Cursor Cheat Sheet

AI-first code editor. Fork of VS Code with built-in GPT-4, Claude, and custom models.

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Installation

1. Download from https://cursor.sh 2. Install like VS Code 3. Sign in with Cursor account 4. Set API keys in Settings → Cursor → API Keys

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Core Features

Chat (Cmd+L / Ctrl+L)

Ask questions about your codebase in sidebar.

> Explain how authentication works
> Show me all API endpoints
> Find bugs in UserService.ts

Edit (Cmd+K / Ctrl+K)

Inline code edits with AI.

1. Select code
2. Press Cmd+K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Win/Linux)
3. Describe change
4. Accept/Reject

Composer (Cmd+I / Ctrl+I)

Multi-file edits across codebase.

1. Press Cmd+I (Mac) or Ctrl+I (Win/Linux)
2. Describe task
3. Review changes across files
4. Accept all or selectively

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Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action	Mode
`Cmd+L / Ctrl+L`	Open Chat	All
`Cmd+K / Ctrl+K`	Inline Edit	Selection
`Cmd+I / Ctrl+I`	Open Composer	All
`Cmd+Shift+L / Ctrl+Shift+L`	New Chat	All
`Escape`	Cancel/Close	All
`Tab`	Accept suggestion	Inline
`Cmd+. / Ctrl+.`	Show Quick Fix	Error

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Chat Commands

Codebase Queries

Query	Description
`@codebase`	Search entire codebase
`@file`	Reference specific file
`@folder`	Reference folder
`@docs`	Search documentation
`@web`	Search web (requires internet)

Examples

> @codebase How is user authentication implemented?
> @file:api.ts Explain this endpoint
> @folder:components Find unused React components
> @docs Next.js data fetching
> @web Latest React 19 features

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Edit Modes

Inline Edit (Cmd+K)

Best for: Single-file, targeted changes

1. Select function/block
2. Cmd+K
3. "Add error handling"
4. Accept

Composer (Cmd+I)

Best for: Multi-file, architectural changes

1. Cmd+I
2. "Refactor auth to use JWT instead of sessions"
3. Review changes across files
4. Accept all

Chat with Apply

Best for: Exploratory changes

1. Cmd+L
2. "Show me how to add Redis caching"
3. Click "Apply" on code blocks

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Model Selection

Available Models

Model	Speed	Quality	Cost
cursor-small	Fastest	Good	Free tier
gpt-4-turbo	Fast	Great	Premium
gpt-4o	Very Fast	Great	Premium
claude-3.5-sonnet	Medium	Excellent	Premium
claude-3-opus	Slower	Best	Premium

Switch Models

Chat: Click model dropdown in chat
Edit: Settings → Cursor → Default Model
Composer: Click model in composer header

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Settings

Cursor Settings

Cursor: Default Model — Model for edits
Cursor: Chat Model — Model for chat
Cursor: Temperature — Creativity (0-1)
Cursor: Max Tokens — Response length
Cursor: Auto-Apply Edits — Auto-accept low-risk edits
Cursor: Enable Composer — Enable/disable Composer

Privacy

Cursor: Privacy Mode — Disable code indexing
Cursor: Telemetry — Disable usage tracking

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.cursorrules File

Create .cursorrules in project root for consistent AI behavior:

# .cursorrules
Code Style
Use TypeScript strict mode
Prefer functional components
Use Tailwind for styling
Follow Airbnb style guide

Testing
Write tests with Vitest
Minimum 80% coverage
Test error cases

Commit Messages
Use conventional commits
Format: type(scope): description

Forbidden
Never use any type
Never disable ESLint rules
Always handle errors

Cursor reads this file automatically.

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Autocomplete (Tab)

Cursor suggests code as you type.

Accept Suggestions

Tab — Accept full suggestion
Cmd+→ / Ctrl+→ — Accept word-by-word
Escape — Reject

Configure

Cursor: Enable Autocomplete — On/Off
Cursor: Autocomplete Model — Model to use
Cursor: Autocomplete Trigger — Auto or Manual

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Tips & Best Practices

Chat Effectively

✅ "Add error handling to the API fetch in UserList.tsx"
❌ "Fix the code"
Use @codebase for broad questions
Use @file for specific file questions

Inline Edits

Select exact code to change
Be specific in instruction
Review diff before accepting

Composer Workflow

Use for multi-file changes
Review each file's changes
Test after applying

Context Management

Use @file and @folder to focus context
Don't overload chat with too many files
Clear chat when switching tasks (Cmd+Shift+L)

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Extensions

Cursor supports VS Code extensions:

Advanced Features

Terminal Integration

Ask Cursor to run commands:

> Run the dev server
> Install dependencies
> Run tests

Debugging

Ask Cursor to help debug:

> Why is this component not rendering?
> Fix the TypeScript error on line 42
> Explain this console error

Refactoring

> Extract this logic to a custom hook
> Convert this class to functional component
> Split this file into smaller modules

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Shortcuts Summary

Action	Mac	Win/Linux
Chat	`Cmd+L`	`Ctrl+L`
Inline Edit	`Cmd+K`	`Ctrl+K`
Composer	`Cmd+I`	`Ctrl+I`
New Chat	`Cmd+Shift+L`	`Ctrl+Shift+L`
Command Palette	`Cmd+Shift+P`	`Ctrl+Shift+P`
Quick Open	`Cmd+P`	`Ctrl+P`
Accept Suggestion	`Tab`	`Tab`
Reject Suggestion	`Escape`	`Escape`

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Pricing

Free Tier

2,000 completions/month
cursor-small model
Basic features

Pro ($20/month)

Unlimited completions
All models (GPT-4, Claude, etc.)
Priority support
Advanced features

Business ($40/user/month)

Everything in Pro
Team workspace
SSO/SAML
Admin controls
Audit logs

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Troubleshooting

Autocomplete Not Working

Check Cursor: Enable Autocomplete setting
Verify API key is set
Try reloading window (Cmd+R / Ctrl+R)

Chat Responses Slow

Switch to faster model (cursor-small, gpt-4o)
Reduce context size (avoid @codebase for simple queries)
Check internet connection

Edits Not Applying

Review diff carefully
Check file permissions
Ensure file is not open in multiple editors

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Resources

Official Site: https://cursor.sh
Documentation: https://cursor.sh/docs
Discord: https://discord.gg/cursor
Changelog: https://cursor.sh/changelog