Rewriting the IDE: How Cursor AI is Changing Code Editing Forever, Part A

In an age where AI is transforming everything from search engines to content creation, it was only a matter of time before it revolutionized software development too. Google Cursor AI, your new obsession to ChatGPT, a new AI-native code editor that promises to become your smartest pair programmer.

🚀 What is Cursor AI?

Cursor is a powerful AI-first code editor, built on top of Visual Studio Code. But unlike traditional code editors, Cursor integrates large language models (LLMs) like GPT-4 and Anthropic Claude to understand your code and help write it directly, giving you a smart software development experience. It’s designed to understand your code, not just autocomplete it. Cursor doesn’t wait for you to find mistakes, it actively flags errors and even fixes them. It performs real-time error detection, pointing out syntax errors or potential bugs as you type.

Whether you're writing new features, fixing bugs, or generating tests, Cursor acts like a collaborative coding assistant right inside your IDE, and it works with your whole codebase, I truly love this part!.

Cursor website: This is the central hub where you can explore features, documentation, download options, pricing, and enterprise information. Watch this Youtube channel for more info.

🔍 Cursor AI Features I Love

Here are the standout features that made a real impact:

• Inline Chat with Your Code: You can highlight a function and ask Cursor to explain, improve, or refactor it, without switching context.

• Ask About Your Whole Project: You can query your codebase like it's Stack Overflow. Rather, this time for your own code.

• One-Click Refactoring: Cursor acts like an AI pair programmer integrated directly into your editor, offering real-time code suggestions, completions, and even automatic fixes as you code. It’s not just hype, some developers report that using Cursor is at least a 2× productivity boost over tools like GitHub Copilot. For students and developers alike, this means writing code faster, with fewer errors, and spending more time on creative problem-solving instead of boilerplate.

• Generate Unit Tests Instantly: Saves hours for QA and test automation.

• Explain Code / Write Docs: Perfect for onboarding, reviewing legacy code, or learning a new stack.

• Built-in GitHub Integration: You can push, commit, and manage branches right inside Cursor, no need to learn Git deeply to get started. Git and GitHub are important tools, but Cursor makes version control so simple it almost feels lazy, in the best way possible. It removes the friction and lets you focus on understanding your code.

• Familiar Ecosystem with Extensions: Cursor is built on top of VS Code, so it works just like it. You can still use your favorite extensions, themes, and shortcuts. The big difference? Cursor adds powerful AI features on top. It’s like using the VS Code you already know — just way smarter.

• Privacy Mode: Worried about sharing your code with an AI? Cursor has you covered. It includes a privacy mode, so your code stays local, nothing is sent to remote servers unless you choose to. This is great for working on sensitive or private projects. It’s also SOC 2 certified, meaning Cursor meets strong security standards. And beyond privacy, it just makes coding easier. It can draft documentation, suggest test cases, and even help with API calls. Together, these features make coding feel more interactive, and way less intimidating.

Conclusion

I’m going to leave it here for now as I continue exploring Cursor myself. In Part B of this blog, I’ll share a step-by-step installation guide and walk you through a demo of how I actually used it in a real personal project.

Stay tuned, this is just the beginning.