Lesson 1 of 3•Cursor & AI-Powered Code Editors0 of 3 complete (0%)
Getting Started with Cursor: The AI-Native Editor
12 min
What you will learn
- Install Cursor, import your VS Code settings, and understand the interface
- Use Cmd+K for inline code generation and editing
- Use the AI chat panel with codebase context for questions and debugging
- Understand the Tab completion system and how it differs from Copilot
# Getting Started with Cursor: The AI-Native Editor
What Makes Cursor Different
Cursor is a fork of VS Code, so it looks familiar — same extensions, same keybindings, same settings. But under the hood, AI is integrated into the editor itself, not bolted on as an extension.
Key differences from VS Code + Copilot: - Cmd+K opens an inline prompt at your cursor position — describe what you want, and Cursor writes or edits code in place - Chat panel has full codebase awareness — it can search your project, read files, and understand architecture - Composer coordinates changes across multiple files simultaneously - Tab completion predicts your next edit based on recent changes, not just the current line
Installation
- 1.Download from [cursor.com](https://cursor.com)
- 2.On first launch, Cursor offers to import your VS Code settings, extensions, and keybindings
- 3.Sign in to activate AI features (free tier includes limited requests; Pro is $20/month)
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What you'll learn:
- Install Cursor, import your VS Code settings, and understand the interface
- Use Cmd+K for inline code generation and editing
- Use the AI chat panel with codebase context for questions and debugging