---
title: Introduction to Cursor
description: Learn what Cursor is, who this independent guide is for, and what you will accomplish with it.
url: https://cursor.thally.app/
---

# Introduction to Cursor

Learn what Cursor is, who this independent guide is for, and what you will accomplish with it.

## What Cursor helps you do

Cursor is an AI code editor that can help you understand a codebase, plan a change, edit files, and review the result.

This independent guide is for developers who already know how to open a project and use Git, but are new to working with an AI coding agent inside their editor.

  <img
    className="aspect-video w-full bg-background object-cover object-top"
    src="/images/cursor/workflow/cursor-review-flow.png"
    alt="Cursor Agent applying a documentation rule beside a red and green proposed diff"
  />

You will use Cursor to:

- understand an unfamiliar project
- make one small, focused change
- review the generated diff before accepting it
- run the project's checks
- add a reusable project rule for future work

The goal is not to hand every decision to an agent. The goal is to give the agent clear context, inspect its work, and keep responsibility for the final change.

> **Independent guide:**
  This guide is not an official Cursor publication. Product names and links refer to Cursor's official website and documentation.

## Who this guide is for

Use this guide if you already know how to open a project and use Git, but are new to working with an AI coding agent inside your editor. The examples focus on a small, reviewable workflow rather than a broad tour of every Cursor feature.

## Before you begin

You need:

- [Cursor installed](https://cursor.com/downloads)
- a Cursor account
- a local project that you are allowed to edit
- the commands used to test or validate that project

If you do not have a suitable project, start with a small personal project or a repository created for practice.

You should also know the project's normal validation command. This may be `npm test`, `npm run build`, or an equivalent command for the language and framework you use. The quickstart treats a passing check as part of the change, not as an optional final step.

## Next step

Continue to the [quickstart](/quickstart) to make your first reviewed change.