Effective Cursor AI Usage: Best Practices for Large React Projects with Proper Context Management

Posted by u/Still_Lifeguard_222511 months agoCurated from Reddit

Project Information

Project Type
Large
Type of Project
Frontend Web Development
Problem Type
AI-Assisted Development Workflow Optimization

Tags

react
ai-assisted-development
documentation
best-practices
monorepo
cursor-ai
workflow-optimization
context-management

AI Models Mentioned

Claude 3.5 Sonnet
Code generation and analysis
Cursor AI
IDE-integrated code generation and assistance

Summary

A developer shares their successful experience using Cursor AI in a large React monorepo, emphasizing the importance of proper context and documentation. The post details a systematic approach to working with Cursor, including custom rules, documentation practices, and interaction patterns that enable the AI to handle 95% of coding tasks effectively.

Prompt

Create a comprehensive .cursorrules configuration for a React monorepo that includes:

1. Technical stack details:
- React framework specifics
- Code style preferences
- Folder structure conventions

2. Documentation requirements:
- File-level documentation format
- Feature requirement documentation structure
- TODO comment conventions

3. Development workflow preferences:
- Code generation approach
- Testing requirements
- Error handling conventions

Please provide the configuration in a format that can be directly used in a .cursorrules file, with explanatory comments for each section.

Best Practices

Comprehensive Feature Documentation

critical

Create markdown files for each large feature with functional requirements before implementation

Interactive Requirement Gathering

important

Prompt AI to ask questions and engage in dialogue to flesh out requirements

File-Level Documentation

important

Add explanatory comments at the top of each file describing its purpose and key decisions

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Avoid Over-Engineering

critical

Don't let Cursor implement complex solutions by default without proper planning

Don't Skip Context Setup

critical

Avoid using Cursor without proper context and rules configuration

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