Installing Cursor and Basic Setup

Cursor is one of the most popular AI coding IDEs right now. It's built on VS Code with Claude / GPT models baked in. Get the tool installed and memorize the shortcuts — everything after this will go smoother.

Download and Install

1. Go to the official site: https://cursor.com
2. Download the version for your OS (macOS / Windows / Linux).
3. Run the installer. On first launch, you can pick "Import VS Code Settings" to carry over your existing config.

Login and Model Selection

• Sign in with Google / GitHub to get trial credits.
• Model recommendation: Claude/GPT-4 for highest quality, GPT-3.5 is faster and works fine for drafts.
• Stick with defaults for now. Adjust later based on latency and cost.

Essential Shortcuts

• Cmd/Ctrl + K: Generate or modify code at the current cursor position (you'll use this the most).
• Cmd/Ctrl + L: Open the chat sidebar for multi-turn conversations.
• Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + I: Open Composer for cross-file refactoring.
• Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + P: Command palette — quickly switch models or toggle features.

Configuration Tips

• Turn on "Auto Suggest" in settings for faster completions.
• Add your common directories to the Workspace so Cursor can build its index. For large projects, trigger a global search once to warm up the index.
• If you're working with a team, set up your Git credentials and make sure git status works properly.

Practice

• Create a new file hello.ts, hit Cmd/Ctrl + K and type: "Write a function that prints Hello JR Academy and export it."
• Check the generated code, then tweak the prompt to add parameter validation. Notice how fast the feedback loop is.