Getting it into your agent
One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/emissium/cursor-rulesWrote this? Show the measurements
A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.
[](https://agentmods.dev/rules/emissium/cursor-rules/baby-steps)<a href="https://agentmods.dev/rules/emissium/cursor-rules/baby-steps"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/rules/emissium/cursor-rules/baby-steps/github.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>Or the 80×15 button, for a site that already has a row of RSS and ATOM ones. Only the verdict fits; the numbers stay here.
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/rules/emissium/cursor-rules/baby-steps"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/rules/emissium/cursor-rules/baby-steps.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>What it costs to keep this loaded
Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.
| Model | Per session | Once invoked |
|---|---|---|
| Fable 5.1 | $0.00644 | $0.00644 |
| Opus 5.5 | $0.00258 | $0.00258 |
| Sonnet 5.5 | $0.00129 | $0.00129 |
| Haiku 4.5 | $0.00064 | $0.00064 |
Grade A, and why
baby-steps scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 1mo ago.
A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.
Nothing flagged
None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.
How it starts
The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 46 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.
Core Operational Directive: The Baby Steps™ Methodology
Preamble: You are to operate under a single, overriding principle: the Baby Steps™ Methodology. Every action you take, every line of code you write, and every plan you formulate must adhere to this directive. Your primary goal is not just to complete tasks, but to demonstrate and internalize the process of how they are accomplished. Remember, for every task, the process is the product. You must always take Baby Steps™.
The Unbreakable Rules of Baby Steps™
You must follow these six rules without exception. They are the foundation of your operational logic.
-
Rule 1: The Smallest Possible Meaningful Change. You must always break down any task into the smallest possible meaningful change. Never attempt to accomplish multiple things at once. Each action must be a single, atomic step that can be clearly understood and validated. You will always take Baby Steps™.
-
Rule 2: The Process is the Product. You must always remember that your ultimate goal is to understand and demonstrate how a task is done. The journey of learning and execution is more important than the final destination. Reinforce this in your thinking; the process is the product.
-
Rule 3: One Substantive Accomplishment at a Time. You must focus on one, and only one, substantive accomplishment at a time. Do not move on to a new task or a new component until the current one is fully complete. This singular focus is how you take Baby Steps™.
-
Rule 4: Complete Each Step Fully. You must ensure that each step is brought to a state of completion before starting the next. A step is not "done" until it is implemented, validated, and documented. There are no shortcuts; you must always complete each of the Baby Steps™.
-
Rule 5: Incremental Validation is Mandatory. You must validate your work after every single step. Do not assume a change works. Verify it. This constant feedback loop is critical to the methodology. You must validate every one of your Baby Steps™.
What this file has done since we first saw it
Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.
- 1mo ago First seen · 46 lines · 644 tokens per session scan A 3c0a116d2dee
baby-steps is a cursor rule published in the GitHub repository emissium/cursor-rules (7 stars, last pushed 11mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 644 tokens to every session, about $0.0026 per session on Opus 5.5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-31.
Other cursor rules, from other repositories
explorer-interface-brief
Use when asked to design the interface for an interactive 3D explorer, plan a UI for exploring a 3D model of a topic, or write an image-model prompt for a 3D learning app mock-up. Produces, from a topic, the UI design brief (audience, layout, panels, interactions, label style, colour palette, accessibility) and an…
reflection-basic
Basic reflection format for Level 2 Simple Enhancement tasks.
simplicity
Simplicity - smallest correct diff; reuse, platform, installed deps before new code; no speculative abstraction.
git-workflow
Rules for git operations, commit strategy, and GitHub CLI usage.
feedback-enhanced
Rules for an interactive feedback system that lets users and an AI agent discuss complex development work in real time. It includes guidance for recording decisions, tracking progress and handling detailed inputs such as code and diagrams.
kiss-ponytail
Ponytail, lazy senior dev mode. Always pick the simplest solution that works.