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Use Cursor with AI Workbench#

Overview#

The Cursor integration streamlines attaching Cursor to a project container.

Adding Cursor to a project puts a Cursor option in the Application Launcher dropdown. Launching Cursor starts the project container and attaches a Cursor window to the container, regardless of whether it’s local or remote.

AI Workbench will create a .cursor/rules/ai-workbench folder to the repository.

Workbench adds preconfigured mdc files with specific guidance about features and conventions. This makes Cursor “Workbench aware” so you don’t need to give Cursor any Workbench guidance. Things should “just work”.

The Git Changes tab shows you exactly what Cursor creates and edits, file by file.

The Project Tab > Git Changes feature lets you inspect file changes from the last commit, including environment and build changes. So if you make commits before running the agent, Workbench gives you visibility and control over what it’s doing to your files.

Launching Cursor in a project container is different for remote only mode.

The current integration uses a container runtime to setup a socket for Cursor to access the container. This works in full local mode because there’s an installed container runtime but can fail for remote only mode.

We will fix this in a future release, but you can follow the Manual Steps section below for remote only mode.

Prerequisites: Full Local Install#

For the integration to work out of hte box, you must have done the following steps.

  1. Install AI Workbench in full local mode. See here <full-local-install>.

  2. Install the Cursor desktop application. Go to the Cursor site and download the version for your operating system.

Add Cursor to a Project#

Step One: Open the project that you want to add Cursor to.

  1. Select Locations Manager > Location Card > Project Card

Step Two: Add Cursor to the project.

  1. Select Project Tab > Project Container > Apps (LHS) > Add

  2. Select Cursor

Success: The modal disappears and the Application Launcher shows Cursor in the drop down.

Open Cursor in a Project#

Once Cursor is added to the project, open it using the Application Launcher.

This will work for local projects and remote projects.

  1. Select Project Tab > Application Launcher > Cursor

  2. Wait for the project container to start and the Cursor server to be installed

    1. There is a timeout on the application launch, so you may see an error message if it takes a while install the Cursor server

    2. You can dismiss the error message and the Cursor window will open once the server is installed

  3. Then use Cursor normally.

Manual Steps: Remote Only Mode#

Use this process if you have the Desktop App in remote only mode.

Step One: Install Cursor locally.

See above.

Step Two: Add Cursor to the project.

See above.

Step Three: Start the Project container.

  1. Select Project Tab > Project Dashboard > Project Container > Start

  2. Wait for the project container to start

Step Four: Open Cursor and connect it to the remote.

  1. Open a new Cursor window > Select Connect via SSH

  2. Select the location name or IP from the options provided in the top search bar

  3. Wait for the connection to be made

Step Five: Connect Cursor to the running project container.

  1. Then go to Search Bar (Top) > Dev Containers: Attach to a Running Container

  2. Hit Enter and Select Drop Down > Select the container name > Hit Enter

Step Six: Open the project repository.

  1. Select Cursor window > Open Folder (LHS)

  2. Locate the project folder and select it