Cursor IDE Deep Dive: The AI Code Editor That Actually Works (2026 Review)

I resisted switching from VS Code for two years. "It's just a fork with a chat window," I told myself. "I can just use the Copilot plugin."

I was wrong.

Cursor isn't just VS Code with a plugin. It's what happens when an IDE is rebuilt from the ground up with the assumption that AI should be doing 40% of the typing.

After 3 months of using Cursor exclusively, going back to vanilla VS Code feels like coding with one hand tied behind my back. Here is why it's the first AI tool that actually earns its place in a senior developer's dock.

The "Killer Feature": Composer (Cmd+I)

If you only use one feature in Cursor, make it Composer.

Most AI coding tools are "Chat" interfaces. You ask a question, it gives you code, you copy-paste it. This is slow and breaks your flow.

Composer (accessed via Cmd+I or Ctrl+I) is an agent. It doesn't just talk; it acts.

The Workflow:

Hit Cmd+I.
Type: "Refactor the AuthService to use standard HTTP status codes, and update the Login component to handle the new errors."
Cursor opens AuthService.ts AND Login.svelte.
It writes the code in both files simultaneously.
You review the diffs and hit "Accept All."

It's like having a pair programmer who types at 1000 wpm. It understands dependencies across files, which is something standard Copilot still struggles with.

The Secret Sauce: `.cursor/rules`

This is the feature that separates the power users from the casuals.

Cursor allows you to define "Rules for AI" that are stored in your repository at .cursor/rules. These are plain text (or markdown) files that tell the AI how you like your code written.

Why this matters: Standard LLMs are generic. They might give you React class components, or use var instead of const.

With Rules, you can enforce your team's style guide automatically.

My .cursor/rules/stack.mdc:

---
description: Tech Stack & Style Guide
globs: *.svelte, *.ts, *.js
---

# Tech Stack
- Framework: sveltekit 2.0 (Runes mode)
- Styling: Vanilla CSS (No Tailwind unless specified)
- Database: MongoDB

# Coding Style
- Always use TypeScript interfaces, not types.
- Prefer functional programming patterns.
- NO `any` types. If you must, add a `// TODO: Fix type` comment.
- Use `const` over `let`.

Now, every time Cursor generates code, it reads this file first. It stops suggesting React code in my Svelte project. It stops using any. It becomes my editor.

"Tab" vs Copilot

github copilot is a "Next Word Predictor." It guesses what you are about to type based on the last few lines.

Cursor's "Tab" feature is a "Next Change Predictor."

It looks at your recent edits in other files to predict what you want to do here.

If I add a field to my database schema...
...then switch to my API endpoint...
...Cursor "Tabs" the new field into the validation logic before I even type a letter.

It feels telepathic. It predicts intent, not just syntax.

privacy & The "Enterprise" Fear

"But does it steal my code?"

This is the #1 blocker for teams. Cursor has a Privacy Mode that you can toggle in settings.

Privacy Mode ON: Your code is not stored on their servers and is NOT used to train their models.
Local Models: You can even configure it to use local models (like llama 3) via Ollama if you are truly paranoid (though the performance isn't quite there yet compared to Claude 3.5).

My Daily Config

If you're jumping in, here is the setup I recommend for 2026:

Model: Claude 3.5 Sonnet (It's currently smarter than GPT-4o for complex logic).
Theme: Vitesse Dark (Clean, high contrast).
Keybindings: Vim (If you aren't using Vim motions, are you even coding?).
Feature Preview: Turn on "Shadow Workspace" (it runs a linter in the background to check AI code before showing it to you).

The Verdict

Cursor is the first AI tool that feels like a bicycle for the mind. It doesn't try to replace you. It just removes the friction between "thinking of a solution" and "having the code written."

If you are still on VS Code + Copilot, you are paying the same price for a worse product. Switch.

Rating: 9.5/10 (Docked 0.5 points because it sometimes gets stuck in a loop when indexing massive monorepos).