When you toggle Agent Mode in the Composer, Cursor transforms from an editor into an autonomous coding agent. It follows a ReAct (Reasoning + Action) loop:
For experienced developers, YOLO Mode (Settings → Features) allows the agent to execute terminal commands without asking for approval. This eliminates the constant "Allow this command?" prompts but requires strong version control discipline.
Before diving into code, toggle Plan Mode (often via Shift+Tab in the Composer input). This forces the agent to research the codebase and create a detailed plan before writing any code — preventing wasted compute on wrong approaches.
The latest Cursor v3.6.31 (May 2026) marks a transition from AI-assisted editor to a unified agentic workspace:
| Feature | What's New |
|---|---|
| Parallel Agents | Run multiple agents simultaneously across different repos from the new Agents Window dashboard |
| Composer 2 | Enhanced multi-file architectural planning and code generation with improved diff visualization |
| Canvases (v3.1) | Interactive, durable side-panel artifacts — dashboards, charts, tables, and to-do lists that persist across sessions |
| /multitask | Break complex requests into chunks, delegating to a fleet of async subagents executing in parallel |
| CLI /debug | Root-cause analysis mode — generates hypotheses and auto-adds logging to identify bugs |
| Worktrees | Isolated task management across branches with multi-root workspace support |
| Cursor for JetBrains | Agent Client Protocol (ACP) enables Cursor's agentic core inside IntelliJ, PyCharm, and WebStorm |
| Cursor Marketplace | Plugin ecosystem from partners like Atlassian, Datadog, and GitLab |
| Cursor SDK | Programmatic agent access via npm install @cursor/sdk — build custom agents using Cursor's runtime and models |
| PR Reviews | Manage PRs from creation to merge inside the IDE — inline review threads, commit history, and changes tab |
| Cursor in Teams | Mention @Cursor in Microsoft Teams channels to delegate tasks to a cloud agent or retrieve repo information |
| Bugbot Effort | Configurable Default / High / Custom effort levels for automated reviews — transitioning to usage-based billing June 2026 |
| Mission Control | Dashboard to monitor multiple agent tasks simultaneously — view status, logs, and progress of all running agents in one place |
| Cloud Handoff (&) | Prefix a prompt with & to send long-running tasks to a cloud sandbox that persists after closing the IDE |
| Voice Mode | Native speech-to-code interface optimized for developer jargon — dictate prompts, navigate code, and trigger commands hands-free |
| /loop Skill | Run prompts on a repeating local schedule — e.g., check deployment status every 5 min, iterate until tests pass |
| Cloud Dev Environments (v3.4+) | Define Dockerfiles for cloud agent environments with pre-installed dependencies, secrets, and automatic repo cloning |
| Enhanced Agent Security | Auto-review classifier for Shell, MCP, and Fetch tool calls — flags risky operations before execution |