How to use Claude Code, Cursor or Codex on a Base44 app

You can work on a Base44 app with Claude Code, Cursor, Codex or any other coding agent in three ways: sync the app to GitHub and edit a local clone, point the agent at the app’s cloud sandbox with the Base44 CLI, or connect over the Base44 MCP server. All three need the Builder plan or higher. Base44 ties message credits to its own AI chat, so edits your own agent makes shouldn’t draw on them.

This fits the lightest level of the Base44 migration guide: you keep Base44 and gain a real development setup.

Option 1: send the app to your agent from the editor#

The quickest route, per Base44’s bring-your-own-agent docs:

1. Open the app in Base44’s editor.
2. Click More actions (the three dots next to Publish) and choose Send to Coding Agent.
3. Pick a local CLI agent or a web chat.
4. Paste the generated prompt into your agent.

The prompt contains what the agent needs to connect to the app’s sandbox. It isn’t offered for mobile apps or apps with unmanaged source code.

Option 2: the cloud sandbox via the CLI#

The sandbox is the same cloud environment Base44’s editor uses. Your agent reads, searches, edits and runs commands there, with no local checkout.

npm install -g base44@latest         # Node.js 20.19.0+
base44 login                         # grants the sandbox:write permission
export BASE44_APP_ID=<your-app-id>   # from app.base44.com/apps/<app-id>/editor
base44 sandbox ls                    # confirm the connection

Then give your agent the app’s README, which Base44 publishes for exactly this, at https://app.base44.com/api/sandbox/<app-id>/local-agent/readme.md. It explains how to work in the sandbox with commands like base44 sandbox read, grep, edit, write, run and checkpoint.

Without the Builder plan, these commands fail with PREMIUM_REQUIRED.

Option 3: GitHub sync and a local clone#

If you want commits, branches and pull requests, connect GitHub (see the GitHub integration guide), clone the repo and work in it like any project:

git clone git@github.com:you/your-app.git && cd your-app
npm install && base44 link && base44 dev
claude            # or open the folder in Cursor, or run codex

Merge into main and your changes sync back to Base44. Click Publish to make them live. The local development guide explains what base44 dev runs on your machine.

Option 4: the Base44 MCP server#

For assistants that connect over MCP, including web chats that can’t run a CLI, add Base44’s MCP server:

{ "mcpServers": { "base44": { "url": "https://app.base44.com/mcp" } } }

It exposes your Base44 account, so the assistant can create and update projects for you. It also needs the Builder plan. There’s a separate Docs MCP server that lets an assistant search Base44’s documentation. The MCP server guide covers both, plus App MCP, which connects assistants to an app you’ve published.

Which to use#

Credits and costs#

Base44’s docs describe message credits as spent by prompts in its AI chat, so changes your own agent makes shouldn’t use them. You pay your agent’s provider instead. Check your credit usage page after your first session to confirm. Integration credits are separate: they’re spent whenever the app calls Base44’s built-in services, such as sending email or calling an LLM, no matter who wrote the code. See the credits guide.

What to do next#

1. Try Send to Coding Agent on a small change first.
2. If you like working locally, connect GitHub and install the Base44 skills.
3. Weighing Base44 against a pure coding-agent workflow? Read Base44 vs Claude Code.