Use Cursor rules, tabs, codebase indexing, and the right edit surface to keep AI coding sessions accurate, scoped, and easy to review.
Key takeaways
- Use Inline Edit for narrow changes, Quick Question for inspection, and Agent when the task spans files or requires planning.
- Move repeated repo instructions into .cursor/rules so the model does not need the same prompt every session.
- Keep codebase indexing clean by checking included files and excluding noisy content with ignore files.
- Open one task per tab so each conversation keeps its own context and avoids cross-task confusion.
- Use terminal command generation when the work is mostly shell steps, but review the generated command before running it.
Pick the smallest edit surface that fits the task
Cursor is easier to steer when you choose the editing surface by scope instead of habit. Inline Edit is fastest for surgical work because the selected code becomes the immediate context, while Agent is better when the model needs to plan, search, and coordinate across files.