Mastering Cursor for Startup Development: A Comprehensive Guide

Introduction

This blog post will guide you through optimizing your workflow using Cursor, a powerful code editor that leverages AI. Whether you're building a landing page, a data visualization tool, or a complex application, Cursor can significantly streamline your development process. In this guide, we'll cover the best practices I've gathered from conversations with lead developers and countless hours of hands-on experience. You'll learn how to configure Cursor for maximum efficiency, saving you valuable time and effort.

Target Audience: Developers of all levels looking to enhance their coding productivity.

Time Investment: Approximately 10-15 minutes to read, and additional time to implement the recommended settings.

Prerequisites: Basic familiarity with code editors and development concepts.

What You'll Gain

Streamlined workflows using Cursor.
Best practices for configuration and optimization.
Enhanced coding efficiency and time savings.
Ability to adapt Cursor to different project requirements.
Improved understanding of Cursor's advanced features.

Cursor Setup and Configuration:

1. Keeping Cursor Up-to-Date via Homebrew

While Cursor provides its own update mechanism, it may not always reflect the latest changes. Using Homebrew ensures that you're always on the latest version.

Why Homebrew?

Consistent and timely updates.
Simplifies the update process for developers.

How to Install:

If you don't have Homebrew:
- Open your terminal (or use Warp).
- Type command + i and then install Homebrew.
Install Cursor: Use the command brew install cursor

This guarantees you’re always on the newest version.

2. Leveraging Cursor Rules for AI Prompts

Rules in Cursor act as pre-prompts for all your AI interactions. Instead of relying solely on the default AI settings, managing rules can significantly enhance the AI's effectiveness.

Key Benefits of Custom Rules:

Version control for your prompts.
Customization based on the type of project you're working on.
Increased control over AI-generated code.

How to Set Up Custom Rules:

Navigate to Settings: Access the "Everything AI" settings on the top right.
Create a Dedicated Folder: Create a folder (e.g., "cursor-rules") to store your rule files.
Set up Different Rules: Create multiple rule files to cater to diverse project needs
Copy and Modify Boilerplate: Get a basic setup from the Cursor Directory (e.g., the TypeScript rule) and adjust it to fit your needs.
Reference Rules from the Folder: You can then reference the different rules based on the project you're working on.

Recommendation: Start with a solid boilerplate from the Cursor directory and refine it.

3. Indexing Your Codebase and External Docs

Cursor's indexing is crucial for understanding your project. It learns about your codebase and the external APIs and frameworks you're using, making it more effective in generating relevant suggestions.

Codebase Indexing:

Regularly Resync: If you make significant changes (add, delete, or modify files), go to "Features" -> "Indexing" and delete the index, and then click "Resync".
Frequency: Do this every couple of days to maintain an accurate index.

Custom Docs:

Why?: Allows Cursor to access specific APIs and documentation quickly.
How?:
1. Kebab Case: Use kebab-case for filenames. This allows you to tag docs properly and avoid issues with spaces in the titles.
2. Categorize API and Docs: Separate API documentation from other documentation. This helps in better organization.
3. Add New Doc: Click Add New Doc, paste the link to documentation you want to index, specify a prefix, and then hit submit.
4. Check Index: Once it is done processing the documentation the indicator will turn green. Also you can click the book icon to check how many pages have been indexed.
5. Reindex as Needed: If there is an update to the docs, just hit the reindex button.

Example Workflow:

For the Google Calendar API, index the resource summary.
For Superbase, index the JavaScript SDK documentation separately.
For Superbase Realtime, index that separately as well.

Benefit: Having well-organized and indexed documentation greatly improves the accuracy and speed of AI-generated code and suggestions.

4. Fine-Tuning Cursor Settings

Here are some key settings to adjust to optimize Cursor:

Always Search the Web: Turn this OFF by default. It's better to be explicit in your prompts, providing specific docs or URLs.
Fade Chat Stream, Narrow Scroll Bar, Auto Scroll Chat: Turn these off. Reading and understanding the generated code is critical, and these can be distracting.
AI Models:
- Typescript: Use sonnet
- React: Use cloud 3 sonnet
- Turn off all other models
o1 mini 01 preview: Keep this turned on, even if you don't use it much, to test as it improves over time.

5. Performance Optimization

Delete Chats and Composers: After completing a feature or task, delete the chat threads and the composers. This helps keep cursor running smoothly.
Clear Cache: If Cursor is still slow, you can delete the application support cache by using the terminal and using rm -rf on the relevant directories. Also deleting the index will help speed it up.

Utilizing Cursor Effectively

Be Explicit in Prompts: Clearly state your objectives, include user journeys, and reference specific documentation.
Read Generated Code Carefully: Don't blindly accept AI-generated code. Ensure you understand and are confident in the concepts.
Adopt a Structured Approach: Organize your docs, rules, and settings for a more seamless development process.

Conclusion and Next Steps

By implementing these settings and practices, you can significantly enhance your development workflow using Cursor. It is important to use the tool as a powerful assistant and not blindly trusting that it will give you perfect code. Remember to be explicit, maintain your configurations, and stay up-to-date.

Further Learning:

Experiment with different prompt engineering techniques.
Explore more advanced features of Cursor, such as chat and refactoring tools.
Stay updated with the latest Cursor updates and community best practices.