Cursor beginners usually struggle with when to use which AI mode in Cursor:
· AI Chat
· Composer
· Agent
Here's a full guide 🧵
First some background:
- There are 3 different AI modes in Cursor relevant for beginners: Chat, Composer, Agent (I won't talk about other Cursor AI features like Tab and CMD+K, since those are more for pros).
- AI Chat was released first, then Composer, then Agent
- Toggle the AI pane on the right to open Chat. Use CMD+I to open Composer. Toggle for Agent.
1) AI Chat
I think of the AI Chat as an assistant. It's more hands-off and does not directly modify your code.
It's good for:
- EXPLANATIONS: Explain which parts of your code does what, or what steps to take to implement a new feature
- Code ITERATIONS: Whenever you're editing code and want to be very precise in what you're editing (which is most of the times tbh)
I've done 100s of tests with Cursor's agent feature at this point.
If you want the agent to complete an extensive workflow with a single command, the best way to do that is...
First, split up your workflow into several chunks.
For example for copycoder.ai our workflow is to build out the full frontend of an app and integrate it with a supabase backend (that includes user auth).
So we've split it into 3 files:
1 - Setup dependencies & build initial dashboard
2 - Build all other pages in app
3 - Setup supabase & auth
For each file create one .md file and add all of your:
- instructions
- context
- rules & constraints
- other details
...in there.
Make sure the files don't get too large, this will degrade performance. You'll have to find the right balance.