A quick history lesson that clears up the #1 naming confusion in Cursor: the multi-file editing panel originally called Composer evolved into today's Agent side pane (Ctrl+I). The name Composer now refers to something else entirely — Cursor's own frontier coding model family, currently Composer 2.5, purpose-built for fast agentic coding.
Unlike Ask mode (which explains) or Inline Edit (which modifies one file), the Agent can create, modify, and delete multiple files simultaneously based on natural language instructions — and run commands, search the web, and verify its own work.
Create a REST API endpoint for user authentication with: - POST /api/auth/login with JWT tokens - POST /api/auth/register with validation - Middleware for protected routes - Unit tests for all endpoints
The agent plans the change, writes the files, runs npm install jsonwebtoken, executes the tests, and fixes any failures. You review the diffs — Ctrl+Enter accepts all changes, Ctrl+Backspace rejects them.
Cursor automatically snapshots your workspace state as the agent works. If a change goes sideways, restore a checkpoint from the message timeline to roll the code back to any earlier point in the conversation — completely separate from Git, no commits required.
While the agent is mid-task, keep typing follow-ups: Enter queues your message to run next, while Ctrl+Enter interrupts and sends immediately.
git commit before large agent sessions. Version control remains your ultimate rollback for anything a checkpoint doesn't cover (like ignored files).