1 min lesson
Handoff, sharing and version control
Consider this situation. "Your Cursor prototype works locally 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.
Step 1 of 2
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
- A local 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. prototype has no share button: deploy it (Vercel, GitHub Pages) or publish the component to Figma and share the file. If the work runs in a cloud agent, it can publish once a Vercel account is connected, and cloud-agent canvases can be shared with your team by link.
- 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. A plan written in Plan Mode (⇧⇥ from the chat input, or the mode picker) can be that shared doc.
The honest limits matter as much as the wins. Name them in an interview.
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Full explanation
Which model for design work
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. When output drifts from the Figma spec, switch up: stronger models adhere more tightly to a file's tokens. 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.
Pick the task, read the model. Switch up when output drifts from the Figma spec.
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.”
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.
- "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."
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 where it stops, like sharing a local prototype) reads as someone who has done the job, not just the LeetCode.