It Took Me 847 Hours in Cursor to Learn These 15 Hacks

Overview

This is a hands‑on tutorial summarizing 15 practical Cursor (AI coding IDE) hacks to speed development and unlock hidden features. Each hack includes what it does and how to enable or use it.

Hacks — quick list with key steps

1. Show subscription usage

   • Settings → Chat → Usage summary: set to Always to see included usage, monthly spend limit, and billing reset.

2. Fast mode & model switching

   • Use Shift+Up to toggle modes (Ask, Agent, Plan, Background tasks).
   • Press Cmd// to open the model menu, then type/select a model (e.g., “gpt5”) to switch quickly.

3. Early access features

   • Settings → Beta → Early access: enable to get new Cursor features earlier.
   • Note: nightly builds exist but can be buggy; use with caution.

4. Use different models for plan vs build

   • Create a plan with a strong planner model (e.g., GPT‑5 High) and then switch to a faster/cheaper model (e.g., Claude 4.5) for the actual build/execution.

5. Open multiple project windows

   • File → New Window to work on two projects/repositories side‑by‑side (useful for separate landing page + app projects).

6. System theme auto‑detection

   • Settings → General → Editor settings → Workbench appearance: pick preferred dark/light themes and enable “window autodetect color scheme” to match your OS.

7. Split terminals

   • Terminal → New Terminal, then use the split terminal button to run multiple terminal panes simultaneously.

8. Slash commands & auto‑generate rules

   • Type / to see commands (for example, Generate Cursor Rules).
   • You can feed a docs/blog URL and a fast model (Cheetah) to auto‑create a Cursor rule file (example: Tailwind v4 rule file).

9. Apply rules selectively

   • In an agent chat, press Add → Rules to attach specific rule files to a chat/message (useful for applying rules only when relevant, not globally).

10. Index external docs into Cursor - Settings → Index & Docs → Add doc: paste a docs URL (e.g., Convex docs). Cursor will fetch and index pages so the agent can query full documentation inside the workspace.

11. (Dangerous) Give Cursor access to local env secrets - Create a file named cursor.ignore and negate default ignores (for example, !.env.local) to allow Cursor to read env files. - Strong warning: do this only in safe/test environments.

12. Message modes: Send, Queue (Q), Stop+Send - Send: steer the streaming agent without stopping it (good for quick corrections). - Queue (Q): enqueue messages as a to‑do list to be consumed after the current task finishes. - Stop+Send: stops current work then sends a message (can be confusing; use carefully).

13. Custom modes (beta) - Settings → Chat → Custom modes: create specialized agents/modes with controlled permissions (MCP servers, web search, specific system prompts). - Examples: architect, database analyst, Supabase specialist.

14. Attach previous chats & show commits (repo history) - Use the @ (add) command to attach prior chat summaries. - @ show commits: enable to give Cursor access to the repository’s commit history and PRs so the agent can reason about past changes and propose reverts/changes.

15. Duplicate a primed chat (clone context) - In a well‑primed chat, use the three‑dot menu → Duplicate chat to clone the current chat state (context + docs + rules) and branch off multiple tasks from the same starting context.

Notable technologies and models referenced

• Cursor (AI coding IDE)
• Models: GPT‑5 High, Claude 4.5, Cheetah (fast model)
• Tools/services: Convex (database), Tailwind (CSS v4), Bunx (example command)
• Cursor features: settings panels, plans, agent/chat modes, rules system, docs indexer, custom modes, terminal splits, chat duplication, repo commit access

Practical tips and warnings

• Enable Usage summary and Early Access for more visibility and features.
• Use a strong planner model plus a faster executor model to balance quality and speed.
• Index docs and generate rule files to reduce agent mistakes (for example, generate a Tailwind v4 rule file).
• Never expose production secrets. The cursor.ignore trick is powerful but risky — only perform it in isolated/test environments.
• Prefer Send or Queue modes over Stop+Send for smoother agent steering.

Warning: Allowing Cursor to read local environment or secret files can expose sensitive data. Only use that capability in controlled, non‑production environments.

Type of content

This is a tutorial/walkthrough showing settings, workflows, and advanced hidden features — useful as a how‑to guide to get more from a Cursor subscription.

Main speaker / source

The video narrator/creator (unnamed in the subtitles) demonstrates Cursor features and workflow.