Migrating from VS Code to Cursor: A Transition Guide

Cursor is a fork of VS Code, so the technical migration takes minutes. What actually requires planning is changing your work habits around AI.

Why the technical migration is nearly trivial

Cursor is built on the same engine as VS Code (Chromium + Node.js, with the same Open VSX / Marketplace-compatible extension system). This means your settings.json, your keybindings, your themes, and most of your extensions work without changes. It's not a rewrite of your environment; it's adding an AI layer on top of the base you already know.

Step 1: import your existing configuration

When you install Cursor for the first time, the welcome wizard offers to import configuration directly from VS Code (extensions, themes, keybindings). If you skipped it or want to do it manually:

Step 2: which extensions migrate and which don't

The vast majority of VS Code Marketplace extensions work the same in Cursor (linters, formatters, themes, language support). The exceptions are AI extensions that directly compete with Cursor's native features — Copilot, for example, can technically be installed but generates UI conflicts with Cursor's native Tab autocomplete, so there's no point running both at once. Uninstall any previous AI assistant before you start using Cursor seriously, to avoid duplicate or conflicting suggestions.

Step 3: review privacy settings before opening your first repo

Before opening code with sensitive or client intellectual property, review Settings > Privacy:

This step matters more than any productivity setting. If you work under NDA with clients, confirm with your legal/security team that Cursor's privacy mode satisfies the contractual terms before indexing the repository.

Step 4: don't migrate your Copilot habits one-to-one

The most common mistake when migrating is treating Cursor as "Copilot with another name" and using only Tab autocomplete, ignoring Composer and the chat with full-repo context. That leaves most of Cursor's value unused. In your first week, force deliberate use of:

- Cmd/Ctrl + L to ask questions about existing code, instead of searching manually. - Cmd/Ctrl + I (Composer) for the first refactor that touches more than two files. - Setting up at least one rule in .cursor/rules/ before the week is over, even a basic one.

Step 5: configure the project, not just the editor

If the repo doesn't have .cursor/rules/ or .cursorignore, that's your first commit as part of the migration, not a task "for later":

If you're migrating a full team, coordinate this step before everyone starts actively using Composer — without rules or an ignore file, the first refactors will touch files they shouldn't and index content that shouldn't leave the local machine.

A realistic learning curve

For a developer who already used Copilot, the adaptation curve to Cursor is days, not weeks — the autocomplete mechanics are familiar. The real curve is learning to delegate full refactors to Composer with confidence (without over-reviewing every line out of fear, nor blindly trusting it either) and writing effective project rules. Give the team one or two weeks of active use before measuring whether the migration was worth it; the first couple of days almost always underestimate the real impact of the agentic features.