An editor that can read the repo before it edits — good for refactors. Without rules it improvises.
Cursor is not “VS Code with better complete” for me. It is the first time I handed “move this logging from A to B” across files to a model. It opens the callers, edits, and can run a check. That is strong when tests and names exist. In a junkyard repo it invents abstractions you did not ask for. Rules are part of the product: layout, banned libraries, commands before commit. Without them it is a keen junior who does not know your taboos. Versus Copilot, keystroke complete is not always smarter; the chat that carries the repo is. Versus ChatGPT you skip pasting files. Requests cost money; unbounded agents get expensive. I locate files, assign a bounded job, read the diff. Merge without a diff is an incident.
Developers with some structure, who will write rules and read diffs. People who cannot read code should not deploy from a black box.
Cross-file edits land
Renames hit callers, not just the buffer you see.
Rules stick
House habits become a file instead of a daily argument.
Checks can chain
Tests or lint after the edit beat “I assume it passed.”
Familiar editor
Keybindings and extensions do not reset to zero.
No rules, extra mess
It will add banned patterns that look modern.
Agents burn budget
Wide tasks read piles of unrelated files.
Green tests are not enough
Copy and permissions still change when you are not looking.
Name the directory, freeze public APIs, then move internals.
Give the test and the log; allow only the smallest patch.
Read implementation, edit the README, ban fictional features.
It will emit code. You still own the merge. No diff, no merge.
You can keep keystroke complete. Cursor’s gap is repo-level chat.
Bans and directory layout beat “you are a senior engineer.”
Follow security and purchasing. Treat it as cloud unless you have a deal.
Existing repo: Cursor. Algorithms with no tree: the browser is fine.
The link opens the Cursor site so you can check our judgment. The review is written by AI WebLink.