Cursor Best Practices

Core Principles

• Start with plans - Use Plan Mode (Shift+Tab) for complex tasks
• Manage context effectively - Let agent find context, start new conversations when needed
• Extend the agent - Use Rules for static context, Skills for dynamic capabilities
• Review carefully - AI-generated code needs review like human code

Key Workflows

• Test-driven development - Write tests first, iterate until passing
• Codebase understanding - Use agent to explore and learn codebases
• Git workflows - Automate common git operations with commands
• Parallel agents - Run multiple agents simultaneously for comparison

References

• references/planning.md

  - Plan mode and starting with plans

• references/context.md

  - Managing context and conversations

• references/extending.md

  - Rules vs Skills, extending agent

• references/workflows.md

  - TDD, codebase understanding, git workflows

• references/reviewing.md

  - Code review strategies

• references/parallel-agents.md

  - Running agents in parallel