Cursor - A.I. Powered Integrated Development Environment
Tags: ai, developer, development, softwareengineering
Published: 2023-07-29 00:43:27


I’d like to share some software that I ran across a couple months ago.  It’s called Cursor.  It is an IDE (integrated development environment) built for programming with A.I.  I just happened upon an article on Cursor in the TDLR newsletter.  So I decided to give it a shot.

You can use Cursor to write, edit, and chat about your code with GPT-3.5 or GPT-4.  Cursor supports a wide range of programming languages, including but not limited to:
Python 
JavaScript
Java
C++
C#
Ruby
Go
Rust
It is designed to be compatible with most popular programming languages.  

The free tier of Cursor is powered by GPT-3.5.  Paying users can use either GPT-3.5 or GPT-4.  The free plan allows you to use the AI up to 100 times a month.  If you need to use more, you will have to buy a pro plan.

What separates Cursor from Copilot?  Cursor’s edit, chat, new AI project, and error fixing functionality is not available in Copilot. Cursor can write new code, similar to Copilot, but Cursor uses a much smarter AI.

Cursor is compatible with VSCode extensions.  All you need to do is import them automatically with Cursor.


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/k9q7rggbda9ottdno9st.png)

Cursor does not store any of your code on their servers.  Currently they may store some code in the pursuit of AI analytics services, but you can always turn that off.  Simply enable “Local Mode” in Settings.


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/omhqz7pteup4ktn6if3u.png)

Cursor gives the user the ability to ask about their codebase.  If you join a development project and need help getting up to speed this feature is really useful.


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/4ri235ym6h1plkqqnbeu.png)

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/x7c9i3nk8uy81wp6zu2y.png)

Here is a quick example.  I used example file example_code.c provided by Cursor at startup.  I asked Cursor to explain the code and this was the result with the explanation is on the right hand side:


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/y6itvyqpangzqazvim26.png)

Cursor allows you to browse documentation from the chat.


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/pgj76ia7kb42pj5yw38v.png)

You can edit existing code.


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/vohk6qjx3c6ez4jvt2vq.png)

You have the ability to generate code from scratch.  This feature is great if you want a starting point for a project.


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/8e1xhpc566gvfs8ywds2.png)

Here’s an example of generating code from scratch.  I ask Cursor to write me a program.


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/lv8jy287r5oxzo49dq4v.png)

Here are the results:

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/4f9kqsudt87hi10y8owi.png)

Once you have code to work on Cursor can be used to spot and fix bugs.


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/ndklhkha4im0g7qfsr9y.png)

Cursor also comes with a built in terminal for ease of use next to your code.


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/gdy1s3cybhelfx7cvks4.png)

Cursor is a full featured IDE that is powered by A.I. I found that it introduced coding techniques I may not have otherwise thought up.  As with any code help feature you will need to proof-read your code. 

I have thoroughly enjoyed using Cursor thus far.  It is available for Windows, Mac and Linux.  [Download it today from Cursor.](https://www.cursor.so/)