naren-m Cursor Automation Recommender
This skill is read-only. It analyzes the codebase and outputs recommendations. It does NOT create or modify any files. Users implement the recommendations themselves or ask Cursor separately to help build them.
Output Guidelines
- Recommend 1-2 of each type: Don't overwhelm - surface the top 1-2 most valuable automations per category
- If user asks for a specific type: Focus only on that type and provide more options (3-5 recommendations)
- Go beyond the reference lists: The reference files contain common patterns, but use web search to find recommendations specific to the codebase's tools, frameworks, and libraries
- Tell users they can ask for more: End by noting they can request more recommendations for any specific category
Automation Types Overview
| Type | Best For |
|---|---|
| Hooks | Automatic actions on tool events (format on save, lint, block edits) |
| Subagents | Specialized reviewers/analyzers that run in parallel |
| Skills | Packaged expertise, workflows, and repeatable tasks (invoked by Cursor or user via /skill-name) |
| Plugins | Collections of skills that can be installed |
| MCP Servers | External tool integrations (databases, APIs, browsers, docs) |
Workflow
Phase 1: Codebase Analysis
Gather project context:
# Detect project type and tools
ls -la package.json pyproject.toml Cargo.toml go.mod pom.xml 2>/dev/null
cat package.json 2>/dev/null | head -50
# Check dependencies for MCP server recommendations
cat package.json 2>/dev/null | grep -E '"(react|vue|angular|next|express|fastapi|django|prisma|supabase|stripe)"'
# Analyze project structure
ls -la src/ app/ lib/ tests/ components/ pages/ api/ 2>/dev/null
Key Indicators to Capture:
| Category | What to Look For | Informs Recommendations For |
|---|---|---|
| Language/Framework | package.json, pyproject.toml, import patterns | Hooks, MCP servers |
| Frontend stack | React, Vue, Angular, Next.js | Playwright MCP, frontend skills |
| Backend stack | Express, FastAPI, Django | API documentation tools |
| Database | Prisma, Supabase, raw SQL | Database MCP servers |
| External APIs | Stripe, OpenAI, AWS SDKs | context7 MCP for docs |
| Testing | Jest, pytest, Playwright configs | Testing hooks, subagents |
| CI/CD | GitHub Actions, CircleCI | GitHub MCP server |
| Issue tracking | Linear, Jira references | Issue tracker MCP |
| Docs patterns | OpenAPI, JSDoc, docstrings | Documentation skills |
Phase 2: Generate Recommendations
Based on analysis, generate recommendations across all categories:
A. MCP Server Recommendations
See references/mcp-servers.md for detailed patterns.
| Codebase Signal | Recommended MCP Server |
|---|---|
| Uses popular libraries (React, Express, etc.) | context7 - Live documentation lookup |
| Frontend with UI testing needs | Playwright - Browser automation/testing |
| Uses Supabase | Supabase MCP - Direct database operations |
| PostgreSQL/MySQL database | Database MCP - Query and schema tools |
| GitHub repository | GitHub MCP - Issues, PRs, actions |
| Uses Linear for issues | Linear MCP - Issue management |
| AWS infrastructure | AWS MCP - Cloud resource management |
| Slack workspace | Slack MCP - Team notifications |
| Memory/context persistence | Memory MCP - Cross-session memory |
| Sentry error tracking | Sentry MCP - Error investigation |
| Docker containers | Docker MCP - Container management |
B. Skills Recommendations
See references/skills-reference.md for details.
Create skills in .Cursor/skills/<name>/SKILL.md. Some are also available via plugins:
| Codebase Signal | Skill | Plugin |
|---|---|---|
| Building plugins | skill-development | plugin-dev |
| Git commits | commit | commit-commands |
| React/Vue/Angular | frontend-design | frontend-design |
| Automation rules | writing-rules | hookify |
| Feature planning | feature-dev | feature-dev |
Custom skills to create (with templates, scripts, examples):
| Codebase Signal | Skill to Create | Invocation |
|---|---|---|
| API routes | api-doc (with OpenAPI template) | Both |
| Database project | create-migration (with validation script) | User-only |
| Test suite | gen-test (with example tests) | User-only |
| Component library | new-component (with templates) | User-only |
| PR workflow | pr-check (with checklist) | User-only |
| Releases | release-notes (with git context) | User-only |
| Code style | project-conventions | Cursor-only |
| Onboarding | setup-dev (with prereq script) | User-only |
C. Hooks Recommendations
See references/hooks-patterns.md for configurations.
