## Purpose This guide provides a concise, hands-on approach to building full-stack web applications by leveraging Cursor's AI capabilities through effective prompting. It focuses on the art of prompting to scaffold, explain, refactor, and ship features, with theory introduced only as needed. ## Quick Overview Audience: BS students, interns, junior developers (0–12 months) with basic programming knowledge. Pedagogy: Prompt → run → learn. Each lesson starts with a Cursor prompt, followed by a brief explanation of its function. Format: Focuses on exact Cursor prompts, expected outputs, and key takeaways. ## Key Principles Cursor-first: Every major task begins with a Cursor prompt to generate runnable code. Just-in-time theory: Concepts are explained only when directly relevant to a practical task. Small increments: Features are built module-by-module, with emphasis on iterative prompting. Prompt literacy: Develop the skill of writing, tuning, and reusing effective prompts for AI-augmented development. ## Table of Contents 1. Preface & Learning Plan (Cursor Workflow) 2. Quick Start: Run Your First Cursor Prompt (20 min lab) 3. Fundamentals (just-in-time) — learned through Cursor tasks 4. Cursor & the Vibe-Coding Ecosystem (Deep Dive + Patterns) 5. Project Planning with Cursor (MVP → Sprints; Prompt Templates) 6. Frontend Work with Cursor (React / Next.js / Tailwind Components) 7. Backend via Cursor (Express & Laravel Scaffolding and Endpoints) 8. Databases with Cursor (Migrations, Seeders, Connection Prompts) 9. Auth & Security (Implement via Cursor plus Checklist) 10. Git & Branching with Cursor-Assisted Commits and PR Generation 11. Testing & CI (Cursor Writes Tests + GitHub Actions Templates) 12. Deployment Patterns with Cursor (Vercel, cPanel, GitHub Action Deploys) 13. Adding AI Features (Cursor Scaffolds Chat API, Embeddings, Rerank) 14. Projects (guided builds: from simple → capstone, all Cursor-driven) 15. Appendix: Prompt Library, Templates, Code Snippets, Checklist, Glossary ## 1. Preface & Learning Plan (Cursor Workflow) This guide emphasizes prompt literacy – the skill of crafting, tuning, and reusing effective prompts. Each lesson begins with a practical task accomplished by providing a precise prompt to Cursor. You will learn by inspecting, understanding, and refining the AI-generated code, with theory introduced just-in-time. ## 2. Quick Start: Run Your First Cursor Prompt (20 min lab) Learning Objective: Understand how to write and execute a simple AI prompt in Cursor and verify the generated code. Prompt Example: ` Generate a simple HTML5 file with a title of "My First Cursor App" and a single

tag inside the body that says "Hello, Cursor World!". ` Expected Output: A basic HTML file with the specified title and

tag. Key Takeaway: Cursor translates natural language prompts into functional code, demonstrating code generation and scaffolding. ## 3. Fundamentals (just-in-time) — learned through Cursor tasks Task: Create a webpage that greets the user with a personalized message based on the current time of day using JavaScript. Prompt Example (HTML setup): ` Generate a basic HTML5 file with a title "Dynamic Greeting" and an empty script tag in the body. ` Prompt Example (JavaScript generation): ` Write JavaScript code to get the current hour of the day. Based on the hour, display a greeting in an h1 tag: "Good morning!" if the hour is before 12, "Good afternoon!" if the hour is between 12 and 18, and "Good evening!" otherwise. The h1 tag should be dynamically added to the body of the page. ` Key Takeaway: Cursor can generate dynamic JavaScript code to manipulate the DOM, making web pages interactive. Theory is introduced as needed (e.g., JavaScript basics, DOM manipulation). ## 4. Cursor & the Vibe-Coding Ecosystem (Deep Dive + Patterns) Key Concept: Vibe-coding is a development paradigm where AI tools augment developer intuition for rapid prototyping and efficient coding. Cursor is central to this by integrating AI directly into the editing experience. Prompting for Code Explanation: ` Explain this React component in simple terms, focusing on its purpose, props, and state management: [Insert React component code here] ` Prompting for Code Refactoring: ` Refactor this JavaScript function to be more readable and efficient, using modern ES6+ syntax: [Insert JavaScript function code here] ` Key Takeaway: Cursor facilitates a "vibe-coding" workflow by providing instant explanations and refactoring suggestions, enhancing developer productivity and understanding. ## 5. Project Planning with Cursor (MVP → Sprints; Prompt Templates) Key Concept: Cursor can assist in project planning by generating user stories, defining MVP features, and creating prompt templates for consistent development. Prompt Example (User Story Generation): ` Generate 5 user stories for an e-commerce application, focusing on the user authentication and product browsing features. ` Prompt Example (MVP Feature Definition): ` Define the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) features for a social media application, including core functionalities like user profiles, posting, and following. ` Prompt Example (Prompt Template Creation): ` Create a prompt template for generating a new React