Keep Cursor rules minimal; move occasional workflows to skills
Every rule costs context in every chat. Cursor recommends short, specific rules (<500 lines) and skills for things you need only sometimes.
Cursor’s own “common failure pattern” is over-engineering rules. Too many rules eat context and confuse the agent.
What belongs in rules
- Project-specific build and test commands
- Code conventions and guardrails (files not to touch)
- Pointers to canonical example files, not pasted copies
What doesn’t
- Whole style guides: use a linter.
- Commands the agent already knows (
git,npm).
Rules vs. skills
Rules load every conversation; skills load only when relevant. If you need it occasionally, make it a skill. Add a rule only after you see the agent repeat the same mistake, and keep each one under 500 lines.