Improve MDC Rule File Change Management

Feature Requests
1

Problem Statement

When Cursor’s AI composer makes changes to .mdc rule files:

  • Changes frequently vanish without warning
  • Requires closing Cursor completely to save changes
  • Forces “Override” on “Unsaved Changes” popup
  • Needs app restart to see changes take effect

Proposed Solution

Change Management

  1. Live Change Preview
    • Show diff view when AI suggests rule changes
    • Allow review before applying changes
    - original rule content
+ proposed AI changes
  2. Atomic Save System
    • Save changes without requiring app restart
    • Preserve change history for rollback
    save_system:
  atomic_writes: true
  backup: previous_version
  reload_without_restart: true

User Impact

“Having to close and reopen Cursor every time the AI updates a rule file breaks workflow and risks losing changes”

References:

  1. [Bug Report: Issues with saving .mdc rule files](https://forum.cursor.com/
    My Best Practices for MDC rules and troubleshooting
1 Like
2

Thanks for the detailed proposal on improving rule file management! I’ve shared this with our team since it highlights some key pain points around the current workflow

While we don’t have specific docs on .mdc files yet, you might find our general rules documentation helpful in the meantime: Cursor – Rules for AI

The live preview and atomic save suggestions are particularly interesting!