Agents
Background agents that work while you keep coding.
Work that runs while you keep coding
Agents let Cursor take on a task and work through it — planning, editing across files, and iterating — while you stay focused on something else. Instead of babysitting each edit, you hand over a well-scoped job and check the result. For mechanical, repetitive, or broad changes, that parallelism is a real productivity gain: the agent grinds through the tedious multi-file work while your attention is elsewhere. The trade-off is that autonomy needs a clear brief and a review, or the agent works confidently in the wrong direction.
Give a clear brief and a boundary
An agent is only as good as the task you hand it. Define the goal, the acceptance criteria, and the boundary of what it should touch, so it does not wander into unrelated code. Good rules and a fresh index sharpen its plans, because it starts from real context. When it finishes, review the diff as you would a colleague's pull request. Used this way, agents extend what you can do at once; used carelessly, they generate work you then have to untangle.
What are Cursor agents?
Agents take on a task and work through it — planning and editing across files — while you focus elsewhere. They are a productivity gain for mechanical, multi-file work when given a clear brief.
How do I brief a Cursor agent well?
Define the goal, acceptance criteria, and the boundary of what it should touch, so it stays on task. Good rules and a fresh index help it plan from real context.
Do I still need to review an agent's work?
Yes — review the diff as you would a colleague's pull request. Autonomy needs a clear brief and a review, or the agent can work confidently in the wrong direction.