This repository contains a set of Cursor IDE AI rules designed to transform Cursor's AI capabilities from basic code completion to strategic, business-focused engineering guidance.
These rules implement guardrails that guide Cursor AI to behave like a senior principal engineer who:
- Identifies the underlying business problem before writing code
- Makes small, focused changes with clear business value
- Writes production-ready code with proper testing and documentation
- Considers maintainability, monitoring, and cross-team impacts
- Documents technical debt and knowledge transfer
./install.sh /path/to/your/project- Create a
.cursor/rulesdirectory in your project root:
mkdir -p /path/to/your/project/.cursor/rules- Copy the
.mdcfiles from this repository into that directory:
cp .cursor/rules/*.mdc /path/to/your/project/.cursor/rules/| Rule | Description |
|---|---|
| Cursor Rules Location | Standards for placing Cursor rule files in the correct directory |
| Root Problem Identification | Ensures AI identifies underlying business problems before suggesting solutions |
| Minimum Viable Change | Implements the smallest set of changes needed to solve problems effectively |
| Business Value Prioritization | Prioritizes business impact over technical elegance or novelty |
| Frequent Commit Strategy | Breaks work into small, testable commits using conventional format |
| Explicit Requirement Extraction | Clarifies unstated requirements and validates understanding before coding |
| Proactive Edge Case Handling | Identifies potential failure points and handles them without prompting |
| Production-Ready Mindset | Writes code assuming it will be deployed immediately to production |
| Knowledge Transfer Focus | Documents solutions in a way that builds team capability and understanding |
| Technical Debt Awareness | Labels and documents technical compromises made for business urgency |
| Self-Review Before Submission | Critically evaluates solutions for bugs, edge cases, and maintenance issues |
When working with Cursor AI, these rules will automatically guide the AI's responses toward higher-quality, business-focused solutions. You should notice:
- More thorough requirement analysis
- Clearer documentation of design decisions
- Better error handling and edge case coverage
- Production-ready considerations like monitoring and rollback plans
- Conventional commit message suggestions
You can customize these rules for your specific needs:
- Edit the
.mdcfiles to adjust validation criteria, suggestions, or examples - Disable specific rules by removing the files
- Add your own rules following the same MDC format
Contributions are welcome! If you have improvements or additional rules:
- Fork this repository
- Create a new branch for your changes
- Submit a pull request with a clear description of your additions