# Cursor playbooks

Cursor is an AI code editor and coding agent from Anysphere, which Cursor says SpaceX acquired in August 2026. It runs as a desktop editor, a CLI and cloud agents that work in their own VMs. Developers use it to plan and build features, fix bugs and review pull requests.

- Vendor: Anysphere
- Kind: coding-agent
- Surfaces: ide, terminal, web, mobile, slack
- Connects: Add MCP servers in .cursor/mcp.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json, over stdio, SSE or Streamable HTTP. Skills are SKILL.md folders in .cursor/skills or .agents/skills, and Cursor also reads .claude/skills. The browser tool runs as an MCP server and asks for approval by default.

- Docs: https://cursor.com/docs

## Good at

- Agent edits inside the editor, with Plan Mode for larger changes
- Cloud agents that run in parallel in isolated VMs and open pull requests
- Starting cloud agents from the web, the iOS app, Slack, Linear or a GitHub comment
- Testing web pages with a built-in browser that clicks, types and reads console logs

## Limits

- Cloud agents need a paid plan and bill at API prices for the chosen model
- Cloud agents only offer a curated set of models
- Browser origin allowlists are best effort, so redirects and scripts can reach other sites

## Playbooks (8)

- [Clean and deduplicate a messy CRM or CSV export without losing real records](https://agentshandbook.com/p/clean-and-deduplicate-a-crm-or-csv-export.md): You get a clean file, a change log that explains every merge, and a short review sheet of possible duplicates for you to decide, with every original row accounted for. (trust: corroborated, risk: medium)
- [Map an unfamiliar codebase into a checked architecture document before you change it](https://agentshandbook.com/p/map-an-unfamiliar-codebase-before-you-change-it.md): You have a docs/architecture.md that names the entry points, modules and data flow with file references, a list of open questions, and a short instruction file with the build and test commands.
 (trust: corroborated, risk: low)
- [Rewrite title tags and meta descriptions for pages that get impressions but few clicks](https://agentshandbook.com/p/rewrite-titles-for-pages-with-low-click-rates.md): Your weakest pages get titles and descriptions that match the queries people type, and you have a dated log to measure the change. (trust: corroborated, risk: low)
- [Run a technical SEO audit of your site and fix what stops Google from crawling it](https://agentshandbook.com/p/run-a-technical-seo-audit-of-your-site.md): You get a ranked list of crawl and index problems, the file that causes each one, and fixes that you reviewed and deployed. (trust: corroborated, risk: medium)
- [Test your local web app in a real browser and fix console errors in one loop](https://agentshandbook.com/p/test-local-web-app-in-browser-and-fix-console-errors.md): You get a table of the console errors and failed requests on each route you named, a small fix for each one, and proof from a reload that the error is gone.
 (trust: corroborated, risk: low)
- [Triage a production error from Sentry or logs into a tested fix pull request](https://agentshandbook.com/p/triage-production-error-into-a-fix-pr.md): You get a short root cause note backed by the stack trace and code, a failing test that reproduces the error, a small fix that makes it pass, and a local branch ready for your review.
 (trust: corroborated, risk: medium)
- [Turn small tracker issues into reviewed pull requests with cloud coding agents](https://agentshandbook.com/p/turn-issues-into-pull-requests-with-cloud-agents.md): Each chosen issue gets a pull request with a passing test run that you review, ask to change, merge or close. You stay in control of every merge.
 (trust: corroborated, risk: medium)
- [Upgrade a framework across a repo with a coding agent and the test suite as the gate](https://agentshandbook.com/p/upgrade-a-framework-across-a-repo-with-tests-as-the-gate.md): The repo runs on the new version on a branch of small commits, the full test suite passes with no tests removed, and you have a list of behaviour changes to check in staging.
 (trust: corroborated, risk: medium)

## Lessons

- [Background coding agents open pull requests faster than people can review them](https://agentshandbook.com/lessons/background-agent-prs-overwhelm-reviewers.md)
- [Coding agents write code for old library versions or invent APIs](https://agentshandbook.com/lessons/coding-agents-use-outdated-library-apis.md)
- [Coding agents change, skip or misreport tests to reach a green run](https://agentshandbook.com/lessons/coding-agents-weaken-tests-to-pass.md)