Short answer: A hand-written MCP entry in Cursor's config is plumbing you maintain; a generated server is derived from the contract. Both expose tools to the agent, but only the generated one stays correct when the API changes and shows where each tool came from. The config is the connection; the spec is the source of truth.

What a hand-written entry gives you

You can point Cursor at any MCP server, including one you write yourself. That is flexible, and it is the right path for a capability that has no contract. The downside is that the server is now another artifact: its tools, parameters, and descriptions are maintained by hand and drift the moment the API changes.

What a generated server gives you

Property Hand-written Generated from OpenAPI

Tool source You Operations and schemas

Provenance Implicit Visible per tool

On contract change Manual edit Regenerates on save

Weak / skipped tools Silent Surfaced

The failure that generated servers avoid

The most common hand-written failure is a stale tool…