Cursor
Cursor is a fork of Visual Studio Code that embeds AI capabilities directly into the coding environment. It maintains the familiar VS Code interface while adding powerful AI assistance. The tool acts as a coding partner that understands your entire codebase, offers intelligent suggestions, handles repetitive tasks, and helps with complex refactoring. Developed by Anysphere with funding from OpenAI, Cursor aims to let developers focus on business logic and problem-solving rather than boilerplate code.
Quick Info
Screenshots
Key Features
Chat Sidebar
Comprehensive editing environment for discussing code and generating suggestions across multiple files. Tag specific files or the whole codebase to ask questions.
Tab Completion
Predicts code snippets and offers next logical steps triggered by pressing Tab. Provides instant suggestions with zero lag. Exclusive to subscribers.
Multi-file Editing
AI understands relationships between files and can update multiple files consistently in one operation.
Composer
Specialized interface for large-scale code refactoring. Generates diffs across multiple files with preview and approval options.
Terminal Command Generation
Generate terminal commands from natural language descriptions by pressing Ctrl+K in the terminal.
Inline Editing
Chat-based interface for making precise code modifications. Select code blocks and receive AI-suggested improvements or rewrites.
Contextual Awareness
Indexes your entire codebase to provide suggestions that account for file relationships, dependencies, and configurations.
Use Cases
Intelligent Refactoring
Update code patterns across multiple files with consistency. Particularly useful for renaming variables, updating function signatures, or modernizing syntax.
Error Detection and Fixing
Upload code from other sources like ChatGPT or Claude, and Cursor can identify and fix errors automatically.
Fast Prototyping
Rapidly develop prototypes by describing functionality and letting AI implement the technical details, accelerating the initial development phase.
AI-Powered Code Generation
Create new code by describing what you want in natural language. The AI generates appropriate code snippets based on your descriptions.
Pricing
Free tier available with core features. Premium features require subscription from $20 per month.
Setup Steps
- Download Cursor from the official website
- Install on your operating system (Windows, macOS, or Linux)
- Open Cursor and set up your workspace
- Import your favorite VS Code extensions if needed