component, including placeholders for component name, props, and a brief description of its purpose. ` Key Takeaway: Leverage Cursor to streamline the initial phases of project planning, ensuring a clear roadmap and consistent development approach through well-defined prompts. ## 6. Frontend Work with Cursor (React / Next.js / Tailwind Components) Key Concept: Cursor can rapidly scaffold frontend components and integrate styling frameworks like Tailwind CSS. Prompt Example (React Component with Tailwind): ` Generate a responsive React Card component with a title, description, and an image placeholder. Use Tailwind CSS for styling and ensure it's mobile-first. ` Prompt Example (Next.js API Route): ` Create a Next.js API route at /api/products that returns a list of sample product data in JSON format. ` Prompt Example (Tailwind CSS Configuration): ` Configure Tailwind CSS to include custom colors (primary, secondary) and a custom font family (Inter). ` Key Takeaway: Use Cursor to quickly generate boilerplate code for frontend components, API routes, and styling configurations, allowing developers to focus on logic and unique features. ## 7. Backend via Cursor (Express & Laravel Scaffolding and Endpoints) Key Concept: Cursor can scaffold backend applications, define API endpoints, and integrate with databases. Prompt Example (Express.js API Endpoint): ` Create an Express.js route for /api/users that handles GET (list all users) and POST (create new user) requests. Include basic request body validation. ` Prompt Example (Laravel Controller and Route): ` Generate a Laravel controller ProductController with methods for index, show, store, update, and destroy. Define corresponding API routes for these methods. ` Key Takeaway: Automate the creation of backend boilerplate, API routes, and basic validation using Cursor, accelerating backend development. ## 8. Databases with Cursor (Migrations, Seeders, Connection Prompts) Key Concept: Cursor can assist in database schema definition, migration generation, and data seeding. Prompt Example (Mongoose Schema): ` Generate a Mongoose schema for a Product with fields for name (string, required), description (string), price (number, required), and category (string). ` Prompt Example (Laravel Migration): ` Create a Laravel migration to add a products table with columns: id (primary key), name (string), description (text, nullable), price (decimal), and timestamps. ` Prompt Example (Database Connection String): ` Provide a MongoDB connection string for a local database named my_app_db. ` Key Takeaway: Use Cursor to quickly generate database-related code, reducing manual effort and ensuring consistency in schema definitions and migrations. ## 9. Auth & Security (Implement via Cursor plus Checklist) Key Concept: Cursor can help implement authentication and authorization flows, and generate security checklists. Prompt Example (User Registration Endpoint): ` Create an Express.js endpoint for user registration with email and password, including password hashing using bcrypt. ` Prompt Example (JWT Authentication Middleware): ` Generate a JWT authentication middleware for Node.js that verifies a token from the Authorization header and attaches the user to the request object. ` Prompt Example (Security Checklist): ` Generate a checklist for securing a Node.js Express application, covering topics like input validation, dependency vulnerabilities, and secure header configuration. ` Key Takeaway: Leverage Cursor to scaffold secure authentication mechanisms and generate comprehensive security checklists, ensuring robust application security. ## 10. Git & Branching with Cursor-Assisted Commits and PR Generation Key Concept: Cursor can assist with Git operations, including generating commit messages and drafting pull request descriptions. Prompt Example (Commit Message Generation): ` Generate a concise Git commit message for the following changes: [List of changes or diff here] ` Prompt Example (Pull Request Description): ` Draft a pull request description for a feature branch named feature/user-profile, summarizing the changes, listing new features, and outlining testing steps. ` Key Takeaway: Streamline your Git workflow by using Cursor to generate clear and informative commit messages and pull request descriptions, improving collaboration and code review processes. ## 11. Testing & CI (Cursor Writes Tests + GitHub Actions Templates) Key Concept: Cursor can generate unit, integration, and end-to-end tests, and help create CI/CD pipeline configurations. Prompt Example (Unit Test Generation): ` Write unit tests for the following JavaScript function using Jest: [Insert JavaScript function code here] ` Prompt Example (GitHub Actions Workflow): ` Generate a GitHub Actions workflow to build and test a Node.js application on push and pull request events. ` Key Takeaway: Automate test generation and CI/CD setup with Cursor, ensuring code quality and efficient deployment pipelines. ## 12. Deployment Patterns with Cursor (Vercel, cPanel, GitHub Action Deploys) Key Concept: Cursor can provide guidance and configuration snippets for deploying applications to various platforms. Prompt Example (Vercel Deployment Configuration): ` Generate a vercel.json configuration file for a