1 min lesson
The 8-hour paid onsite project
Use "The 8-hour paid onsite project" to explain each part and the role it plays.
Step 1 of 2
This is the round that decides it. You get limited, frozen access to Cursor's tech stack and a deliberately vague prompt: design and build a feature, product or service you think would be useful. Over about eight paid hours you figure out what to build, build it and then present design and tradeoffs.
Two questions sit behind the whole day. Can you go end-to-end in the codebase? And what would you build in a vacuum? The second one is the real test of taste - the brief is vague on purpose so that your choice of what to make becomes the signal.
- Access
- A frozen / limited copy of Cursor's real tech stack - you work in the actual codebase shape.
- Prompt
- Vague by design: “build something useful.” The scoping is yours to do.
- Tools
- AI tools are allowed here. Drive Cursor hard and verify what it produces.
- Slack
- You can ask clarifying questions of teammates - treat it like a real workday.
- Deliverable
- A functional slice plus a presentation of design, tradeoffs and what you'd do next.
The trap is starting to code in minute five. The candidates who win spend the opening stretch orienting and scoping so the thing they build is the thing that matters.
Learn more
Full explanation
Budget the Day Backwards from the Demo
Interactive diagram. Step through it with the Next and Previous controls below, or Tab to a region to read its detail.
The presentation is the gate - decide the demo moment first and let it discipline your scope.