Use a Complete Project as Template for New Projects

Feature Requests
1

Hello Cursor Team!

First of all, thank you for all the work you’re putting into Cursor. While I’ve seen a range of opinions in the community, I personally find it to be a very promising and helpful tool that already improves my workflow in many ways.

I’d like to propose a feature that I believe could save a lot of time and further streamline project setup:

:small_blue_diamond: Feature Idea: Use an Entire Existing Project Directory as Reference

Instead of referring to a “Cursor project” (since Cursor doesn’t generate its own project structure), the idea is to allow developers to point Cursor to a complete existing folder — one that was previously created with the same tech stack (e.g., Vue + Nuxt + Tailwind) and follows a specific personal or team workflow.

Here’s a use case that aligns with the examples below:

I’ve already set up a project folder where I carefully crafted a header, footer, typography setup, and component structure. In a new project with a similar layout, I’d love to simply tell Cursor: “Please analyze the header and footer structure from this directory (Project X), including all related components and styles, and build them the same way in this new context.”

:glowing_star: Benefits:

  • Save tons of setup time
  • Promote consistent design and structure across projects
  • Avoid repetitive work
  • Improve the onboarding experience for future projects or when reusing common patterns

This would be especially helpful for freelancers or small teams who often work on projects with similar layouts or branding.

To illustrate this more clearly, here are two example scenarios:

Example 1: Header and Footer reuse
I’ve already created around 10 one-pagers using Vue, Nuxt, and Tailwind for various clients. When starting a new project with a similar layout, it would be great to tell Cursor: “Please use Project 3 as a reference and build the header and footer the same way.” This could include components, styles, layout logic, etc.

Example 2: Filterable Image Gallery
Let’s say I’ve built a filterable image gallery on three previous websites using the same stack. Now a new client wants a similar gallery. I could point Cursor to one of those previous project folders and say: “Please find the filterable gallery in this project, identify all related files (components, styles, JS logic), and rebuild the same feature in the new project.”

I could imagine this working via a simple UI feature like:

“Reference existing folder as a template” Or via prompt, with a folder and context file provided: “Use the structure from this directory as reference. The project uses Vue/Nuxt/Tailwind and follows my preferred setup (see projectContext.md ). Please extract and recreate the header and footer (or gallery, etc.) accordingly in the new project.”

Thank you again for building such a valuable tool. I’m excited to see how Cursor evolves . :slightly_smiling_face:

All the best,
Soluna