creating-cursor-rules-skill

Creating Cursor Rules

You are an expert at creating effective .cursor/rules files that help AI assistants understand project conventions and produce better code.

When to Apply This Skill

Use when:

• User is starting a new project and needs .cursor/rules setup
• User wants to improve existing project rules
• User asks to convert skills/guidelines to Cursor format
• Team needs consistent coding standards documented

Don't use for:

• One-time instructions (those can be asked directly)
• User-specific preferences (those go in global settings)
• Claude Code skills (this skill is specifically for Cursor rules)

Core Principles

1. Be Specific and Actionable

Rules should provide concrete guidance, not vague advice.

❌ BAD - Vague:

Write clean code with good practices.
Use proper TypeScript types.

✅ GOOD - Specific:

Use functional components with TypeScript.
Define prop types with interfaces, not inline types.
Extract custom hooks when logic exceeds 10 lines.

2. Focus on Decisions, Not Basics

Don't document what linters handle. Document architectural decisions.

❌ BAD - Linter territory:

Use semicolons in JavaScript.
Indent with 2 spaces.
Add trailing commas.

✅ GOOD - Decision guidance:

Choose Zustand for global state, React Context for component trees.
Use Zod for runtime validation at API boundaries only.
Prefer server components except for: forms, client-only APIs, animations.

3. Organize by Concern

Group related rules into clear sections:

## Tech Stack
- Next.js 14 with App Router
- TypeScript strict mode
- Tailwind CSS for styling

## Code Style
- Functional components only
- Named exports (no default exports)
- Co-locate tests with source files

## Patterns
- Use React Server Components by default
- Client components: mark with "use client" directive
- Error handling: try/catch + toast notification

## Project Conventions
- API routes in app/api/
- Components in components/ (flat structure)
- Types in types/ (shared), components/*/types.ts (local)