Updating Cursor Settings

Modify Cursor/VSCode user settings. Use this when you want to change editor settings, preferences, configuration, themes, keybindings, or any settings.json values.

Settings File Location

| OS | Path | |----|------| | macOS | ~/Library/Application Support/Cursor/User/settings.json | | Linux | ~/.config/Cursor/User/settings.json | | Windows | %APPDATA%\Cursor\User\settings.json |

Before Modifying Settings

1. Read the existing settings file to understand current configuration
2. Preserve existing settings — only add/modify what the user requested
3. Validate JSON syntax before writing to avoid breaking the editor

Modifying Settings

Step 1: Read Current Settings

Read the settings file first to get current contents.

Step 2: Identify the Setting to Change

Common setting categories:

• Editor: editor.fontSize, editor.tabSize, editor.wordWrap, editor.formatOnSave
• Workbench: workbench.colorTheme, workbench.iconTheme, workbench.sideBar.location
• Files: files.autoSave, files.exclude, files.associations
• Terminal: terminal.integrated.fontSize, terminal.integrated.shell.*
• Cursor-specific: Settings prefixed with cursor. or aipopup.

Step 3: Update the Setting

1. Parse the existing JSON (handle comments — VSCode settings support JSON with comments)
2. Add or update the requested setting
3. Preserve all other existing settings
4. Write back with proper formatting (2-space indentation)

Important Notes

1. JSON with Comments: VSCode/Cursor settings.json supports comments (// and /* */). Preserve comments when possible.
2. Restart May Be Required: Some settings take effect immediately, others require reloading.
3. Workspace vs User Settings:

• User settings: Apply globally to all projects
• Workspace settings (.vscode/settings.json): Apply only to the current project

1. Commit Attribution: For CLI agent, modify ~/.cursor/cli-config.json. For IDE agent, it is controlled from Cursor Settings > Agent > Attribution.

Common User Requests → Settings

| User Request | Setting | |--------------|---------| | "bigger/smaller font" | editor.fontSize | | "change tab size" | editor.tabSize | | "format on save" | editor.formatOnSave | | "word wrap" | editor.wordWrap | | "change theme" | workbench.colorTheme | | "hide minimap" | editor.minimap.enabled | | "auto save" | files.autoSave | | "line numbers" | editor.lineNumbers | | "bracket matching" | editor.bracketPairColorization.enabled | | "smooth scrolling" | editor.smoothScrolling |

Workflow

1. Read the settings file
2. Parse the JSON content
3. Add/modify the requested setting(s)
4. Write the updated JSON back
5. Inform the user whether a reload is needed