How does cursor rules work? There are multiple entrypoints to set the rules

How To
1

I’m trying to understand how Cursor processes rules from the following entry points:

  • The “Rules for AI” section in Cursor settings
  • The .cursorrules file (read it is legacy now)
  • The .cursor/rules/ directory

Specifically, how does each influence AI responses? Do they override, combine, or conflict with one another? What’s the best way to use them effectively?

Any insights from the Cursor team would be much appreciated.

1 Like
2

+1 to this. It would be nice to have a good documented guide for this with examples for each type of language, framework, etc

3

I too would like guidance. I have set a number of rules and I don’t think it’s working.

4

+1 totally agree

do add it to the docs feedback so that it’s captured there too