# Cursor Specialist > Expert on Cursor IDE — rules format, agent modes, composer, MCP, tab completion, configuration. Always validates against official docs before acting. Use when this capability is needed. - Skill: `tomevault-io/cursor-specialist` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tomevault-io/cursor-specialist` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tomevault-io/cursor-specialist/raw - Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS) - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: AI & ML - Author: tomevault-io (https://skillmd.com/u/tomevault-io) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tomevault-io/cursor-specialist --- # Cursor Specialist Skill > **Purpose**: Expert guidance on Cursor IDE — rules, agents, MCP, configuration. > **Reference**: `~/toolkit/docs/cursor-manual.md` — state of the art snapshot. > **Invoked by**: user, prompt-factory, architect, or any agent working with Cursor features. --- ## When to Use - Creating or modifying Cursor rules (`.cursor/rules/*.md`, frontmatter, application modes) - Configuring MCP servers in Cursor (`.cursor/mcp.json`) - Setting up custom modes or agent configurations - Deploying toolkit rules to a project (via `cursor-rules-link.sh`) - Comparing Cursor vs Claude Code capabilities - Debugging Cursor agent behavior, tab completion, context issues ## When NOT to Use - Claude Code features (use `claude-code-specialist`) - General prompt engineering (use `prompt-certification`) - Model selection (use `anthropic-models-specialist`) --- ## Process 0. **Freshness check**: Run `~/toolkit/scripts/tool-freshness.sh cursor`. If stale (exit 1), do a targeted refresh of the section relevant to your current task before proceeding — check the Sources in the manual for that section's official docs. Update the manual and `last_refreshed` in `config/tools.json` after refreshing. 1. **Read** `~/toolkit/docs/cursor-manual.md` for current state of the art 2. **Verify** against official docs before making changes (see Sources in the manual) 3. **Check** detection rules below against the current state 4. **Apply** changes following the manual's documented patterns 5. **Update** the manual if something changed --- ## Detection Rules | # | Detect | Severity | Fix | |---|--------|----------|-----| | 1 | `.cursorrules` file present | WARNING | Migrate to `.cursor/rules/*.md` — `.cursorrules` is deprecated | | 2 | Rule with `alwaysApply: true` and `globs` set | WARNING | Redundant: `alwaysApply` ignores globs. Remove one | | 3 | Rule expecting to affect Tab completion | BLOCKER | Rules do NOT affect Tab — only Agent and Inline Edit | | 4 | User Rules expecting Inline Edit (Cmd+K) | WARNING | User Rules only apply in Chat Agent, not Inline Edit | | 5 | MCP using SSE transport | WARNING | SSE deprecated. Switch to Streamable HTTP | | 6 | `.cursorignore` treated as security boundary | BLOCKER | Best-effort only. Terminal and MCP tools bypass it | | 7 | Single rule file > 500 lines | WARNING | Split into multiple composable rules | | 8 | Auto mode rule without `description` | BLOCKER | Intelligent mode needs `description` to decide relevance | --- ## Refresh Mode **Last refreshed**: 2026-03-05 To update the knowledge snapshot: 1. Read `~/toolkit/docs/cursor-manual.md` — locate the **Sources** section at the bottom 2. Visit each URL in the Sources tables using WebSearch and WebFetch: - **Official Docs**: check rules, modes, MCP, models, tab docs for changes - **Changelog**: scan for new versions, features, breaking changes - **Community**: check Cursor Blog and Forum for patterns 3. Compare findings with current snapshot content: - New version? Update version, "Cambios recientes" table - New agent modes? Update Agent / Modos section - New rule frontmatter fields? Update Rules section - MCP changes? Update MCP section - Breaking changes? Update detection rules - New pain points? Update Known Pain Points table 4. Update changed sections in `~/toolkit/docs/cursor-manual.md` 5. Update the "Last refreshed" date in this skill and in the manual's Snapshot field 6. If detection rules changed, update the table above **Search queries for refresh**: - `site:cursor.com/changelog` (new versions) - `site:cursor.com/docs` (official doc updates) - `cursor IDE new features 2026` (community coverage) - `cursor rules format changes 2026` (rules-specific) --- ## Quick Reference | I want to... | Where to look | |--------------|--------------| | Create a rule | Manual -> Rules -> Formato MDC | | Configure MCP | Manual -> MCP -> Formato JSON | | Set up custom mode | Manual -> Agent / Modos -> Custom Modes | | Deploy toolkit rules | `scripts/cursor-rules-link.sh` | | Ignore files from AI | Manual -> .cursorignore | | Compare with Claude Code | Manual -> Features + `docs/claude-code-manual.md` | | Check latest changes | Manual -> Cambios recientes | --- > Source: [brianmontero18/astral](https://github.com/brianmontero18/astral) — distributed by [TomeVault](https://tomevault.io).