In the ever-growing toolbox of developer aids, Cursor has been getting a lot of buzz. It's pitched as an AI-powered sidekick that helps you code faster, better, and ideally with fewer headaches. After spending some time building and refining a few projects with it, and keeping an eye on what the dev community is saying, here’s my take.

Spoiler: Cursor is clever, occasionally impressive, but didn’t quite live up to expectations. It’s a bit like pair programming with someone who’s enthusiastic but still finding their footing.

A Fresh Take on AI Help

Cursor brings some genuinely useful ideas to the table. It doesn’t just suggest code snippets; it tries to understand the broader context of your project. Here’s what works well:

  • Smart Project-Wide Help: The Composer feature stands out. It scans across your codebase and offers suggestions that sometimes feel surprisingly thoughtful. When it clicks, it can genuinely save time and effort.
  • Multi-language Support: Cursor handled Python, Node.js and Next.js comfortably in my experience. It transitioned across frontend and backend code without much trouble, which made switching contexts less of a pain.
  • Familiar Environment: Since it's built on Visual Studio Code, it feels instantly usable. There’s no need to relearn a new editor or workflow, which helps with adoption.

Where It Falls Short

For all its good intentions, Cursor doesn’t always deliver on its promises. Here are some of the frustrations I ran into:

  • Overly Verbose: A common issue was getting way too much code when I asked for something small. I’d expect a simple function and end up with an entire module. Trimming that down often took longer than writing it myself.
  • Needs Babysitting: Cursor occasionally veers off-track, especially in slightly non-standard projects. You can’t just let it run wild — it needs regular corrections and a watchful eye.
  • Repetitive or Circular Logic: Sometimes it gets stuck in loops or spits out variations of the same code over and over. It’s like it forgets it already tried that approach.
  • A Bit Stubborn: Even with clear prompts, it sometimes insists on doing things its own way. Simple instructions occasionally result in something entirely different from what I asked.
  • Too Agreeable: One oddly consistent behavior is how Cursor agrees with everything. Flag a mistake, and it replies with “You are absolutely correct,” no matter what. It sounds polite, but it doesn't inspire much confidence. It’s like having an enthusiastic dog as a coding partner — loyal, excited, but fully willing to jump off a cliff if you’re not paying attention.

Stubborn and Agreeable — Somehow, Both: These might sound like opposite traits, but you’ll see what I mean once you work with Cursor. It’ll cheerfully acknowledge your feedback and then go right back to doing the same thing that caused the issue. It’s like someone nodding along with you while continuing to walk into the same wall. Funny the first time, frustrating by the third.

Final Thoughts

I used Cursor while working on a few new projects and improving some older ones. It helped with basic scaffolding and repetitive patterns, but more often than not, I found myself rewriting or cleaning up its output. That kind of defeats the point of having a coding assistant. Cursor clearly has potential. It’s aiming to be more than just a code generator, and when it works well, it feels genuinely useful. But too often, it felt like an over-enthusiastic pet — helpful in bursts, but also prone to creating extra work and needing constant oversight. Strangely enough, I’ve had more consistent and targeted results from simpler tools that don’t try to be too clever. Cursor wants to do it all, but sometimes less is more. Next up, I’ll be trying out Visual Studio Code with GitHub Copilot. Based on what I’ve seen and heard, it might offer a more balanced experience — one that knows when to help, when to stay quiet, and how to be genuinely useful without needing a full-time handler.

Cursor isn’t a bad tool. It’s just not something I’d rely on every day just yet. It gives us a glimpse of what’s coming — an AI-infused development experience — but right now, it still feels like a work in progress.