Cursor is one of the original AI code editors (2023 was a long time ago!) and has stood the test of time. It's a VS Code fork, which was key for me. I lean on @VS Code extensions and custom shortcuts. I was able to keep all of them (there is a migration assistant) when moving over to Cursor.
Cursor is very much an editor for looking at code as opposed to a vibe coding tool like @v0 by Vercel. My typical modes of using cursor are:
Describe a feature or a bug using Agent mode in the right sidebar.
Review diff + use AI autocomplete in editor.
I review every line of code an agent outputs. And I find myself editing code quite a bit. The agent still outputs code that is too verbose and, sometimes, not maintainable.
The price is nice too. $20/month is very reasonable.
Projects at Cursor is the new way to take on entire bodies of work instead of one task at a time.
Problem: agents are good at single tasks and bad at everything around them. You start a chat, onboard the agent to your codebase, get some work done, then close the tab and all of that context is gone. Next task, same onboarding. For anything real, a feature spanning several PRs, a migration across hundreds of files, ongoing code quality, you end up spending your time managing agents rather than directing the work.
Solution: you chat with a coordinator agent that doesn't write code. It plans, delegates to subagents, and keeps the context. Because it delegates rather than executes, it's never stuck waiting on a build, so you can redirect it any time.
What makes it different: the context compounds. Each Project keeps files that sync across every cloud and local machine its agents touch, and agents write down what they learn, how to test a service, what your architecture looks like, how you prefer work done. Every future agent inherits it. Most tools reset to zero each session. This one gets better the longer you run it.
Key features:
Coordinator agent that delegates to thousands of subagents instead of writing code itself
Runs on its own cloud machine, so closing your laptop doesn't stop the work
Spins up a local agent when something needs testing on your machine
Shared context files that sync across every machine and grow over months
Subscriptions: watch a Slack channel, run on a schedule, or follow every PR and fix CI automatically
Built for work spanning multiple PRs or long timeframes
How Cursor uses it internally: feature work with parallel implementation and testing, migrations across hundreds of PRs where you review closely at first then let it run, and "gardening," the maintenance that never ends. One engineer runs a design-system Project that scans every new PR, extracts components that belong in the design system, and adds a lint rule whenever it catches the same mistake twice. It's on track to touch 20 to 100 PRs a day.
The numbers: new users merge 30% more PRs. Users who primarily use Projects merge six times as many.
Who it's for: engineers and teams with work that doesn't fit in one chat window. Long migrations, multi-PR features, design system upkeep, anything you'd want handled while you're asleep.
In beta and rolling out to all users. Start one from the left nav, describe what you want built, and the coordinator takes it from there.