| Codebase Signal | Recommended Hook |
|---|---|
| Prettier configured | PostToolUse: auto-format on edit |
| ESLint/Ruff configured | PostToolUse: auto-lint on edit |
| TypeScript project | PostToolUse: type-check on edit |
| Tests directory exists | PostToolUse: run related tests |
.env files present |
PreToolUse: block .env edits |
| Lock files present | PreToolUse: block lock file edits |
| Security-sensitive code | PreToolUse: require confirmation |
D. Subagent Recommendations
See references/subagent-templates.md for templates.
| Codebase Signal | Recommended Subagent |
|---|---|
| Large codebase (>500 files) | code-reviewer - Parallel code review |
| Auth/payments code | security-reviewer - Security audits |
| API project | api-documenter - OpenAPI generation |
| Performance critical | performance-analyzer - Bottleneck detection |
| Frontend heavy | ui-reviewer - Accessibility review |
| Needs more tests | test-writer - Test generation |
E. Plugin Recommendations
See references/plugins-reference.md for available plugins.
| Codebase Signal | Recommended Plugin |
|---|---|
| General productivity | anthropic-agent-skills - Core skills bundle |
| Document workflows | Install docx, xlsx, pdf skills |
| Frontend development | frontend-design plugin |
| Building AI tools | mcp-builder for MCP development |
Phase 3: Output Recommendations Report
Format recommendations clearly. Only include 1-2 recommendations per category - the most valuable ones for this specific codebase. Skip categories that aren't relevant.
## Cursor Automation Recommendations
### Codebase Profile
- **Type**: [detected language/runtime]
- **Framework**: [detected framework]
- **Key Libraries**: [relevant libraries detected]
### MCP Servers
#### [name]
**Why**: [specific reason]
**Install**: [command]
### Skills
#### [name]
**Why**: [specific reason]
**Create**: `.Cursor/skills/[name]/SKILL.md`
**Invocation**: User-only / Both / Cursor-only
### Hooks
#### [name]
**Why**: [specific reason]
**Where**: `.Cursor/settings.json`
### Subagents
#### [name]
**Why**: [specific reason]
**Where**: `.Cursor/agents/[name].md`
**Want more?** Ask for additional recommendations for any specific category.
Decision Framework
When to Recommend MCP Servers
- External service integration needed (databases, APIs)
- Documentation lookup for libraries/SDKs
- Browser automation or testing
- Team tool integration (GitHub, Linear, Slack)
- Cloud infrastructure management
When to Recommend Skills
- Document generation (docx, xlsx, pptx, pdf — also in plugins)
- Frequently repeated prompts or workflows
- Project-specific tasks with arguments
- Applying templates or scripts to tasks (skills can bundle supporting files)
- Quick actions invoked with
/skill-name - Workflows that should run in isolation (
context: fork)
Invocation control:
disable-model-invocation: true— User-only (for side effects: deploy, commit, send)user-invocable: false— Cursor-only (for background knowledge)- Default (omit both) — Both can invoke
When to Recommend Hooks
- Repetitive post-edit actions (formatting, linting)
- Protection rules (block sensitive file edits)
- Validation checks (tests, type checks)
When to Recommend Subagents
- Specialized expertise needed (security, performance)
- Parallel review workflows
- Background quality checks
When to Recommend Plugins
- Need multiple related skills
- Want pre-packaged automation bundles
- Team-wide standardization
Configuration Tips
MCP Server Setup
Team sharing: Check .mcp.json into repo so entire team gets same MCP servers
Debugging: Use --mcp-debug flag to identify configuration issues
Prerequisites to recommend:
- GitHub CLI (
gh) - enables native GitHub operations - Puppeteer/Playwright CLI - for browser MCP servers
Headless Mode (for CI/Automation)
Recommend headless Cursor for automated pipelines:
# Pre-commit hook example
Cursor -p "fix lint errors in src/" --allowedTools Edit,Write
# CI pipeline with structured output
Cursor -p "<prompt>" --output-format stream-json | your_command
Permissions for Hooks
Configure allowed tools in .Cursor/settings.json:
{
"permissions": {
"allow": ["Edit", "Write", "Bash(npm test:*)", "Bash(git commit:*)"]
}
}