/cursor-delegate

name: cursor-delegate
description: >-
  Delegate a coding task to the Cursor Agent CLI (`cursor-agent`) as a background implementer, then
  review its diff and land it yourself. Use this whenever the user wants to hand implementation work
  to Cursor — phrasings like "have Cursor implement X", "delegate this to Cursor", "run it through
  Cursor Agent", or "use Cursor to implement/fix/refactor" — or wants to run a queue of coding tasks
  through Cursor while staying the reviewer. DO NOT USE for tasks small enough to do inline, or when
  the user wants the code written directly without delegating.
license: MIT
compatibility: Requires the `cursor-agent` CLI installed and authenticated, Node 18+, and git. The optional `--add-dir` flag requires cursor-agent 2026.07.23 or newer. The orchestrating agent must be able to run shell commands and read files. Shell examples assume bash/zsh (macOS/Linux, or Git Bash/WSL on Windows).
metadata:
  version: 0.5.0

Cursor Delegate

You are the **orchestrator**. Hand a bounded coding task to a separate **implementer** — the Cursor Agent CLI — then review what it produced and land it yourself. You write the brief and own the judgment; Cursor does the typing in its own session; you verify and commit.

The loop needs only a shell command and file access, so any comparable orchestrator can drive it.

When NOT to use this

• The task is small enough to do inline; delegation overhead is not worth it.
• The `cursor-agent` CLI is not installed or authenticated (run `cursor-agent login`).
• You want to write the code yourself, or you only need Cursor's opinion on code you wrote (a

`--read-only` dispatch covers that — see below — but a plain review may not need delegation at all).

Prerequisites (check once)

1. `cursor-agent --version` succeeds. If not, follow the installer for your platform at [cursor.com/cli](https://cursor.com/cli), inspect what it will run, and authenticate with `cursor-agent login`. 2. `cursor-agent status` shows you logged in. 3. You are in (or will point `--cd` at) the target git repository. The relay passes `--trust`, so point it only at repositories you trust.

Choose the model

Omitting `--model` uses your Cursor default (usually `auto` — Cursor picks). To pin one, pass `--model <name>` with a name from the account's live `cursor-agent models` output — select from that list rather than inventing a name. Parameterized forms like `<name>[context=1m,effort=high]` are forwarded as-is. The model that actually served the run is recorded as `resolvedModel` in `result.json`.

The loop

Run these five steps per task. Steps 1, 4, and 5 require judgment; 2 and 3 are mechanical.

1. Write the brief

Cursor sees only the text you send plus what it can inspect in the workspace — no chat history or shared context. Include the goal, current state, what to change, what to leave untouched, the project's **actual** gates, and a report contract. Tell Cursor not to commit. Keep one task per brief. See [references/writing-the-brief.md](references/writing-the-brief.md).

2. Dispatch

Use the bundled helper. It wraps `cursor-agent -p`, feeds the brief on stdin, captures the structured event stream, and writes `result.json`. (`<skill-dir>` is the installed folder containing this `SKILL.md`.)

node "<skill-dir>/scripts/relay.mjs" --brief brief.txt --cd /path/to/repo
# read-only (plan mode — review/diagnosis, no edits):  add --read-only
# write-capable without automatic command approval:   add --no-force
# explicitly override Cursor's sandbox for this run:  add --sandbox enabled|disabled
# pin a model from `cursor-agent models`:              add --model <name>
# resume the most recent session:                      add --resume-last  (delta brief only)
# resume a specific session:                           add --session <id> (delta brief only)
# hard time limit (watchdog):                          add --timeout 2h  (the 30m default suits short runs; implementation briefs routinely need 1-2h)
# see all options:                                     node .../relay.mjs --help

The child process's cwd pins the workspace. On Cursor `2026.07.23` or newer, use repeatable `--add-dir` flags only for extra workspace directories. The relay writes artifacts under the system temp dir by default and never commits. See [references/dispatch-and-poll.md](references/dispatch-and-poll.md).

3. Wait for completion

The helper blocks until Cursor finishes. Run it with the orchestrator's background-command facility, or background it in the shell and poll for `result.json`. A pre-run usage error exits 2 and writes no result; a missing `cursor-agent` exits 127 and writes `status: "cursor_agent_unavailable"`.

Trust process state and the working tree over a progress display. Completion means the process exited and `result.json` exists. Cursor's full report is the `finalMessage` field in `result.json` (also printed in full on stdout between the report markers).

**Windows + hooks caveat:** if the user has Cursor hooks configured (`~/.cursor/hooks.json`, or Claude Code `PreToolUse` hooks, which cursor-agent imports), dispatching from a Git Bash (MSYS) console makes cursor-agent feed PowerShell-syntax hook wrappers to bash, so every command Cursor tries to run is blocked — edits still land, gates do not run. Dispatch from a PowerShell or cmd console instead. Details: [references/dispatch-and-poll.md](references/dispatch-and-poll.md).

4. Review — do not trust the self-report

Treat Cursor's final message and gate claims as claims:

• Re-run the project's gates yourself.
• Read the diff against the brief, starting with `touchedFiles`.
• Run relevant guard skills if installed.
• Round-trip migrations and grep for dangling references after removals or renames.

See [references/review-and-land.md](references/review-and-land.md).

5. Land it

The implementer edits the working tree; **the orchestrator commits.** Commit only after the gate