Cursor Best Practices
Install this when you want Cursor-specific habits for plans, context, Rules vs Skills, TDD, git automation, and review—not generic LLM prompting.
Overview
Cursor Best Practices is an agent skill most often used in Build (also Ship, Idea) that documents how to use Cursor Plan Mode, context, Rules, Skills, TDD, git, review, and parallel agents productively.
Install
npx skills add https://github.com/siviter-xyz/dot-agent --skill cursor-best-practicesWhat is this skill?
- Core principles: start complex work in Plan Mode (Shift+Tab), let the agent search context, extend with Rules (static) a
- Reference-backed topics: planning, context/conversations, extending the agent, workflows (TDD, codebase exploration, git
- TDD workflow: write tests first and iterate with the agent until they pass
- Git workflows: automate routine git operations via agent commands
- Parallel agents: run multiple agents at once to compare approaches
- Six reference topics: planning, context, extending, workflows, reviewing, parallel agents
Adoption & trust: 565 installs on skills.sh; 19 GitHub stars; 3/3 security scanners passed (skills.sh audits).
What problem does it solve?
You use Cursor daily but waste tokens and time on bloated prompts, missing plans, weak review of generated code, and ad-hoc agent habits.
Who is it for?
Solo builders standardizing how they drive Cursor’s agent across planning, implementation, and review in real repos.
Skip if: Teams that do not use Cursor, or builders who already have enforced org-wide agent playbooks and only need domain-specific integration skills.
When should I use this skill?
Learning how to effectively use Cursor features or optimizing your Cursor workflow.
What do I get? / Deliverables
You adopt repeatable Cursor workflows—plan first, lean context, Rules/Skills split, TDD and review loops—so agent sessions produce shippable changes with less rework.
- Adopted Cursor workflow habits
- Optional repo Rules aligned with team conventions
Recommended Skills
Journey fit
Spans multiple journey phases - primary shelf plus alternate fits below.
Canonical shelf is Build → agent-tooling because the skill documents how to work inside Cursor’s agent, Plan Mode, Rules, and Skills as your primary dev environment. Content is almost entirely Cursor agent configuration and workflows (Plan Mode, parallel agents, extending the agent), which maps to agent-tooling rather than a single app layer.
Where it fits
Use Plan Mode to explore feature options and constraints before committing to an architecture.
Configure Rules for repo conventions and Skills for on-demand capabilities the agent should load dynamically.
Run TDD with the agent: write failing tests first, then iterate patches until CI-green.
Apply the skill’s reviewing strategies so AI-generated PRs get the same scrutiny as human submissions.
How it compares
Use as a Cursor-native workflow playbook instead of generic “prompt engineering” tips that ignore Plan Mode, Rules, and Skills.
Common Questions / FAQ
Who is cursor-best-practices for?
Solo and indie developers using Cursor who want structured habits for plans, context, extending the agent, TDD, git automation, review, and parallel runs—not one-off chat tricks.
When should I use cursor-best-practices?
During Build when onboarding to Cursor or tuning agent-tooling; in Ship when establishing review discipline for AI-generated diffs; and in Idea/Validate when using Plan Mode to scope features before coding.
Is cursor-best-practices safe to install?
It is primarily documentation and workflow guidance; review the Security Audits panel on this Prism page and inspect the skill package before enabling any third-party skills in Cursor.
SKILL.md
READMESKILL.md - Cursor Best Practices
# Cursor Best Practices Best practices for working with Cursor to maximize productivity and code quality. ## 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 For detailed guidance, see: - `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 # Managing Context ## Let Agent Find Context You don't need to manually tag every file in your prompt. - Modern agents have powerful search tools and pull context on demand - When you ask about "the authentication flow," agent finds relevant files through grep and semantic search - Keep it simple: if you know the exact file, tag it. If not, agent will find it - Including irrelevant files can confuse agent about what's important ## Helpful Tools - `@Branch` - Give agent context about what you're working on - "Review the changes on this branch" or "What am I working on?" orient agent to current task ## When to Start New Conversation **Start a new conversation when:** - You're moving to a different task or feature - Agent seems confused or keeps making the same mistakes - You've finished one logical unit of work **Continue the conversation when:** - You're iterating on the same feature - Agent needs context from earlier in the discussion - You're debugging something it just built ## Long Conversations Long conversations can cause agent to lose focus. After many turns and summarizations: - Context accumulates noise - Agent can get distracted or switch to unrelated tasks - If effectiveness decreases, start a new conversation ## Reference Past Work When starting a new conversation, use `@Past Chats` to reference previous work rather than copy-pasting the whole conversation. Agent can selectively read from chat history to pull in only needed context. This is more efficient than duplicating entire conversations. # Extending the Agent Agent harnesses typically provide two main ways to customize agent behavior: **Rules** for static context and **Skills** for dynamic capabilities. ## Rules: Static Context Rules provide persistent instructions that shape how agent works with your code. Think of them as always-on context that agent sees at the start of every conversation. ### Creating Rules Create rules as markdown files in the appropriate rules directory (e.g., `.cursor/rules/`, `.claude/rules/`, `.codex/rules/`): ```markdown # Commands - `npm run build`: Build the project - `npm run typecheck`: Run the typechecker - `npm run test`: Run tests (prefer single test files for speed) # Code style - Use ES modules (import/export), not CommonJS (require) - Destructure imports when possible: `import { foo } from 'bar'` - See `components/Button.tsx` for canonical component structure # Workflow - Always typecheck after making a series of code changes - API routes go in `app/api/` following existing patterns ``` ### Best Practices for Rules - Keep rules focused on essentials - Reference files