It started when my friend David texted me asking if I’d tried Cursor, a new AI-powered code editor. I hadn’t, but after he mentioned it twice in two days, I figured I should take a look. Within 10 minutes of trying it, I was convinced this was something different.
What makes Cursor special isn’t just that it uses AI to help you write code – we’ve seen plenty of those tools already. It’s how seamlessly it integrates AI assistance into the normal flow of writing code. You don’t have to context switch between your editor and ChatGPT, or mess around with API keys and plugins. The AI is just there, ready to help whenever you need it.
Here’s a concrete example. I had this old Python script called “cat_sitter” (a pun on Hashcat and featured in yesterday’s post) that I wrote years ago for password cracking. The script automated a methodology I used repeatedly – running through the same wordlists and rule sets in a specific order. I wrote it because I was tired of having to manually start new cracking jobs when the previous ones finished, especially when I was stuck at the office all day.
The code worked, but it was ugly. The kind of code you write when you just need something to work and figure you’ll clean it up later. A few years passed and later never came. Until yesterday, when I decided to finally clean it up before posting it on GitHub.
This is where Cursor showed its value. I opened the file, highlighted all the code, and hit Ctrl+L. Up popped a chat interface right in the editor. I typed “make this code better” and watched as it reorganized the entire codebase. It pulled code into functions, improved the path handling, and generally made everything cleaner and more maintainable. All I had to do was click “Apply” to accept the changes.
When the updated code didn’t run the first time (as is tradition), I didn’t have to switch to ChatGPT or Stack Overflow. I just pasted the error into Cursor’s chat interface and it immediately identified and fixed the problem.
The pricing is reasonable, too. The basic version is free, and the Pro version is $20/month—the same as ChatGPT Plus.
What’s particularly clever about Cursor is that it’s not trying to be an AI that writes code for you. Instead, it’s a code editor that happens to have AI capabilities built-in exactly where they’re useful. It’s like having a really smart programmer who’s always available but never gets in your way.
You can still write code the traditional way when you want to. Cursor looks and feels like VS Code or any other modern editor. But when you need help – whether it’s refactoring old code, fixing a bug, or starting something new – the AI is right there, integrated into your normal workflow.
I’ve been using ChatGPT and Claude to help with coding, but I think I’m going to switch to Cursor. It’s using the same AI technology under the hood, but the integration makes it feel like a natural extension of coding rather than a separate tool.
The real test of any programming tool is whether it makes you more productive without getting in your way. After using Cursor for just a day, I’m convinced it passes this test.
