1 min lesson
Handoff, sharing and version control
Consider this situation: "Your Cursor prototype works and a stakeholder outside the repo wants to click through it. How do you get it in front of them today?" Start with the decision, then the evidence.
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Handoff, sharing and version controlthe parts designers actually ask about
Working this way for real raises three practical questions designers always ask. Here are the honest answers.
- Sharing a live prototype
- No built-in way yet to send an interactive Cursor prototype to outside stakeholders. Today you deploy via Vercel or GitHub Pages, or publish to Figma and let the file be the shareable artifact. A known gap, with better ways likely coming.
- Versioning outside Figma
- Use Git, and you don't have to learn any commands. Just ask: "save this version of my codebase" or "push this up to a branch so I can get back to it later." Cursor runs the commands for you.
- Aligning before engineering
- A shared plan or PRDProduct Requirements Document. The spec describing what to build, for whom and why, before implementation starts. Increasingly the artifact you hand an AI agent as the source of truth for a feature. Press Enter for the full definition. is the guideline a PM and designer both prototype against before talking feasibility with engineers.
The honest gaps matter as much as the wins. Name them in an interview.
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Plan mode as your paper trail
Plan mode as your paper traildesign with a stronger model, build with the plan
Flip on the plan pill and run it on a stronger planning model (GPT-5.x) and Cursor writes a document rather than code: a feature roadmap that states the current baseline, then a recommended feature set with realism and intelligence upgrades. The plan is your documentation. Copy a section into chat and say "implement this part of the plan" or "I like this feature, go ahead and build it," and you implement it piece by piece.
“The plan is your documentation or paper trail for what you want to build, and then you can go ahead and build off of the plan.”
Which model for design workexecution vs planning vs adherence
There's no single answer, but there are clear leanings. Cursor's own designers love GPT-5.x and Gemini, with Gemini getting a lot of love for design specifically. ComposerCursor's own fast coding model, tuned for the editor and priced well below frontier models; the recommended day-to-day model for executing a plan. Press Enter for the full definition. (Cursor's in-house code model) is the speed pick for rapid UI iteration and diffs, which is why it's the default reach when you're clicking through changes. The one firm rule: don't plan with Composer. It's built for execution, not prose or roadmaps.
Interactive widget. Tab through its controls; the result updates in the panel below as you change them.
Composer for fast UI execution, a stronger model (GPT-5.x / Gemini) for planning and tighter spec adherence, Auto to route per task.
On ComposerCursor's own fast coding model, tuned for the editor and priced well below frontier models; the recommended day-to-day model for executing a plan. Press Enter for the full definition.'s scope, quoting Cursor's CTO:
“ComposerCursor's own fast coding model, tuned for the editor and priced well below frontier models; the recommended day-to-day model for executing a plan. Press Enter for the full definition. won't write poetry, it won't do your taxes, but it will write very good code.”
Use that as a decision rule. When Cursor's output drifts from your Figma source, switch up to a more powerful model: stronger models adhere better to a file's exact tokens and spec. When you're just iterating fast on a layout, drop back to ComposerCursor's own fast coding model, tuned for the editor and priced well below frontier models; the recommended day-to-day model for executing a plan. Press Enter for the full definition. for the speed.
Make the design system persistentskills, not vibes
Pointing Cursor at a Figma file once works for one session. To make it stick, put the design context into a skill, a persistent Markdown file that shapes how Cursor behaves and can reference scripts and other MD files. Cursor reads design.md files too, but the guidance is to fold them into a skill so they're reliably visible and used.
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Context discipline
- "Every time you make changes, check the Figma design system in this skill and adhere to it."
- "After any design change, use the browser and test it yourself."
- Hand it icons, kerning and padding context so Cursor stops hallucinating its own and remaking your design-system elements.
Start a new agent for every new task. Continuing the same task in one session is fine, but a genuinely new one (prototyping a different feature) should get a fresh session so context stays isolated and you don't confuse the model or invite scope creep. The mantra: be specific, be precise, stay isolated.
If the conversation turns to how you'd actually work day-to-day, describe the round-trip out loud: pull the design system from Figma, prototype in the Agents WindowCursor's surface listing your agent runs; open a run to read its diff and search transcripts from the command palette. Press Enter for the full definition. with Design ModeA way to point at an element in Cursor's built-in browser and change it directly, instead of describing it in words. Press Enter for the full definition. and @browser, keep the system honest with a skill, then publish finished components back to Figma for engineers to build from. Knowing the loop (including its gaps, like sharing live prototypes) reads as someone who has done the job, not just the LeetCode.