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Installing Cursor and first steps

At a glance

This guide walks you through downloading Cursor, opening a folder, and having your first AI conversation. It takes about 10 minutes and assumes you've never used a code editor before.

Install Cursor (VS Code-based editor with built-in AI chat), open a project folder so the assistant can read/edit files, and understand the two modes: Plan (think together, review changes) vs. Agent (assistant edits files and runs commands directly).

Cursor is an Electron-based fork of VS Code with integrated LLM chat (Claude, GPT-4, etc.), agentic file editing, and context-aware indexing. Key setup: open a workspace folder (enables .cursorignore, rules, and codebase indexing), configure model preferences, and understand Plan vs. Agent mode for different iteration speeds.

This guide walks you from zero to your first AI-assisted conversation. It takes about 10 minutes.

1. Download and install

  1. Go to cursor.com and click Download.
  2. Open the downloaded file:
  3. Mac: Drag Cursor to your Applications folder, then open it.
  4. Windows: Run the installer and follow the prompts.
  5. Linux: Follow the instructions on the download page.
  6. On first launch, Cursor may ask if you want to import settings from VS Code. If you've never used VS Code, skip this — it doesn't matter.
  7. Sign in (or create a free account) when prompted. The free tier gives you limited AI usage to start.

Tip: Cursor is built on VS Code, the most popular code editor in the world. If a guide or video mentions "VS Code," most of it applies to Cursor too.

2. Open a folder

Cursor works best when it can see a folder (also called a "project" or "workspace"). Even one file inside a folder is enough.

  1. Create a folder anywhere on your computer — your Desktop is fine. Name it something simple, like my-first-project.
  2. Inside that folder, create a text file called notes.md (or anything — it just helps to have something in the folder).
  3. In Cursor, go to File → Open Folder and select your folder.

You should see your folder name in the left sidebar with your file listed underneath.

Why a folder? When you open a folder, the AI assistant can read and edit the files inside it. Without a folder, the assistant can only chat — it can't help you build anything persistent.

3. Open the chat

Look for the chat panel on the right side of the screen (or use the keyboard shortcut Cmd+L on Mac / Ctrl+L on Windows).

You'll see a text box where you can type. This is where you talk to the AI assistant.

4. Have your first conversation

Type something like:

"I have a folder with one notes file. Help me write a short project outline for [describe any idea you have]. Put it in a new file called outline.md."

The assistant will: - Read your folder to understand what's there - Draft an outline based on your description - Offer to create the file (or create it directly, depending on the mode)

That's it — you just used Cursor.

5. Understand the two modes

Cursor has two main modes for working with the AI. You'll see these options near the chat input:

Mode What happens When to use it
Plan The assistant thinks with you — it suggests changes but doesn't edit files until you approve When you want to review before anything changes
Agent The assistant acts — it can edit files, create new ones, and run commands When you trust the direction and want to move fast

Start with Plan if you're cautious. Switch to Agent when you're comfortable. You can always undo (Cmd+Z / Ctrl+Z) if something goes wrong.

6. Try three things

Before you read anything else, try these on your own (use your own words — these are just patterns):

Goal Example prompt
Ask for feedback "What are the biggest gaps in this outline? Be honest."
Restructure something "Turn these messy bullet points into a clean one-page summary with headers."
Create a file "Draft a simple landing page for [your idea] as an HTML file I can open in my browser."

Notice how you describe what you want, not how to code it. That's the whole idea.

What's next

Troubleshooting

"I don't see the chat panel." Try View → Toggle Chat or the keyboard shortcut Cmd+L (Mac) / Ctrl+L (Windows).

"The assistant didn't create the file." You might be in Plan mode. Switch to Agent mode, or say "go ahead and create it."

"I ran out of free AI messages." The free tier has a daily or monthly limit. You can wait for it to reset or upgrade at cursor.com/pricing.

"This looks like a code editor — is this for me?" Yes. Cursor is a code editor by design, but you don't need to write code. Think of it as a workspace where you and the AI collaborate on files — text, plans, web pages, whatever you need.