14 Practical Cursor Tips From Daily Use

I've been working with Cursor daily for almost a year, and I've gathered some short tips for you here (already sorted to remove outdated ones).

If you want to master Cursor, you should get comfortable with the Editor itself, the Chat Window (including the Accept / Reject and Diff process), and the newer MCP Server functionality.

Cursor Rules are still important, but not as critical as they were a few months ago. Why? Because the models have improved a lot, and Cursor has updated their prompts to work better with them.

Tip #1: Get Latest Knowledge into Cursor with the power of MCPs

There are two MCPs that are standing out for this use case. The first one is Context7 and the second one is DeepWiki .

Or use the official MCP Servers for the given Framework. For example Nuxt has already a MCP Server mcp.nuxt.com.

Other ways like adding Docs to Cursor is sometimes arbitrary and doesn't work 100% of the time. (I stopped using it)

Another way is to guide and rule with Cursor Rules. Like you want to force some specific code style and guidelines.

And last you can also tell the Model to do a Web Search. For example if you run a Model like Sonnet 4, GPT 4.1 or Gemini 2.5 they will do it often on their own (if they don't have enough data or just write in the prompt "Research Online").

The training cutoff date for Sonnet 4 is for example March 2025.

Tip #2: .cursor/rules

A rules file is like a guidebook for your AI coding helper. It tells the AI how to write code for your project, including what tools you're using and how everything is organized. This helps the AI create better and more accurate code.

For an in-depth guide on using .cursor/rules, see my blogpost Everything you need to know about Cursor Rules.

Cascade Cursor Rules

In one of the latest updates of Cursor you can tell it when to Call a Cursor Rule. You can combine multiple cursor rules: In the screenshot you can see that I have a "global" rule and a specific rule for extensions.

You can also see that in the reasoning step in the Chat.

Tip #3: Ignore files

Use .cursorignorefor files that never should get indexed. .cursorindexignorewon't get indexed either but you're able to reference them in the chat with @.

For example you could have a docs folder with a lot of documentation markdown files which you want to reference if you need it but avoid that cursor indexes all these files. Then use.cursorindexignore for this use case.

Remember: Everything that is already in .gitignore won’t get indexed anyway, so you don’t need to add them to .cursorignore.

Tip #4: Use `@` inside the chat to get useful helpers

1. Use `@Files & Folders` to narrow down context

You can "tag" folders with the @/ symbol to specify which folders should be referenced when generating or modifying code.

This helps the AI to focus on relevant files instead of using the entire codebase.

2. Use the `@git` command to see what happened

Cursor explains you what happened in a specific Git Commit.

3. Use the `@terminal` command to access logs & errors

Since the Cursor 0.46 version, you can reference the terminal.

Tip #5: Configure MCP Server

Configure your MCP server in .cursor/mcp.json

This is useful if you want to share your MCP server configuration with teammates or the community.

Tip #6: Go back in time with "Restore Checkpoint"

Remember Prince of Persia? Go back in time with Cursor and revert a change if you not happy with it.

You can find this button after code generation has been finished. Don't overuse it. This can be buggy sometimes. Try to work with the first preview of the generated code and only Accept it you sure about it. And consider also working with git revert or reset.

Tip #7: Be very specific when working with a larger codebase and composer

Give cursor a hint how you want to build it
Tell it in which file and where it should made changes.
Double Check the changes (don't take it for granted)
Use Apply to confirm it.
Always backup with git for a major change

Here is an example prompt:

Tip #8: Cursor 0.50 Inline Edit (Large Codebase)

You can use Inline Edit with background awareness. First, highlight any code in your files.

Keyboard shortcuts:

Press CTRL/CMD + I or right-click → “Edit code.”

→ Cursor will now suggest changes and automatically include related files in the background.

Review these in the sidebar under “Background Agent” before applying.

Start prompting and add your feature.

Tip #9: Don't waste roundtrips with Cursor’s Agent

Just to fix linter, format, or simple TypeScript errors

To be more specific:

1) Setup eslint/prettier or biome

2) Run something like npm run watch:check and look at the problems tab or use built in code editor features.

Tip #10: If something breaks, don't try too hard to fix it

Revert to a previous state, change the model, or adjust the prompt. When you "talk" too long with the model, it always tries to fix its mistakes and creates new ones along the way.

Tip #11: Generate README and docs on the fly

Tip #12: Agent Setup

Example 1:

Here is very simple example for a Cursor agent setup.

You can use a .yaml file that acts as a kanban board for your agent.
Then give your agent instructions and link to the task list.

Example 2:

This is my very basic agent I'm using in Cursor to build features based on my roadmap.

Add it into .cursor/rules/levin-agent.mdc and call it with start @ levin-agent.mdc and follow steps

Tip #13: Privacy

Privacy Mode prevents from storing your code. OpenAI and Anthropic keep prompts for 30 days for safety reasons. (Business Tier user data has no storage whatsoever)

Check out my blog post How to Keep Your Code Private With Cursor AIfor more info.

Tip #14: Force Upgrade

You can install the latest version of Cursor using Homebrew (MacOSX)