code-guidelines-cursorrules-prompt-file

A set of general coding rules for verifying information, making focused file-by-file edits, preserving existing code, and avoiding unrequested changes or unnecessary discussion.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to guide code changes and responses when accuracy, scope control, preservation of existing functionality, and single-chunk edits matter.
Why use it?
It reduces unsupported assumptions and accidental changes outside the requested task. It also sets communication preferences for how edits and feedback should be handled.

Cursor rule

Install

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.

agentmods
npx agentmods add rules/patrickjs/awesome-cursorrules/code-guidelines-cursorrules-prompt-file
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/PatrickJS/awesome-cursorrules
Per session 562 This file is loaded in full into every session.
When invoked 562 The same file — it is already loaded in full.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

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.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5 $0.00562 $0.00562
Opus 5 $0.00281 $0.00281
Sonnet 5 $0.00112 $0.00112
Haiku 4.5 $0.00056 $0.00056

Measured 2d ago against content hash eaa39ca88196, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

code-guidelines-cursorrules-prompt-file 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 2d 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.

Origin

Copies of this mod

1 near-identical copy found in the catalogue:

rules/code-guidelines-cursorrules-prompt-file.mdc · 57 lines

What it actually says

  1. Verify Information: Always verify information before presenting it. Do not make assumptions or speculate without clear evidence.

  2. File-by-File Changes: Make changes file by file and give me a chance to spot mistakes.

  3. No Apologies: Never use apologies.

  4. No Understanding Feedback: Avoid giving feedback about understanding in comments or documentation.

  5. No Whitespace Suggestions: Don't suggest whitespace changes.

  6. No Summaries: Don't summarize changes made.

  7. No Inventions: Don't invent changes other than what's explicitly requested.

  8. No Unnecessary Confirmations: Don't ask for confirmation of information already provided in the context.

  9. Preserve Existing Code: Don't remove unrelated code or functionalities. Pay attention to preserving existing structures.

  10. Single Chunk Edits: Provide all edits in a single chunk instead of multiple-step instructions or explanations for the same file.

  11. No Implementation Checks: Don't ask the user to verify implementations that are visible in the provided context.

  12. No Unnecessary Updates: Don't suggest updates or changes to files when there are no actual modifications needed.

  13. Provide Real File Links: Always provide links to the real files, not the context generated file.

  14. No Current Implementation: Don't show or discuss the current implementation unless specifically requested.

  15. Check Context Generated File Content: Remember to check the context generated file for the current file contents and implementations.

  16. Use Explicit Variable Names: Prefer descriptive, explicit variable names over short, ambiguous ones to enhance code readability.

  17. Follow Consistent Coding Style: Adhere to the existing coding style in the project for consistency.

  18. Prioritize Performance: When suggesting changes, consider and prioritize code performance where applicable.

  19. Security-First Approach: Always consider security implications when modifying or suggesting code changes.

  20. Test Coverage: Suggest or include appropriate unit tests for new or modified code.

  21. Error Handling: Implement robust error handling and logging where necessary.

  22. Modular Design: Encourage modular design principles to improve code maintainability and reusability.

  23. Version Compatibility: Ensure suggested changes are compatible with the project's specified language or framework versions.

  24. Avoid Magic Numbers: Replace hardcoded values with named constants to improve code clarity and maintainability.

  25. Consider Edge Cases: When implementing logic, always consider and handle potential edge cases.

  26. Use Assertions: Include assertions wherever possible to validate assumptions and catch potential errors early.

Changes

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.

  1. 2d ago First seen · 57 lines · 0 tokens per session scan A eaa39ca88196

Subscribe to this mod's changes

code-guidelines-cursorrules-prompt-file is a cursor rule published in the GitHub repository PatrickJS/awesome-cursorrules (40,694 stars, last pushed 3mo ago), licensed CC0-1.0. It adds 562 tokens to every session, about $0.0028 per session on Opus 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 2026-08-30.