Cursor Prompts for Building Features
Cursor is an AI code editor: it lives in your editor, reads your codebase, and edits multiple files from a single instruction. The difference between a one-shot feature and an afternoon of cleanup is almost always the prompt—how much context you give it, how tightly you scope the task, and whether you've taught it your conventions with a .cursorrules file. These prompts show exactly how to brief Cursor's agent so it ships code that fits your project.
Last updated · By the Prompt Orange team
Prompt examples you can copy & use
Build a feature with full context
“add login”
Too vague—AI has to guess what you want
“Add email/password login to this Next.js app. Context: @app/layout.js @lib/auth.js. Steps: 1) create a /login route, 2) a server action that calls our existing auth helper, 3) inline error states. Match the styling in @components/HomepageContent.jsx. Don't add new dependencies. When done, list every file you changed.”
Specific, clear, ready to use
Write a .cursorrules file
“make cursor follow my style”
Too vague—AI has to guess what you want
“Write a .cursorrules file for this repo. Stack: Next.js 16 App Router, React 19, Tailwind, plain JS (no TypeScript). Conventions to enforce: data-driven pages from files in /data, server components by default, no new dependencies without asking, British English in copy. Keep it under 30 lines and phrase each rule as a short imperative.”
Specific, clear, ready to use
Refactor without breaking behaviour
“clean up this file”
Too vague—AI has to guess what you want
“Refactor @components/Foo.jsx to extract the filtering logic into a custom hook. Constraints: do NOT change the rendered output or the props, keep it a client component, and add no new dependencies. Show me a diff first and wait for approval before editing.”
Specific, clear, ready to use
Debug from an error
“fix this error”
Too vague—AI has to guess what you want
“I'm getting this error: [paste stack trace]. Before changing anything, explain the most likely root cause in 2 sentences and which file it's in. Then propose the smallest fix. Don't refactor unrelated code.”
Specific, clear, ready to use
Tips for using Cursor for building features
@-mention the exact files Cursor needs—it guesses badly when it has to search for context
Keep a .cursorrules file in the repo root so the agent follows your conventions on every prompt
Ask for a plan or a diff before edits on anything non-trivial; review, then approve
Break big features into small, goal-driven prompts—one giant prompt causes drift and silent breakage
Always review changes to auth, payments, and database schemas yourself before accepting them