Run Cursor on small, well-scoped tasks
One commenter uses Cursor agent mode for limited feature work, with a human checking the plan and the agent saving notes for later runs.
- What they did
- They reserve Cursor agent mode for contained jobs, such as small features, outside services, background work, alerts, and tracking activity. Their process starts with a human-reviewed plan, then they ask the agent to divide the job into bite-sized prompts that point to the right documentation and product rules. After each step, the agent records the useful takeaways in worklog.md, while the person stays in charge of the architecture and approval.
- How it went
- They framed this as a practical way to keep agent mode useful for development work without letting it roam freely. No specific feature launch or timing data was included.
- Tips
- The extra coordination is the tradeoff: the work has to be broken up carefully, the plan has to be checked first, and the worklog has to stay current. It fits best when the task is small enough to inspect between steps.
Try it yourself with Cursor
In [repository name], help me complete [small feature, integration, background job, alerting, or tracking change]. Start by reading the related code and docs, then give me a short plan and wait for my approval before you write anything. Split the work into small steps, follow the project’s existing conventions and business rules, and after each step add the key decisions, discoveries, and any open questions to [WORKLOG.md or another file]. Before any irreversible action such as submitting, deleting, sending, or paying, stop and ask me to confirm. When the work is done, summarize what changed and list any tests you ran.
Fill in the [brackets]. Agents can make mistakes, so review anything before it is sent, paid or deleted.
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