# Automation Recommender

> Analyze a codebase and recommend Cursor automations (hooks, subagents, skills, plugins, MCP servers).

- Skill: `naren-m/automation-recommender` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add naren-m/automation-recommender`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/naren-m/automation-recommender/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: AI & ML
- Author: naren-m (https://skillmd.com/u/naren-m)
- Updated: 2026-09-22
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/naren-m/automation-recommender

---


# 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:

```bash
# 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](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](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](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](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](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.

```markdown
## 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:

```bash
# 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`:

```json
{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": ["Edit", "Write", "Bash(npm test:*)", "Bash(git commit:*)"]
  }
}
```