Cursor AI Rules Framework

A comprehensive, evidence-first prompting framework designed to elevate AI agents from simple command executors to Autonomous Principal Engineers.

🎯 Philosophy

Autonomy through discipline. Trust through verification.

This framework enforces a rigorous workflow of reconnaissance, planning, safe execution, and self-improvement, ensuring every action is deliberate, verifiable, and aligned with senior engineering best practices.

📁 Framework Overview

Core Components

• GLOBAL-RULES.mdc - Main operational doctrine and protocols
• workflow/ - Planning and execution rules for development tasks
• docs/ - Context-aware documentation system (corporate vs startup)
• estensions/ - Specialized rules for specific domains

Documentation System

• Guidelines - Template base for creating feature-specific guidelines (corporate/startup contexts)
• Templates - Reusable starting points for features and tasks
• Active Work - Current development with feature-specific guidelines that extend and integrate with general guidelines
• Workflow Integration - Automated execution with safety protocols using integrated guidelines approach

🚀 Quick Start

1. Install the Core Doctrine

For Global Use (Recommended):

• Install GLOBAL-RULES.mdc as a global rule in your Cursor IDE
• This ensures all your projects benefit from this disciplined foundation

For Project-Specific Use:

• Place the content in a project-specific .cursor/rules/ directory
• This will override global settings for specific projects

2. Use the Operational Playbooks

These are chat prompts - copy and paste into chat to initiate tasks:

Playbook	Purpose	How to Use
02 - request.md	Standard Operating Procedure	Copy full content, replace placeholder with your goal, paste in chat
03 - refresh.md	Root Cause Analysis	Use when bugs persist and simpler attempts failed
04 - retro.md	Self-Improvement Loop	Use at end of session to capture learnings and improve the framework

3. Apply Optional Directives

These are user rules - install in Cursor settings or append to playbooks:

Directive	Type	Function	How to Use
05 - concise.md	User Rule	Radically concise communication	Install as global rule or append to playbooks
06 - no-absolute-right.md	User Rule	Professional communication guidelines	Install as global rule to avoid sycophantic language

📁 Framework Components

Core Files

• GLOBAL-RULES.mdc - Main framework documentation and operational doctrine
• workflow/plan.md - Planning phase protocols
• workflow/execute.md - Execution phase protocols

Specialized Extensions

These are user rules - install in Cursor settings for specific domains:

Extension File	Type	Function	When to Use
07 - notebook-management.md	User Rule	Jupyter notebook protocols	When working with Jupyter notebooks
08 - notebook-testing.md	User Rule	Notebook testing patterns	For notebook testing workflows
09 - notebook-analytics.md	User Rule	Analytics workflows	For data analysis projects
10 - pinescript-management.md	User Rule	Pine Script development	When developing TradingView indicators
11 - pinescript-advanced.md	User Rule	Advanced Pine Script patterns	For complex Pine Script implementations

Legacy Files

Historical versions available in OLD/ directory:

• 00 - Cursor AI Prompting Rules.md - Original framework documentation
• 01 - core.md - Legacy core operational doctrine
• 02 - request.md - Legacy standard operating procedure template
• 03 - refresh.md - Legacy root cause analysis template
• 04 - retro.md - Legacy self-improvement loop template
• 05 - concise.md - Legacy concise communication rules
• 06 - no-absolute-right.md - Legacy professional communication guidelines
• commits.mdc - Commit message guidelines

🔧 How to Use

Installation Types

1. Core Doctrine (Required):

• Install GLOBAL-RULES.mdc as a global rule in Cursor
• This provides the foundational operational principles and all protocols

2. Workflow Extensions (Optional):

• workflow/plan.md - Enhanced planning phase protocols with integrated standards approach
• workflow/execute.md - Enhanced execution phase protocols with integrated standards approach

3. Specialized Extensions (Install in Cursor Settings):

• 07-11 - Domain-specific rules (notebooks, Pine Script, etc.)
• Install based on your development needs

4. Legacy Playbooks (Historical):

• Available in OLD/ directory for reference
• 02 - request.md - Legacy standard development tasks
• 03 - refresh.md - Legacy debugging persistent issues
• 04 - retro.md - Legacy session reflection and improvement

Typical Session Workflow

1. Install Core Framework:

   • Install GLOBAL-RULES.mdc as a global rule in Cursor
   • Optionally install specialized extensions from estensions/ directory
   • Framework automatically activates all protocols

2. Observe Disciplined Execution:

   • Agent announces operational phase (Reconnaissance, Planning, etc.)
   • Performs non-destructive research first
   • Executes plan with verifiable evidence
   • Runs tests autonomously
   • Concludes with mandatory self-audit

3. Review Final Report:

   • Agent provides summary with status markers
   • All evidence transparently available in chat log
   • Workspace left clean

4. Continuous Improvement:

   • Framework includes built-in self-improvement protocols
   • Agent analyzes session and proposes Doctrine updates
   • Continuous learning and evolution

🎯 Status Markers

The framework uses clear status indicators:

• ✅ - Objective completed successfully
• ⚠️ - Recoverable issue encountered and fixed autonomously
• 🚧 - Blocked; awaiting input or resource

🧠 Core Principles

1. Research-First, Always - Never act on assumption
2. Extreme Ownership - Own end-to-end system health
3. Autonomous Problem-Solving - Self-sufficient operation
4. Unyielding Precision & Safety - Respect operational environment
5. Metacognitive Self-Improvement - Continuous learning and evolution

🔗 MCP Server Integration

The framework includes protocols for leveraging Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers:

• Automatic Detection - MCP servers globally configured
• Context-Aware Selection - Based on technology stack and requirements
• Knowledge Synthesis - Combine insights from multiple sources
• Template Application - Use MCP-provided best practices

📋 Cursor Plan Mode Compatibility

Plan Mode (Shift+Tab) is fully compatible:

• Generated plans follow Phase 0-5 structure
• Enhanced communication with structured overviews
• All operational protocols remain unchanged
• MCP server integration preserved

🤝 Contributing

This framework is designed for community use and improvement. Contributions are welcome for:

• New specialized rule files
• Framework enhancements
• Documentation improvements
• Bug fixes and optimizations

🙏 Credits & Attribution

This framework is inspired by and adapted from the original work of aashari. We thank the author for sharing their valuable insights and structures, which provided a solid foundation for developing this enhanced framework.

Key modifications and enhancements:

• Expanded operational doctrine with additional protocols
• Added specialized rules for notebooks, Pine Script, and analytics
• Integrated MCP server support protocols
• Enhanced communication guidelines and conciseness directives
• Added comprehensive documentation and usage examples
• Integrated guidelines approach - Feature-specific guidelines extend and integrate with general guidelines for complete coverage

📄 License

This framework is provided as-is for educational and professional use. Please respect the operational principles and maintain the disciplined approach that makes this framework effective.

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Welcome to a more disciplined, reliable, and truly autonomous way of working with AI.

Updated: 2025-10-14