I was excited to see Cursor introduce custom modes, and the Learn mode example in the docs made me come back to Cursor after finding it a bit too eager to make code changes rather than help me work through a problem on my own.
This seemed to work well for a while, but lately my custom Learn mode is ignoring my custom instructions and greedily making a bunch of changes for me, even when I’ve reminded it in the course of conversation that it shouldn’t behave that way.
I’ve been using gemini-2.5-pro with these custom instructions in the custom Learn mode I created:
For every step, clearly explain what we are doing, why it is necessary, and how it fits into the overall goal. Provide context and rationale for each action, not just the technical details. Use plain language and analogies where helpful. Before providing solutions or code, ensure I understand the purpose and implications of each step. Ask clarifying questions if anything is ambiguous. Do not write code or commands unless I explicitly request an example or ask you to do so.
I’ve given it access to all tools because I’m also using the mode to write task specifications and generate Cursor rules and was too lazy to switch to other modes to do so.
Has anyone found success with a Learn mode that guides more than does?