Use a background agent to turn an issue into a PR

A developer sent Cursor at a Terraform repo issue and got a pull request back quickly, but the PR text still needed manual cleanup.

Done with Cursor· Intermediate

What they did
They switched off Cursor’s privacy mode because the preview depended on it, then prepared a background-agent machine for the terraform-aws-ecr repository. In Cursor’s own UI, they checked the project’s linters and tools and resolved Python environment trouble before assigning the work to GitHub issue #33. Once the agent offered to create a pull request, they approved that step.
How it went
The agent finished the code change in roughly 3 minutes, and the implementation itself was strong. The PR metadata was the weak spot: the title did not match release-please’s expected pattern and the write-up was too thin, which kept the release PR from being created. They later filled in the missing description using Copilot’s summary.
Tips
Plan to review the pull request title and description yourself, even if the code is right. Cost can add up too: this test came to $4.63, and background agents currently run on MAX models only, so they set a $20 spending limit.

Try it yourself with Cursor

In [repo name], take on GitHub issue [issue number or link] with a background agent. Work on a new branch, use the project’s existing checks for [language/tool], and make the smallest fix that solves the issue. Before any irreversible step, pause and ask for my approval. After verification passes, open a pull request that clearly identifies the issue, describes the change, and explains the reason for it. Stop once the PR is open and share the link; do not merge it.

Fill in the [brackets]. Agents can make mistakes, so review anything before it is sent, paid or deleted.

Read the original on medium.com ↗

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