cursorrules-collection

110+ tested rules for AI coding tools — Cursor, Claude Code, Copilot, Windsurf, Gemini CLI, and Codex. Every rule contains something you can't get from a generic LLM prompt. Copy to your project and start getting better output.

⚠️ Using Cursor agent mode? Use the .mdc files in rules-mdc/. Both .cursorrules and .mdc are loaded, but .mdc takes precedence on conflicts and gives you frontmatter (alwaysApply, globs). More details.

🔧 Check your setup first

Before adding new rules, see if your current setup has issues:

npx cursor-doctor scan

Catches broken frontmatter, conflicting rules, token budget problems, and missing coverage. Takes about 2 seconds.

→ cursor-doctor on GitHub · → cursor-doctor on npm

Quick Start (manual)

For agent mode (recommended):

# Copy the .mdc file into your project's .cursor/rules/ directory
mkdir -p .cursor/rules
curl -o .cursor/rules/typescript.mdc https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nedcodes-ok/cursorrules-collection/main/rules-mdc/languages/typescript.mdc

For regular Cursor sessions (composer, chat):

curl -o .cursorrules https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nedcodes-ok/cursorrules-collection/main/rules/languages/typescript.cursorrules

Each .mdc file includes:

• alwaysApply: true (required for agent mode)
• globs for file-type scoping where applicable (e.g. Python rules only apply to *.py)
• description for Cursor's context

🔧 Make It Yours

These rules are starting points, not finished configs. The more specific they are to YOUR project, the better they work.

Step 1: Grab the rule for your stack (e.g. react.mdc)

Step 2: Open it and delete anything that doesn't match your patterns. Using Redux instead of Context? Zustand instead of TanStack Query? Edit the rule.

Step 3: Add your project-specific conventions:

## Our Conventions
- All API calls go through src/lib/api.ts
- Use date-fns, not moment
- Component files are PascalCase, utilities are camelCase
- Tests live next to the file they test (Button.test.tsx)

Step 4: Validate with npx cursor-doctor lint to make sure the frontmatter is correct.

The generic version gets you 70% there. The last 30% is what makes the rule actually useful for your codebase.

📝 Articles & Guides

• Cursor Agent Mode Ignores .cursorrules — Use .mdc Instead
• 5 .cursorrules That Actually Changed Cursor's Output
• How to Write .cursorrules That Actually Work
• 5 .cursorrules That Actually Changed What Cursor Generates (React/Next.js)

Before / After

Same prompts, different output. Left side is vanilla Cursor, right side is with rules applied.

React component:

Python API endpoint:

TypeScript function:

Rules

Languages

Deep coverage: Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Go, Rust, Java — version-specific gotchas, tested patterns, real traps. Starter templates: C#, Ruby, PHP, Swift, Kotlin, Elixir, Scala, C++ — solid foundations, customize for your project.

Frameworks

Deep coverage: React, Next.js, Vue, Angular, Django, FastAPI, Express, Tailwind CSS, shadcn/ui — version-specific, gotcha-heavy, opinionated. Solid coverage: Everything else — good patterns and conventions, ready to customize.

Practices

Tools

AI Tools (NEW)

Not just Cursor — rules and patterns for configuring any AI coding tool.

Using Multiple Rules

With .mdc (recommended): Just copy multiple files into .cursor/rules/. Each one works independently. Glob patterns keep them scoped to the right files.

mkdir -p .cursor/rules
cp rules-mdc/languages/typescript.mdc .cursor/rules/
cp rules-mdc/frameworks/nextjs.mdc .cursor/rules/
cp rules-mdc/practices/testing.mdc .cursor/rules/

With .cursorrules: Combine them into one file:

cat rules/languages/typescript.cursorrules rules/frameworks/nextjs.cursorrules > .cursorrules

Contributing

PRs welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md. The bar: rules should be specific enough to actually change Cursor's output. "Write clean code" doesn't count.

Validate Your Rules

cursor-doctor catches broken frontmatter, conflicting rules, token budget waste, and other silent failures before they hurt your output.

npx cursor-doctor scan    # health score + issues
npx cursor-doctor lint    # detailed rule linting
npx cursor-doctor fix     # auto-repair (Pro)

Need a deeper audit?

cursor-doctor Pro ($9 one-time) — full diagnostic report with conflict detection, redundancy analysis, token budget breakdown, and auto-fix. Run npx cursor-doctor audit for the full report.

More

• Articles on Dev.to — Tests, experiments, and guides on making Cursor actually listen

If these rules saved you time, ⭐ star the repo so others can find it.

License

MIT

Stay Updated

📋 Free Cursor Safety Checklist — pre-flight checklist for AI-assisted coding sessions, based on tested experiments

Related

• cursor-doctor — CLI tool to diagnose and auto-fix your Cursor AI setup
• cursor-doctor Pro — Full diagnostics, conflict detection, and auto-repair ($9)
• Articles on Dev.to — Guides on writing effective Cursor rules