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Custom Configurations

Configure Cursor for your specific development needs and preferences.

OverviewBasicsAdvancedFeaturesExamples

Personalizing Your Cursor Experience

Customizing Cursor's configuration allows you to tailor the AI assistance to your specific workflow, coding style, and project requirements.

Configuration Areas

  • AI Model Settings: Choose the right AI model for your needs
  • Code Style Preferences: Configure formatting and linting rules
  • Keyboard Shortcuts: Customize shortcuts for your workflow
  • Theme and Appearance: Personalize the visual experience
  • Project-Specific Settings: Configure settings per project

AI Model Configuration

Choosing the Right Model

GPT-4 (Recommended)

  • • Best for complex reasoning
  • • Excellent code generation
  • • Better context understanding
  • • Higher token limit

GPT-3.5 Turbo

  • • Faster responses
  • • Good for simple tasks
  • • Lower cost
  • • Sufficient for basic coding

Configuration Example

settings.json - AI Configuration

JSON
{
  "cursor.ai.enabled": true,
  "cursor.ai.model": "gpt-4",
  "cursor.ai.maxTokens": 4000,
  "cursor.ai.temperature": 0.1,
  "cursor.ai.systemMessage": "You are an expert software developer. Provide clear, concise, and accurate code solutions.",
  "cursor.ai.includeCodeContext": true,
  "cursor.ai.includeFileContext": true
}

Temperature Settings

0.0 - 0.3

Very focused, deterministic responses

Best for: Code generation, debugging
0.4 - 0.7

Balanced creativity and consistency

Best for: General development tasks
0.8 - 1.0

More creative and varied responses

Best for: Brainstorming, exploration

Code Style Configuration

Formatting and Linting

settings.json - Code Style

JSON
{
  "editor.formatOnSave": true,
  "editor.formatOnPaste": true,
  "editor.codeActionsOnSave": {
    "source.fixAll.eslint": true,
    "source.organizeImports": true,
    "source.removeUnusedImports": true
  },
  "editor.defaultFormatter": "esbenp.prettier-vscode",
  "editor.tabSize": 2,
  "editor.insertSpaces": true,
  "editor.detectIndentation": false,
  "files.trimTrailingWhitespace": true,
  "files.insertFinalNewline": true,
  "files.trimFinalNewlines": true
}

Language-Specific Settings

settings.json - Language Settings

JSON
{
  "[javascript]": {
    "editor.defaultFormatter": "esbenp.prettier-vscode",
    "editor.tabSize": 2
  },
  "[typescript]": {
    "editor.defaultFormatter": "esbenp.prettier-vscode",
    "editor.tabSize": 2
  },
  "[python]": {
    "editor.defaultFormatter": "ms-python.black-formatter",
    "editor.tabSize": 4
  },
  "[json]": {
    "editor.defaultFormatter": "esbenp.prettier-vscode",
    "editor.tabSize": 2
  }
}

Custom Keyboard Shortcuts

Creating Custom Shortcuts

keybindings.json - Custom Shortcuts

JSON
[
  {
    "key": "cmd+shift+a",
    "command": "cursor.chat.focus",
    "when": "editorTextFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+shift+k",
    "command": "cursor.edit",
    "when": "editorTextFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+shift+d",
    "command": "cursor.debug",
    "when": "editorTextFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+shift+t",
    "command": "workbench.action.terminal.new",
    "when": "editorTextFocus"
  }
]

Useful Custom Shortcuts

Quick AI ChatCmd+Shift+A
AI Edit ModeCmd+Shift+K
Debug with AICmd+Shift+D
New TerminalCmd+Shift+T
Format DocumentCmd+Shift+F
Toggle SidebarCmd+Shift+B

Theme and Appearance

Recommended Themes

Dark+ (Default Dark)

Clean, professional dark theme

Best for: Long coding sessions

One Dark Pro

Popular dark theme with great syntax highlighting

Best for: JavaScript/TypeScript

Material Theme

Google Material Design inspired

Best for: Modern development

Font Configuration

settings.json - Font Settings

JSON
{
  "editor.fontFamily": "Fira Code, 'Cascadia Code', Consolas, monospace",
  "editor.fontSize": 14,
  "editor.fontLigatures": true,
  "editor.fontWeight": "400",
  "editor.lineHeight": 1.5,
  "terminal.integrated.fontFamily": "Fira Code, Consolas, monospace",
  "terminal.integrated.fontSize": 13
}

Project-Specific Settings

Workspace Configuration

.vscode/settings.json - Project Settings

JSON
{
  "cursor.ai.enabled": true,
  "cursor.ai.model": "gpt-4",
  "cursor.ai.includeCodeContext": true,
  "editor.formatOnSave": true,
  "editor.codeActionsOnSave": {
    "source.fixAll.eslint": true
  },
  "files.exclude": {
    "**/node_modules": true,
    "**/dist": true,
    "**/.next": true,
    "**/coverage": true
  },
  "search.exclude": {
    "**/node_modules": true,
    "**/dist": true,
    "**/.next": true
  },
  "typescript.preferences.includePackageJsonAutoImports": "auto"
}

Team Configuration

Share configuration with your team using workspace settings:

  • Create .vscode/settings.json in your project root
  • Include AI model preferences and coding standards
  • Configure file exclusions and search patterns
  • Set up consistent formatting rules

Configuration Complete! ⚙️

You've learned how to customize Cursor for your specific needs. These configurations will make your development experience more efficient and enjoyable.

Next Lesson: Team CollaborationBack to Advanced Overview