Custom modes allows you to compose new modes with tools and prompts that fits your workflow. These are in addition to Agent, Ask, and Manual mode which are built-in.

Custom modes are currently in beta.
You can enable custom modes from SettingsFeaturesChatCustom modes

Creating a Custom Mode

To create a custom mode, you can open the mode menu and click Add custom mode. From there, you will have the option to select name, icon, shortcut as well as enabled tools and custom instructions.

We’re considering adding a .cursor/modes.json file to your project to make it easier to create and share custom modes.

Example Modes

While you can make a mode with any combination of tools and instructions, here are some examples of modes that you might find useful.

👨‍🎓 Learn

Encourages detailed explanations and frequent clarifying questions, without automatically applying edits or running tools.

Tools:
All Search


Custom Instructions:
Focus on explaining concepts thoroughly and ask clarifying questions before providing solutions

🔄 Refactor

Focuses exclusively on enhancing existing code structure, without introducing new functionality or reading additional files.

Tools:
Edit & Reapply


Custom Instructions:
Focus solely on improving existing code structure without adding new functionality

📝 Plan

Generates comprehensive implementation plans without directly modifying code, documenting the approach clearly in a plan.md file.

Tools:
Codebase, Read file, Terminal


Custom Instructions:
Create detailed implementation plans without making direct code changes. Write it to plan.md

📚 Research

Collects extensive information from various sources, including web searches and codebase exploration, before recommending solutions.

Tools:
Codebase, Web, Read file, Search files


Custom Instructions:
Gather comprehensive information from multiple sources before suggesting solutions

💥 Yolo

Aggressively applies all available tools, making bold changes proactively with minimal user confirmation.

Tools:
All tools with Auto-apply edits and Auto-run enabled


Custom Instructions:
Take initiative and make bold changes with minimal confirmation

🐛 Debug

Conducts an in-depth investigation by gathering extensive context from source files and terminal outputs, then proposes precise, targeted fixes.

Tools:
All Search, Terminal, Edit & Reapply


Custom Instructions:
Thoroughly investigate issues by gathering extensive context before proposing targeted fixes

Custom Mode Setting

Cursor provides a powerful set of tools that you can use to customize your chat experience.

Tools

Learn about all the available tools that can be used in Chat.

Resources

Alongside the above list, there are also a number of community resources available with ideas and suggestions for custom modes that have proven effective for other users.

Playbooks.com

Explore a curated collection of custom modes submitted by the community!

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