title: "UI Tour" description: "Map of the Cursor editor and what's unique" section: "Cursor" readTime: "5 min" badge: "NEW"

Cursor: UI Tour

It looks like VS Code. It's not.

The Cursor Tab (Next-Edit Prediction)

Start typing. Multi-line ghost text appears based on your codebase context.

Press Tab to accept. Escape to dismiss.

This is Cursor's superpower — trained on millions of codebases to predict your next edit with stunning accuracy.

The Chat Panel (Ctrl+L)

Cursor's conversation center.

One place to manage:

Agent conversations
Plan Mode (plan before coding)
@-symbols for context injection
Model switching

The Agent/Composer Panel

Multi-file autonomous changes.

Workflow:

Describe the task
Cursor shows plan and file changes
Review diffs
Accept or edit

@-Symbols for Context

Start typing @ in Chat:

@codebase — Full indexed repo search
@file — Current file
@folder — Current folder
@web — Web search grounding
@docs — Pinned documentation
@git — Recent commit changes
@terminal — Terminal output

Pro tip: Pin important docs with @docs myframework.io for live context.

The Rules Sidebar

.cursor/rules/ configuration location.

Equivalent to CLAUDE.md in Claude Code.

Format:

---
name: "Style Rules"
description: "Team coding standards"
alwaysApply: true
globs: ["src/**/*.ts"]
---
 
# Always use TypeScript strict mode

Model Switcher

Click model name in Chat:

Claude 3.5 Sonnet (recommended)
Claude Opus
GPT-4
Gemini 3.1 Pro
Grok 4.20

Each model is context-aware and can read your whole codebase.

Codebase Indexing

When you first open a project, Cursor indexes your codebase (usually 30 sec - 2 min).

Green checkmark = Ready. Now @codebase searches work instantly.

Manual re-index: Press Ctrl+K → "Reindex codebase"

Plan Mode

When describing complex tasks, enable Plan Mode:

Chat panel → "Plan Mode"
Describe the task
Cursor generates structured plan
Review step-by-step
Execute or edit plan

Equivalent to claude -p in Claude Code.

Rules vs CLAUDE.md Comparison

Aspect	Cursor Rules	Claude Code CLAUDE.md
Location	`.cursor/rules/`	`.claude/CLAUDE.md`
Format	Markdown frontmatter	Markdown sections
Scope	Per-project	Per-project
Always-on	`alwaysApply: true`	Always
Reload	Automatic	On session start

Keyboard Shortcuts Quick Ref

Action	Shortcut
Chat	`Ctrl+L`
Inline Chat	`Ctrl+I`
Cursor Tab	`Tab` (when ghost text shows)
Command Bar	`Ctrl+K`
Quick Fix	`Ctrl+.`

Unique Features (vs VS Code + Copilot)

✨ Cursor Tab — Next-edit prediction native to editor
🎯 Plan Mode — Build before coding
🔍 Codebase Indexing — Instant semantic search
🎨 Full IDE Control — Cursor owns entire editor surface
⚡ Multi-Model Freedom — Switch between any LLM mid-session

Next: Jump to Quickstart to start your first task.