cpp

A set of C++ coding rules covering types, naming, documentation, functions, files, and basic language practices.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it when working on C++, C, headers, CMake files, Makefiles, or Conan configuration files.
Why use it?
It gives C and C++ files consistent conventions, making their structure and intent easier to read and maintain.

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/toptalentcoder/cursor-awesomerules/cpp
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/toptalentcoder/Cursor-AwesomeRules
Per session 1,091 This file is loaded in full into every session.
When invoked 1,091 The same file — it is already loaded in full.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
Origin 95% copy Near-identical to another mod 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 $0.01091 $0.01091
Opus 5 $0.00545 $0.00545
Sonnet 5 $0.00218 $0.00218
Haiku 4.5 $0.00109 $0.00109

Measured yesterday against content hash a0dbe2f79bbc, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

cpp 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 yesterday.

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

This is a copy

95% identical to cpp-programming-guidelines-cursorrules-prompt-file — 5 lines differ, which has more behind it and is treated as the original. This page carries a canonical link to it rather than competing with it.

rules-new/cpp.mdc · 135 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 135 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.


description: globs: /*.c,/.cpp,**/.h,/*.hpp,/.cxx,CMakeLists.txt,.cmake,conanfile.txt,Makefil,**/*.cc alwaysApply: false

C++ Programming Guidelines

Basic Principles

  • Use English for all code and documentation.
  • Always declare the type of each variable and function (parameters and return value).
  • Create necessary types and classes.
  • Use Doxygen style comments to document public classes and methods.
  • Don't leave blank lines within a function.
  • Follow the one-definition rule (ODR).

Nomenclature

  • Use PascalCase for classes and structures.
  • Use camelCase for variables, functions, and methods.
  • Use ALL_CAPS for constants and macros.
  • Use snake_case for file and directory names.
  • Use UPPERCASE for environment variables.
  • Avoid magic numbers and define constants.
  • Start each function with a verb.
  • Use verbs for boolean variables. Example: isLoading, hasError, canDelete, etc.
  • Use complete words instead of abbreviations and ensure correct spelling.
    • Except for standard abbreviations like API, URL, etc.
    • Except for well-known abbreviations:
      • i, j, k for loops
      • err for errors
      • ctx for contexts
      • req, res for request/response parameters

Functions

  • Write short functions with a single purpose. Less than 20 instructions.
  • Name functions with a verb and something else.
  • If it returns a boolean, use isX or hasX, canX, etc.
  • If it doesn't return anything (void), use executeX or saveX, etc.
  • Avoid nesting blocks by:
    • Early checks and returns.
    • Extraction to utility functions.
  • Use standard library algorithms (std::for_each, std::transform, std::find, etc.) to avoid function nesting.
  • Use lambda functions for simple operations.
  • Use named functions for non-simple operations.
  • Use default parameter values instead of checking for null or nullptr.
  • Reduce function parameters using structs or classes
    • Use an object to pass multiple parameters.
    • Use an object to return multiple results.
    • Declare necessary types for input arguments and output.
  • Use a single level of abstraction.

Read the full file on GitHub · 135 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. yesterday First seen · 135 lines · 1,091 tokens per session scan A a0dbe2f79bbc

Subscribe to this mod's changes

cpp is a cursor rule published in the GitHub repository toptalentcoder/Cursor-AwesomeRules (6 stars, last pushed 1y ago), licensed CC0-1.0. It adds 1,091 tokens to every session, about $0.0055 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. It is 95% identical to cpp-programming-guidelines-cursorrules-prompt-file, differing in 5 lines, and is treated as a copy.