Using agent capabilities to simulate strategic options

Discussion
1

One of the most frustrating qualities of an agent is that it’s got an extreme bias towards immediate action, which can tend to create a lot of chaotic changes and poor choices. One of the neat things an agent can do is simulate possible outcomes before making a choice.

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This simulation capability is probably something Cursor can dig into with an official feature, making it much more powerful & intentional. In the meantime, I hope those of you who don’t know you can do this find it useful.

The next step is to ask the agent to map out the interactions and draft a refactor.md plan with code samples. You can then use that plan to keep the agent on scope and within a tightly maintained context.

But simulation is awesome. When you pair it with simulate.md documentation you can iterate like you would on an image in Midjourney until you get the right plan in place.

Happy prompting!

1 Like
2

Great suggestion - I’ll add the simulation concept to my repertoire.

What I have Claude do is use typescript interfaces and types to store features/paths/notes especially early in the project. I’ll also ask it to make databases earlier in the project and add to my cursorignore. Then when I need to, I’ll refer to the baseline database + types/interfaces doc to get Claude back up to speed.

It naturally works since interfaces and types are intuitively just that to Claude - a way to express context of potential requests (interfaces) and potential paths/actions to take (types).

What’s nice about this is if you plan with the agent before project starts, these can go straight into your code and Claude has no trouble tweaking them even as context starts to swell

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That’s interesting.

Claude is XML oriented so it craves structure. Your approach tracks. Try using XML and I bet you’ll get an even better result. I largely maintain human readable .md files and have the AI convert updates into its own .json index

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This is great, I’ve been working non-stop to figure out how to best wrangle my agents…

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currently building out my own composer logger to Postgres… It was working well, then broke, worked, broke, scope_creep, works, breaks, scop_creep, SHINY_OBJECT_FEATURE, breaks… Rinse Repeat…

But I am really learning a lot about how to manipulate Cursor environment.

I use this method a lot - for context hand_off from agent to agent:

Cursor Timeline Manager - Development Handoff

Project Overview

The Cursor Timeline Manager is a PowerShell-based tool for managing and visualizing Cursor IDE’s history data. It connects to both SQLite (local storage) and PostgreSQL (remote storage) databases.

Current State

Working Features

  1. Basic UI framework with:

    • Persistent status header showing database connections
    • Menu-based navigation
    • Timeline view with filtering options
    • Search interface (placeholder)
    • Data management options
    • Log viewer

  2. Test data implementation showing:

    • Chat entries (:speech_balloon:)
    • Editor entries (:memo:)
    • Basic filtering by time and type

Known Issues

  1. Critical: SQLite data reading not working

    • Database found at: %APPDATA%/Cursor/User/workspaceStorage/*/state.vscdb
    • Table name is ItemTable with schema: key TEXT UNIQUE ON CONFLICT REPLACE, value BLOB
    • Current error: Cannot handle binary data format
    • Values are stored as byte arrays, not strings

  2. Pending: PostgreSQL integration

    • Basic configuration structure in place
    • Connection testing implemented
    • Actual data migration not yet implemented

Technical Details

Database Structure

  1. SQLite:

    CREATE TABLE ItemTable (
    key TEXT UNIQUE ON CONFLICT REPLACE,
    value BLOB
);
    • Keys follow patterns:
      • Chat: chat.*
      • Editor: workbench.*
    • Values are binary BLOB data containing JSON

  2. PostgreSQL (Planned):

    CREATE TABLE cursor_history (
    id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
    type TEXT NOT NULL,
    timestamp TIMESTAMP NOT NULL,
    key TEXT NOT NULL,
    value JSONB NOT NULL
);

Core Files

  1. src/core/Initialize-Environment.ps1:

    • Environment setup
    • Database connection management
    • Configuration loading

  2. src/core/Get-CursorHistory.ps1:

    • Currently using test data
    • Needs update to handle binary SQLite data
    • Implements filtering and data processing

  3. src/ui/Show-Dashboard.ps1:

    • Main UI implementation
    • Status header
    • Menu system
    • Timeline view

Next Steps

  1. Fix SQLite data reading:

    • Update Get-CursorHistory to properly handle BLOB data
    • Implement proper UTF-8 decoding
    • Add error handling for malformed data

  2. Implement data migration:

    • Add schema validation
    • Implement incremental updates
    • Add conflict resolution

  3. Add real-time updates:

    • Monitor SQLite for changes
    • Implement refresh mechanism
    • Add notification system

Environment Setup

  1. Required PowerShell modules:

    • PSSQLite (>= 1.1.0)
    • Npgsql (for PostgreSQL)

  2. Environment variables:

    DB_HOST=localhost
DB_PORT=5432
DB_NAME=cursor
DB_SCHEMA=public
DB_USER=cursor
DB_PASS=your_password

Testing Notes

  1. Current test data structure:

    [PSCustomObject]@{
    Type = 'chat'|'editor'
    Timestamp = Get-Date
    Key = 'chat.history'|'workbench.editor'
    Value = 'Test message'
    Data = $null
}

  2. SQLite test query:

    SELECT key, value FROM ItemTable
WHERE key LIKE 'chat%' OR key LIKE 'workbench%'
ORDER BY key DESC;

Known Limitations

  1. SQLite binary data handling
  2. No real-time updates
  3. Limited error recovery
  4. Missing data validation
  5. No data compression
  6. Limited search capabilities

Future Enhancements

  1. Real-time monitoring
  2. Advanced search
  3. Data compression
  4. Backup management
  5. Performance optimization
  6. Multi-workspace support

Contact

  • Project maintainer: Current agent
  • Last update: January 5, 2024
  • Status: In development