's DNS management, not a separate registrar workflow.
Step-by-step migration
Step 1: Export your code from Cursor
Your code lives in a local directory. Push it to a GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket repository if it is not already there. This gives you a clean starting point for importing into ProjectCode.
Step 2: Import into ProjectCode
In ProjectCode, create a new project and connect your Git repository. ProjectCode detects the framework and build configuration automatically. Review the detected settings and confirm.
Step 3: Migrate your database
Export your current database using pg_dump (PostgreSQL) or mysqldump (MySQL). Import it into the ProjectCode managed database from the Database tab. Update your connection strings in the ProjectCode environment variables manager.
Step 4: Set environment variables
Re-enter your environment variables (API keys, secrets, database URLs) in the ProjectCode environment manager. These are encrypted at rest and injected at deploy time - no .env files to manage.
Step 5: First deploy
Trigger a deploy from the ProjectCode dashboard. Your application builds and goes live on a ProjectCode subdomain. Test it thoroughly before pointing your custom domain.
Step 6: Connect your domain
In the Connectors tab, connect your domain. ProjectCode provides DNS records to add. Once DNS propagates, your app is live on your custom domain with SSL automatically provisioned.
Keeping Cursor in your workflow
You do not have to fully abandon Cursor. Some teams use ProjectCode for deployment, hosting, and collaboration while continuing to write code locally in Cursor and pushing via Git. The ProjectCode Git integration means a push to main triggers an automatic deploy. Use whichever editing experience you prefer - ProjectCode does not require you to use its editor for everything.
Common migration questions
- Can I still use Cursor after migrating? Yes - push to Git and ProjectCode deploys automatically.
- What about my existing CI/CD pipeline? You can keep it or replace it with ProjectCode's built-in deploy.
- Will my data be safe during migration? ProjectCode stores data on encrypted, backed-up infrastructure. Run a parallel environment before switching production traffic.
- Do I need to rewrite any code? No - standard code imports without changes.
Cursor makes writing code better. ProjectCode makes shipping and running products easier. They solve different problems - and for teams ready to move from editor to platform, the transition is straightforward.
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