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Course Outline

The AI-Native IDE Architecture

  • Understanding how Cursor is built on a fork of VS Code with deep model integration
  • Comparing regular VS Code with extensions versus Cursor-native features
  • Exploring Cursor's model hosting options: Claude, GPT, and custom endpoints
  • Overviewing the roadmap from autocomplete to full agent workflows

The Composer and Multi-File Editing

  • Invoking the Composer to plan across files
  • Reviewing generated edits before accepting or rejecting them
  • Managing undo and checkpoint states during long Composer sessions
  • Testing the build after implementing Composer-assisted changes

Context-Aware Chat and Smart References

  • Using @file and @codebase to focus chat context
  • Referencing specific functions, classes, and documentation files
  • Summarizing code intent before requesting modifications
  • Avoiding context overflow by narrowing references

Agent Mode and Autonomous Refactoring

  • Triggering agent mode with high-level prompts
  • Observing the agent as it plans, edits, tests, and iterates
  • Intervening when the agent diverges from the desired path
  • Handling merge conflicts after agent-driven multi-file rewrites

Installation and Model Configuration

  • Setting up Cursor on macOS, Windows, and Linux
  • Selecting and switching models based on task type
  • Using your own API key instead of relying on Cursor's shared hosting
  • Configuring high-context models for navigating large codebases

Team Workspaces and Shared Context

  • Creating team workspaces and inviting members
  • Sharing custom rules, style guides, and context files
  • Establishing default prompts for recurring team workflows
  • Tracking usage and costs across the workspace

Custom Rules and Prompts for Consistency

  • Writing .cursorrules to enforce project-wide conventions
  • Automating code review comments through prompt engineering
  • Maintaining architecture decision records with agent assistance
  • Versioning rule files as part of the repository

Integration with Version Control and CI

  • Generating commit messages from diff summaries
  • Using pre-commit prompts to run linters and type checkers before committing
  • Opening pull requests with AI-generated descriptions
  • Responding to review comments by making targeted changes within Cursor

Debugging Agent-Assisted Code

  • Tracing runtime errors back to agent-generated assumptions
  • Using the chat panel to investigate why specific errors occurred
  • Conducting regression testing after broad automated refactors
  • Managing hallucinated imports and missing dependencies

Performance and Security

  • Assessing indexing speed and storage impact on large repositories
  • Automatically excluding sensitive files from agent context
  • Understanding Cursor's data retention and training opt-out policies
  • Addressing compliance requirements when using hosted models

Summary and Transitioning to Advanced Topics

  • Recapping the differences between Cursor and other IDE-first AI tools
  • Building a library of reusable prompts and rules
  • Staying updated with Cursor's monthly release cadence

Requirements

  • Experience with modern IDEs such as VS Code or JetBrains products
  • Programming experience in any language
  • Fundamental understanding of LLM concepts and prompting techniques

Audience

  • Development teams evaluating or adopting Cursor as their primary IDE
  • Engineering managers responsible for procuring AI tooling
  • Freelance developers looking to accelerate client work with Cursor
 14 Hours

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