Cursor

What is Cursor?

Cursor is a code editor built on top of VS Code, with AI woven into every part of the experience. It is not a plugin or a bolt-on. The AI is the point. Cursor reads your entire codebase, understands how it fits together, and helps you write, fix, and improve code using plain English instructions.

If you have ever used VS Code, Cursor will feel immediately familiar. The difference is that Cursor knows what your code does.

Composer 2: Cursor's own model

Cursor recently shipped Composer 2, its own in-house AI model built specifically for coding tasks. Composer 2 outperforms Claude Opus on coding benchmarks. That is a meaningful claim. Claude Opus is one of the most capable models available and has consistently topped independent coding evaluations.

Composer is Cursor's multi-file editing mode. You describe what you want built or changed across multiple files, and Cursor plans and executes it. It is closer to a coding agent than an autocomplete tool. You give it a goal; it works through the implementation.

What it's actually good for

Feature development. Describe a new feature in plain English. Cursor reads your codebase, understands your patterns and conventions, and writes the implementation. It is not producing generic code. It is producing code that fits your project.

Bug fixing. Paste an error message or describe unexpected behaviour. Cursor traces the problem through your codebase and proposes a fix. It explains its reasoning, which helps you understand the issue rather than just accepting a patch.

Code review. Point Cursor at a file or a function and ask it to review it. It will identify potential problems, suggest improvements, and flag anything that looks off. Useful for solo developers who don't have a team to review their work.

Refactoring. Ask it to improve a messy function, convert JavaScript to TypeScript, add error handling, or improve readability. It reads the wider context before making changes, so the output makes sense in the project rather than in isolation.

Learning a new codebase. Ask Cursor to explain what a file does, how a function works, or why something is structured a certain way. This is useful when joining a project or picking up work that has been sitting for months.

Who should use it

Cursor is primarily for developers. You need to know enough to review what it produces, catch mistakes, and understand when something has gone wrong. It is not a no-code tool and it is not aimed at non-technical business owners.

That said, the line is shifting. With tools like Cursor, people with basic technical knowledge who would not previously have called themselves developers are now building working software. If you are comfortable with the idea of editing code and learning as you go, Cursor lowers the barrier considerably. If you want to build something without writing any code yourself, Bolt or Lovable are better starting points.

How to get set up

1. Download Cursor from cursor.com and install it. It replaces VS Code but keeps the same layout and supports your existing extensions.
2. Open an existing project folder or create a new one.
3. Hit Cmd+K (or Ctrl+K on Windows) to open the inline prompt. Type what you want in plain English: "Add a function that validates UK phone numbers" or "Fix the error in this component".
4. For bigger, multi-file changes, open Composer (Cmd+I) and describe the feature you want to build across the project.

Time to get started: Under 10 minutes Do you need a credit card? No, free tier available. Paid plans from $20/month for more usage and access to premium models.