Cursor

Cursor is a coding agent wrapped in an editor. The editor is a fork of VS Code, so your extensions, keybindings, and settings carry over, but the core of the product is Agent: it searches your repository, plans and edits across files, runs commands, drives a browser, and reviews its own changes. The same agent is available as a terminal CLI (agent), as Cloud Agents that run in isolated environments, and as Bugbot for pull request review.

This page covers installation and the basics. For the full deep-dive (rules, agent modes, CLI, skills, subagents, hooks, MCP, plugins, cloud agents, parallel agents, Bugbot), see the Cursor section.

Installation

Download the desktop app from cursor.com/downloads (macOS 12+, Windows 10+, Linux via apt, yum, or AppImage). Import your VS Code settings and extensions on first launch.

Install the CLI separately:

curl https://cursor.com/install -fsS | bash

Windows (PowerShell):

irm 'https://cursor.com/install?win32=true' | iex

See Cursor CLI for authentication, flags, headless mode, and CI usage.

First steps

Open a project folder and press Cmd+I to open Agent
Ask it to explain the codebase: "Explain this codebase. Point me to the main entry points and anything I should read before making changes."
Ask for one small, safe change, review the diff, and run your project's checks
Press Shift+Tab to switch to Plan Mode for anything that spans multiple files

Agent modes

Mode	Edits files?	Use it for
Agent	Yes	Default: end-to-end tasks with search, edits, terminal, and browser
Plan	Not until you approve	Research, clarifying questions, and an editable plan before code
Ask	No	Read-only exploration and explanation
Debug	Instrumentation first, then a fix	Root-causing bugs with hypotheses and runtime evidence
Design	Yes	Directing the agent visually from the built-in browser

Details: Agent Modes.

Persistent instructions

Cursor reads several kinds of project instructions:

AGENTS.md at the repo root (and nested in subdirectories): plain Markdown, the cross-tool standard, the simplest choice
.cursor/rules/*.mdc: rules with YAML frontmatter (description, globs, alwaysApply) so they can attach automatically to matching files or be requested by the agent
User Rules in settings for personal preferences across all projects
Team Rules managed from the dashboard on Teams and Enterprise plans

The older .cursorrules file still works but is deprecated. Details: Rules & AGENTS.md.

Skills, subagents, hooks, plugins, MCP

Cursor has native support for:

Skills: SKILL.md folders in .cursor/skills/ or ~/.cursor/skills/, invoked with /skill-name or picked up automatically
Subagents: built-in (Explore, Bash, Browser) and custom agents in .cursor/agents/*.md
Hooks: hooks.json scripts that run at lifecycle events (before shell execution, after file edit, on stop, and more)
Plugins: marketplace bundles of rules, skills, MCP servers, subagents, and hooks
MCP: external tools via .cursor/mcp.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json

Editing shortcuts

Shortcut	What it does
`Cmd+I`	Open or toggle the Agent panel
`Cmd+K`	Inline Edit on the current selection (or the terminal prompt bar)
`Cmd+L` with a selection	Add the selection to a new chat
`Tab`	Accept a Tab completion
`Shift+Tab`	Rotate Agent modes
`Cmd+E`	Toggle the Agent layout

Full reference: Commands & Shortcuts.

Cursor vs. Copilot

	Cursor	Copilot
Codebase search	Repository-wide (Instant Grep, Explore subagent)	Open files plus workspace search
Editor	Standalone (VS Code fork)	Plugin for existing editors
Multi-file agent edits	Yes (Agent, Plan Mode)	Yes (agent mode), less configurable
Instructions files	`AGENTS.md`, `.cursor/rules/*.mdc`	`.github/copilot-instructions.md`
Inline edit shortcut	`Cmd+K`	`Ctrl+I`
Terminal CLI	Yes (`agent`)	Yes (Copilot CLI)

Tips

Use Plan Mode for anything that touches more than a couple of files; approve the plan before code is written
Keep AGENTS.md short and concrete; move file-specific guidance into .cursor/rules/*.mdc with globs
Use @ to attach files, folders, terminals, past chats, and diffs rather than pasting code
Run several agents in parallel from the Agents Window with worktrees when tasks are independent

More: Tips.

Installation​

First steps​

Agent modes​

Persistent instructions​

Skills, subagents, hooks, plugins, MCP​

Editing shortcuts​

Cursor vs. Copilot​

Tips​

Further reading​