Cursor Full Capabilities Guide

Most developers who use Cursor use only 20% of its capabilities — mostly Tab completions and occasional chat questions. The remaining 80% — Composer, Agent mode, @ references, and Notepads — dramatically changes how quickly you can build and refactor. This guide covers everything.

What You'll Learn

• Composer: multi-file editing from a single prompt
• Chat: asking questions about your codebase
• Notepads: persistent context across sessions
• Agent mode: autonomous task execution
• @ symbols: referencing files, docs, web, and code symbols
• Keyboard shortcuts you need to know

Composer — Multi-File Editing

Composer is the feature that separates Cursor from VS Code + Copilot. It handles tasks that span multiple files — things like adding a new feature that touches a route, a component, a hook, and a database migration.

Open Composer: Ctrl+I (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+I (Mac)

How Composer Works

You describe a task in natural language. Composer:

1. Analyzes your codebase to understand the context
2. Creates a plan (visible to you before execution)
3. Shows you diffs for each file it will change
4. Applies all changes with your confirmation

Example Composer prompt:

Add a "Save to Favorites" feature to the PromptCard component.

Requirements:
- Heart icon button in the top-right corner of each card
- Toggle between saved/unsaved state
- Persist to the user's profile via PATCH /api/v1/users/favorites
- Show a toast notification on save/remove
- The API client is in lib/api.ts

Composer reads PromptCard, the API client, any existing toast implementation, and then creates a multi-file diff covering all needed changes.

Composer Tips

Give it the "shape" of existing patterns. If your codebase has a pattern for similar features, mention it: "Follow the same pattern as the existing 'Add to Cart' feature in CartButton.tsx."

Review before accepting. Composer shows you every change. Spend 30 seconds reviewing the diff — sometimes it makes sensible but incorrect architectural choices.

Use Normal mode vs Agent mode. Composer has two modes:

• Normal: Plans and edits, requires your confirmation at each step
• Agent: Works autonomously, can run commands and iterate

Start with Normal mode until you trust Composer on your codebase.

🇮🇳 India Note: Composer handles Indian language content correctly in terms of character encoding and display. If you are building apps that store Hindi or Tamil content, Composer's file edits preserve UTF-8 encoding correctly.

Chat — Codebase Question & Answer

Chat (Ctrl+L / Cmd+L) is for questions and explanations, not code generation. It gives you a conversational interface with deep codebase awareness.

Best uses for Chat:

• "Explain how the authentication flow works in this codebase"
• "Where is the user's profile data fetched and which components use it?"
• "What is the difference between the UserService and UserRepository in this project?"
• "Are there any existing utility functions for formatting Indian phone numbers?"

Using @ in Chat:

How does @file:lib/auth.ts interact with @file:middleware/session.ts?
Is there a potential security issue in the token validation logic?

Chat maintains context within a session. If you ask a follow-up question, it remembers the earlier part of the conversation.

Chat vs Composer: Use Chat when you want to understand something. Use Composer when you want to change something.

Notepads — Persistent Context

Notepads solve the "I have to re-explain everything in every session" problem. They are named text documents that you can reference with #notepad-name in any Chat or Composer prompt.

Create a Notepad:

1. Open Command Palette: Ctrl+Shift+P
2. Search "Cursor: Open Notepads"
3. Click "+" to create a new notepad
4. Give it a name and write your content

Example Notepads for a project:

Notepad: "architecture"

This is a Next.js e-commerce app with the following architecture:
- Frontend: Next.js 15 App Router, React 19
- API: Separate Express API running on port 3001
- Database: PostgreSQL with Prisma
- Auth: JWT with refresh tokens
- All API calls go through lib/api-client.ts which handles auth headers
- State management: Zustand for cart/user state, React Query for server state

Notepad: "gstn-tax-rules"

Indian GST tax rules for this project:
- Electronics: 18% GST
- Clothing under ₹1,000: 5% GST
- Clothing ₹1,000 and above: 12% GST
- Food items: 0% or 5% depending on processed/unprocessed
- Services: 18% GST
- Always round to 2 decimal places using Math.round(value * 100) / 100

Reference in a prompt:

Following the #architecture notepad, add a new product listing page that fetches from the API.
Use the #gstn-tax-rules for price display.

Agent Mode — Autonomous Task Execution

Agent mode lets Cursor work autonomously. It can:

• Run terminal commands (build, test, lint)
• Read error output and iterate
• Make changes, run tests, fix failures, repeat

Enable Agent mode: In Composer, toggle "Agent" in the top-right corner of the Composer panel.

Example Agent mode task:

Set up Jest testing for this project.
1. Install Jest and the necessary TypeScript config
2. Create a jest.config.ts
3. Write initial tests for the utility functions in lib/utils.ts
4. Make sure all tests pass

Agent mode will:

• Run npm install jest @types/jest ts-jest
• Create the config file
• Write the tests
• Run npm test
• Fix any failures
• Report when all tests pass

Agent mode caution: Review what commands it runs. Start with a specific, bounded task rather than open-ended "improve the codebase." Set permissions in .cursorrules to require confirmation before destructive operations.

@ Reference System

The @ system is how you give Cursor specific context. Master these:

| @ Syntax | What It Does | |----------|-------------| | @file:path/to/file.ts | Include specific file in context | | @folder:src/components/ | Include all files in a folder | | #symbol:functionName | Reference a specific function or class | | @docs:https://url.com | Fetch and include external documentation | | @web | Let Cursor search the web for current information | | @codebase | Search your entire indexed codebase | | #notepad-name | Reference a saved notepad |

Practical @ usage:

Looking at @file:components/PaymentForm.tsx and @file:lib/razorpay.ts,
why is the payment validation failing for Indian bank cards?
The error logs are in @file:logs/payment-errors.log

Based on @docs:https://razorpay.com/docs/api/payments/
implement the payment verification webhook handler.

Essential Keyboard Shortcuts

| Action | Windows/Linux | macOS | |--------|--------------|-------| | Open Composer | Ctrl+I | Cmd+I | | Open Chat | Ctrl+L | Cmd+L | | Inline edit | Ctrl+K | Cmd+K | | Accept completion | Tab | Tab | | Reject completion | Esc | Esc | | Next completion | Alt+] | Option+] | | Accept next word | Ctrl+→ | Cmd+→ | | Open Command Palette | Ctrl+Shift+P | Cmd+Shift+P |

Official Resources

• Cursor Documentation — Official feature reference
• Cursor Composer Guide — Composer deep dive
• Cursor Chat Guide — Chat feature documentation
• Cursor Keyboard Shortcuts — Complete shortcut list
• Cursor Forum — Community tips and workflows