The Cursor workflow i use on every client project :
Step 1 : Drop the scaffold prompt
before writing a single line, generate the complete folder structure
all directories, all conventions, all naming rules
one prompt. everything in place before the code starts
Step 2 : Write the CLAUDE[.]md first
your stack, folder conventions, what goes where
what NOT to do is just as important as what to do
cursor reads this before every command. context is speed.
Step 3 : Schema before components
write the Prisma schema or Supabase types before touching the UI
UI built on top of a broken schema is wasted UI
this step alone has saved me 10+ hours per project
Step 4 : One feature per cursor session
open a session for auth. close it.
open one for dashboard. close it.
one context window = clean output. mixed context = hallucinated garbage
Step 5 : Review every file it touches
not because AI is bad
because you're shipping this for someone else and you need to understand it
one unread file has broken 3 of my projects. not doing that again.
Step 6 : Write the test before the feature
ask cursor to write the test case first
then build the feature that passes it
slower to write. faster to ship. no surprises at 2am.
50+ client MVPs shipped this way. It just works : )
Author replies:
@saen_dev @saen_dev this. the scaffold prompt saves hours of refactoring later. most people jump straight into features and then wonder why the codebase is a mess by week 2.