Next.js application that includes environment variables and a custom domain setup. ` Prompt Example (cPanel Deployment Steps): ` Outline the steps to manually deploy a simple PHP application to a cPanel shared hosting environment. ` Prompt Example (GitHub Actions for Deployment): ` Create a GitHub Actions workflow to deploy a React application to GitHub Pages on every push to the main branch. ` Key Takeaway: Use Cursor to get quick configurations and step-by-step instructions for deploying your web applications to different hosting environments. ## 13. Adding AI Features (Cursor Scaffolds Chat API, Embeddings, Rerank) Key Concept: Cursor can help integrate AI functionalities like chat APIs, embeddings, and reranking into your applications. Prompt Example (Chatbot API Endpoint): ` Generate a Python Flask endpoint /api/chatbot that takes a user message and returns a simple AI-generated response using a placeholder language model. ` Prompt Example (Text Embedding Function): ` Write a JavaScript function that takes a string of text and generates a numerical embedding using a hypothetical getEmbedding API call. ` Key Takeaway: Explore how Cursor can assist in building AI-powered features, enabling you to experiment with and integrate advanced AI capabilities into your projects. ## 14. Projects (guided builds: from simple → capstone, all Cursor-driven) Key Concept: This section outlines guided projects, from simple to capstone, all driven by Cursor prompts. Project 1: Simple Todo Application - Prompt: "Generate a simple React Todo application with add, delete, and toggle completion functionalities. Use local storage for persistence." - Focus: Basic component generation, state management, and local data persistence. Project 2: Blog Platform (MERN Stack) - Prompt: "Scaffold a MERN stack blog platform. Include user authentication (registration, login), post creation, and viewing. Users should be able to create, edit, and delete their own posts." - Focus: Full-stack integration, API development, database interaction, and authentication. Project 3: E-commerce Store (Next.js & Stripe) - Prompt: "Build an e-commerce storefront using Next.js. Implement product listing, a shopping cart, and integrate with Stripe for payment processing. Products should be fetched from a mock API." - Focus: Advanced frontend features, external API integration, and payment gateway implementation. Key Takeaway: These projects demonstrate how to build complete applications using a Cursor-first approach, applying all the prompting techniques learned throughout the guide. ## 15. Appendix: Prompt Library, Templates, Code Snippets, Checklist, Glossary This appendix provides a curated collection of Cursor prompts and essential resources to accelerate your full-stack development journey. ### 15.1. Cursor Prompt Library (Examples) Project Setup: - React App: Create a modern React application with Vite, Tailwind CSS, React Router, and TypeScript. - Express Backend: Build an Express.js backend with MongoDB (Mongoose), JWT auth, and error handling. - Full-Stack Structure: Design a monorepo full-stack project with Docker and CI/CD. Component Development: - React Component: Generate a responsive React component [ComponentName] with props and unit tests. - Custom Hook: Develop a custom React hook for [specific functionality] with error handling and cleanup. - API Integration Hook: Create a custom hook for API integration with loading, error, and caching. Backend Development: - Mongoose Schema: Design a Mongoose schema for [ModelName] with validation and indexing. - API Controller: Create an API controller for [ResourceName] with CRUD operations and pagination. - Authentication System: Implement a complete JWT authentication system with registration, login, and password reset. Testing & QA: - Test Suite: Generate a comprehensive test suite for [ComponentName/ServiceName] including unit, integration, and E2E tests. - Performance Optimization: Analyze and optimize performance of [ApplicationName] by identifying bottlenecks and suggesting solutions. ### 15.2. Development Checklists (Examples) Pre-Development: - Define project requirements and scope. - Set up development environment and version control. Development Phase: - Implement routing and state management (frontend). - Create RESTful API endpoints and implement authentication (backend). Pre-Deployment: - Validate all user inputs and configure HTTPS. - Optimize database queries and frontend bundle size. ### 15.3. Troubleshooting Guide (Examples) Frontend Issues: - Problem: React component not re-rendering. Solution: Check props, keys, and useEffect dependencies. - Problem: CORS errors. Solution: Configure CORS on backend, check headers. Backend Issues: - Problem: MongoDB connection timeouts. Solution: Check connection string, network, and retry logic. - Problem: Slow database queries. Solution: Add indexes, optimize queries. ### 15.4. Glossary of Terms (Examples) - API: Application Programming Interface. - CORS: Cross-Origin Resource Sharing. - JWT: JSON Web Token. - ORM/ODM: Object-Relational/Document Mapping. Key Takeaway: This appendix serves as a quick reference for common Cursor prompts and development best practices, enabling efficient and effective AI-augmented development.