While AI plugins have existed for code editors for years, Cursor took a radically different approach: they forked the open-source VS Code editor to rebuild the interaction model around full repository intelligence and predictive next-action completions.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Import Your Existing VS Code Setup
Download Cursor, run the onboarding wizard, and select 'Import Extensions and Keybindings' from your existing VS Code installation.
Index Your Project Codebase
Open your project folder, navigate to Settings > Features > Codebase Indexing, and wait 30 seconds for embeddings to complete.
Master In-Line Code Generation (Ctrl+K)
Highlight any function or CSS block, press Ctrl/Cmd + K, type your instructions, and accept or reject the colored diff.
Add a .cursorrules file to your project root to enforce coding standards, naming conventions, and preferred CSS architectures across all team prompts.
