Add support for Cursor

[Melissari1997]

Reason or Problem

The xarray-spatial project currently maintains command definitions for Claude Code (.claude/commands/), Codex (.codex/commands/), and Kilo (.kilo/command/) to support AI-assisted development workflows. However, there is no equivalent support for Cursor, a popular AI-powered IDE.

Contributors who use Cursor cannot leverage the project's established automated workflows (sweeps, releases, PR reviews, validations, etc.) because Cursor looks for rules/commands in a .cursor/ directory, which does not exist.

Proposal

Add a .cursor/ directory containing Cursor-compatible command/rule definitions. These mirror the existing Claude/Codex/Kilo commands but are formatted for Cursor's agent system, enabling Cursor users to run the same automated workflows.

Design:

Cursor loads custom instructions and rules from .cursor/rules/ (.mdc files) and agent instructions from .cursorrules at the repository root. The implementation would add:

1. A .cursorrules file at the repo root with project-wide context (architecture, conventions, AI policy)
2. A .cursor/rules/ directory with .mdc rule files corresponding to existing commands:

Rule	Purpose
backend-parity.mdc	Check backend implementation parity
bench.mdc	Run and analyze benchmarks
deep-sweep.mdc	Comprehensive code sweep
new-issues.mdc	Process and triage new GitHub issues
ready-to-merge.mdc	Validate PR readiness for merge
release-major.mdc	Execute major release workflow
release-minor.mdc	Execute minor release workflow
release-patch.mdc	Execute patch release workflow
review-contributor-pr.mdc	Review external contributor PRs
review-pr.mdc	General PR review
sweep-accuracy.mdc	Sweep for numerical accuracy issues
sweep-api-consistency.mdc	Sweep for API consistency
sweep-metadata.mdc	Sweep for metadata correctness
sweep-performance.mdc	Sweep for performance bottlenecks
sweep-security.mdc	Sweep for security vulnerabilities
sweep-style.mdc	Sweep for code style issues
sweep-test-coverage.mdc	Sweep for test coverage gaps
validate.mdc	Validate code and documentation

No changes are made to existing .claude/, .codex/, .kilo/, or any source code. This is purely additive.

Usage:

1. Open the xarray-spatial repository in Cursor
2. Cursor automatically picks up .cursorrules for project context
3. Rules in .cursor/rules/ are available via Cursor's rule system (triggered by file context or manual invocation)
4. Contributors can use Cursor's Agent mode to run workflows like /sweep-security, /review-pr, etc.

Value:

• Broader tool support: Cursor is one of the most widely adopted AI IDEs; contributors using it gain access to the same automated workflows
• Consistency: All four AI tools (Claude, Codex, Kilo, Cursor) share equivalent command coverage
• Zero risk: Purely additive change; no existing tooling or code is modified
• Contributor experience: Lowers barrier for Cursor users to contribute effectively

Stakeholders and Impacts

Stakeholders:

• Core maintainers who use Cursor for day-to-day development
• External contributors who prefer Cursor over other AI coding tools
• CI/CD pipeline (no impact; rules are developer-side only)

Impact:

• Minimal: adds one directory (.cursor/) with rule files and a .cursorrules file
• No impact on source code, tests, documentation build, or CI pipelines
• No runtime or packaging impact (.cursor/ is excluded from distributions)

Drawbacks

• Maintenance overhead: When commands are updated in .claude/commands/, the corresponding Cursor rules should also be updated to stay in sync
• Directory proliferation: The repository will contain four parallel command directories, which may feel redundant

Alternatives

1. Do nothing: Cursor users would not have access to automated workflows and would need to manually follow procedures or switch tools
2. Shared command format: Investigate whether all four tools can share a single definition format (ideal but requires upstream changes)
3. Generate from single source: Build a script to generate Cursor rules from the Claude command definitions (adds complexity)

Unresolved Questions

• Should a CI check be added to verify that .cursor/rules/ stays in sync with .claude/commands/?
• What is the optimal Cursor rule format (.mdc vs plain .md) for this project's workflows?
• Should .cursorrules include the full AI policy reference or just a pointer to AI_POLICY.md?

Additional Notes or Context

• Cursor documentation: https://docs.cursor.com
• This proposal mirrors the pattern already established for .claude/commands/, .codex/commands/, and .kilo/command/
• See related issue Add support for Kilo code #3002 (Add support for Kilo code)

[Melissari1997]

[Human] @brendancol I added support also for Cursor
I was wondering if there is a way to define generic commands and then reuse them for each AI Agents, but found nothing