Introduction
Learn how to use Cursor’s core features: Tab completion, Chat for code queries, and Agent for assistance
Overview
Cursor is a powerful AI-first code editor that enhances your development workflow. After installation, you’ll have access to three core features that work together seamlessly to make you more productive:
- AI-powered code completion that understands your codebase
- Natural language chat for exploring and understanding code
- Intelligent agent for handling complex development tasks
Each feature builds on top of Cursor’s deep understanding of your code through our advanced context system. Let’s explore how to use each one effectively.
Tab
Tab completion in Cursor is powered by advanced AI models that understand your code context. As you type, you’ll receive intelligent suggestions that:
- Complete your current line of code
- Suggest entire function implementations
- Help with common patterns and boilerplate
- Adapt to your coding style over time
Learn more about Tab features or see how it compares to GitHub Copilot.
Chat
Chat is your intelligent coding companion that helps you understand and work with your codebase:
- Ask questions about specific code sections
- Get explanations of complex functions
- Find code patterns and examples
- Debug issues with contextual awareness
- Generate code snippets based on your requirements
Explore Chat features or learn how to customize your experience.
Agent
Agent is your AI-powered coding partner that helps you tackle larger tasks:
- Make codebase-wide changes and refactoring
- Implement new features from requirements
- Debug complex issues across multiple files
- Generate tests and documentation
- Maintain consistency across your entire project
Dive deeper into Agent capabilities or try the Composer for complex tasks.
Context
Context is the foundation that powers all of Cursor’s AI features. Here’s how it works:
- When you open a codebase, we automatically index your code to make it available as context
- Use @-symbols to precisely control what context you provide:
- Configure rules for AI to customize behavior
- Set up MCP for external context providers
Models
You can see all the models we support and their pricing on the models page. Configure your API keys and preferences in Settings.
Usage
It’s highly recommended to read about usage and plans to understand how Cursor pricing works. Check out our pricing page for more details about plans and features.
Need help? Visit our troubleshooting guide or join our community forum.
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