1 min lesson
All three are Markdown; they just sit at different levels of autonomy
Use two rows in "All three are Markdown; they just sit at different levels of autonomy" to state the practical decision rules.
Step 1 of 2
If they probe how you'd configure the agent, the distinction between Cursor's customization primitives is worth holding crisp. All three are just Markdown files that read differently.
- Primitive
- Rule
- Think of it as
- "Always wear your seat belt"
- What it does
- A standing guideline Cursor abides by on every change
- Primitive
- Skill
- Think of it as
- "This is how you parallel park"
- What it does
- A recipe - a named instruction set invoked when the task fits
- Primitive
- Sub-agent
- Think of it as
- "The car parks itself on autopilot"
- What it does
- A persona with its own instructions running as a scoped baby-Cursor
| Primitive | Think of it as | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Rule | "Always wear your seat belt" | A standing guideline Cursor abides by on every change |
| Skill | "This is how you parallel park" | A recipe - a named instruction set invoked when the task fits |
| Sub-agent | "The car parks itself on autopilot" | A persona with its own instructions running as a scoped baby-Cursor |
All three are Markdown; they just sit at different levels of autonomy.
If the skill-atrophy worry comes up - "I love Cursor but my own coding got rustier" - don't wave it away. Name it as real, then answer with the workflow: you keep learning by reviewing the generated code, and Cursor's verbose explanations (this was the issue, this is what I changed, this is why) exist so you understand rather than rubber-stamp. That's also why an inspectable editor beats a terminal agent that hides the diff. For a reliability seat, framing review as where you learn doubles as the values answer.