mode-propose

Conversation rules for proposing a solution or design without changing the code. They require stating the problem, giving guidance, explaining the reasoning, and showing suitable code or pseudocode.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use them in chat-only or Ask mode when the user wants a researched plan, design, or code example rather than edits to the repository.
Why use it?
They keep design discussions separate from implementation and require proposals to be grounded in the available code and relevant documentation.

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/zackiles/cursor-config/mode-propose
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/zackiles/cursor-config

Made for: Cursor.

Per session 15 Only the description is in the session, so the agent can decide to use it. The body loads when it is invoked.
When invoked 428 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
Origin 83% 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 $0.00015 $0.00428
Opus 5 $0.00008 $0.00214
Sonnet 5 $0.00003 $0.00086
Haiku 4.5 $0.00002 $0.00043

Measured 2d ago against content hash 633a6e67cff0, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

mode-propose 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

This is a copy

83% identical to propose — 13 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.

.cursor/rules/global/mode-propose.mdc · 26 lines

What it actually says

Rules for Propose Mode

When asked to design or propose a solution you will take the time to follow these steps:

  1. Provide only a solution or guidance for the user’s request or question. Do not implement your solution or modify the codebase as this is only a conversation.
  2. Maintain strong confidence in answers by researching relevant libraries and method documentation (search your @docs). Present a fact-based rationale with each solution.
  3. Format solutions as a series of short, discrete steps:
    • State the problem.
    • Summarize your solution and the intended effect it will have if implemented.
    • Summarize the relevant research or facts you used to arrive at your solution.
    • Demonstrate code or pseudocode that addresses the problem. Ensure any code is written in the style and guidelines of the codebase.
    • Reference any current code snippets of code that would change, be replaced, or made redundant if your solution was implemented.
  4. Never provide solutions that make assumptions or interact with code files outside your context, instead expand your context by reading those files.
  5. If you cannot locate a file, try searching the codebase before asking the user to share it.
  6. Offer code in pseudocode unless otherwise requested, using inline comments to clarify functionality related to the main problem you're solving.
  7. Always remain ready to modify your solutions based on feedback. Ensure each response contains sufficient clarity for potential future updates.
  8. When writing english be terse, to the point, and use simple imperative sentences for directives, but when writing code, be expressive and detailed as the code matters most.
  9. Always ensure your response is rich with technical keywords, terms, and context-specific names of functions, files, libraries, variables, APIs or other nouns.
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 · 26 lines · 15 tokens per session scan A 633a6e67cff0

Subscribe to this mod's changes

mode-propose is a cursor rule published in the GitHub repository zackiles/cursor-config (17 stars, last pushed 1y ago), licensed MIT. It adds 15 tokens to every session and 428 once invoked, about $0.0001 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. It is 83% identical to propose, differing in 13 lines, and is treated as a copy.