A side-by-side look at the Magic MCP and Cognitive AI Memory MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Magic MCP for developer tools work as a local process; choose Cognitive AI Memory for knowledge & memory as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
TWENTY_FIRST_API_KEY, API_KEY_21ST.Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Developer Tools | Knowledge & Memory |
| Quality signal | 53/100 · Good | 47/100 · Fair |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | API key required | Not declared |
| Pricing | Paid service | Not declared |
| Required env vars | TWENTY_FIRST_API_KEYAPI_KEY_21ST | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 5,997 | 270 |
| Directory activity | 16 views 1 installs 0 upvotes | 2 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | Not listed | Not listed |
| Full listing | View Magic MCP | View Cognitive AI Memory |
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
{
"mcpServers": {
"21st-dev-magic-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@21st-dev/cli@latest"
],
"env": {
"TWENTY_FIRST_API_KEY": "YOUR_TWENTY_FIRST_API_KEY_HERE",
"API_KEY_21ST": "YOUR_API_KEY_21ST_HERE"
}
}
}
}
{
"mcpServers": {
"cognitive-ai-memory": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"yourmemory"
]
}
}
}
