2 min lesson
Worked Cursor scenarios
Work through the cases in "Worked Cursor scenarios", pairing each signal with the move that fits.
Step 1 of 2
These four scenarios cover most of what walks into a Cursor support queue. Rehearse them out loud so the loop is muscle memory before the screen, not something you assemble live.
This is the concept layer, so slow down before the drill. Name the mechanism first, then tie it to the role's daily decisions: what changes, what can fail and what proof would make a teammate trust the answer.
Each card runs the same loop and ends the same way: immediate user guidance, the root cause and whether you'd escalate. That ending is the part interviewers wait for.
Check network latency to the completions endpoint first.
Confirm which model is selected and whether indexing finished.
Watch for huge files blowing up the context window.
Root cause is usually latency or stale index, not the model itself.
Verify indexing completed - empty retrieval looks like a dumb agent.
Check rules, context and which model is in use.
Reproduce in a minimal repo to remove project noise.
Escalate only with the minimal repo plus the exact prompt.
Capture version, network and the verbatim error.
Check proxy/VPN, the SSOSingle Sign-On. One company login (usually via SAML or OIDC) instead of a separate password per tool. Press Enter for the full definition./SAMLSecurity Assertion Markup Language. The XML-era enterprise standard that powers single sign-on: your identity provider vouches for you to each app. Older than OIDC but still what many enterprise tools speak. Press Enter for the full definition. config and token or session state.
Look at privacy settings - they can gate the auth flow.
Org-wide failure escalates fast; one user is usually local.
Bisect extensions: disable all, re-enable in halves.
Check workspace size and whether a profile isolates it.
Read logs for the hot path or a runaway process.
A reproducible hang with a hot stack is a clean Eng escalation.
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Full explanation
Which Layer Is it
Interactive diagram. Tab through its regions; each focused region shows its detail in the panel below.
Every Cursor symptom lives in one of these four layers - name the layer out loud.