documentation-style-guide

A writing guide for project rule files stored in .cursor/rules/*.mdc, which provide instructions to an AI coding assistant and documentation for developers.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to structure rule documents, order sections, write clear instructions, add code examples, and link rules to implementation references.
Why use it?
It keeps these files consistent and readable, so people and coding assistants can find the right guidance quickly.

Cursor rule for Cursor

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/smeubank/cursor-template/documentation-style-guide
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/smeubank/cursor-template

Made for: Cursor.

Per session 0 Nothing until a file matches its globs; then the whole rule loads.
When invoked 1,262 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
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 $0.00000 $0.01262
Opus 5 $0.00000 $0.00631
Sonnet 5 $0.00000 $0.00252
Haiku 4.5 $0.00000 $0.00126

Measured 2d ago against content hash c715464d95b1, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

documentation-style-guide 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.

.cursor/rules/llms/documentation-style-guide.mdc · 189 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 189 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Documentation Style Guide

🎯 Purpose

This guide defines writing standards for .cursor/rules/*.mdc files in the project template. These files serve as both AI assistant instructions and developer documentation.

📋 Structure Requirements

File Header Format

# [Feature/Pattern Name]

Brief description of the feature or pattern (1-2 sentences max).

## 🎯 [Section Name]

Standard Sections

  1. Overview - Brief purpose and scope
  2. When to Use - Specific scenarios with bullet points
  3. Implementation Pattern - Minimal code examples
  4. Key Conventions - Project-specific rules
  5. References - Links to actual implementation files

Section Ordering

  • Context first (what and why)
  • Implementation details (how)
  • Examples and patterns
  • Checklists and verification

✍️ Writing Standards

Language Guidelines

  • Direct language: "Use X for Y" not "You might consider using X"
  • Active voice: "Configure Sentry" not "Sentry should be configured"
  • Imperative mood: "Handle errors gracefully" not "Errors should be handled gracefully"
  • Present tense: "TypeScript validates" not "TypeScript will validate"

Content Guidelines

  • Assume intelligence: Skip basic programming concepts
  • Focus on domain-specific patterns: Not general Next.js or React patterns
  • Code over prose: Show implementation patterns, minimize explanation
  • Concrete examples: Use actual file paths and real code snippets
  • Context window optimization: Every line provides unique value

Example Transformations

❌ BAD: "You might want to consider using TypeScript for better type safety"
✅ GOOD: "Use TypeScript with strict mode for all components"

❌ BAD: "It's generally recommended to handle errors properly"
✅ GOOD: "Log all errors to Sentry with structured context"

❌ BAD: "This is a common pattern in React applications"
✅ GOOD: "Business validation follows this pattern"

📝 Code Example Standards

Read the full file on GitHub · 189 lines

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 · 189 lines · 0 tokens per session scan A c715464d95b1

Subscribe to this mod's changes

documentation-style-guide is a cursor rule published in the GitHub repository smeubank/cursor-template (6 stars, last pushed 1y ago), licensed MIT. It costs nothing until one of its globs matches a file; then it loads 1,262 tokens. 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.