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devops-practices August 25, 2025 4 min read

Comprehensive Cursor CLI Review: Why This Developer Terminal Tool Surpasses All Expectations

Eleanor Park

Eleanor Park

Developer Advocate

Cursor CLI Review: Why This Terminal Tool Surpasses Expectations

When Cursor released their CLI tool in beta, many developers responded with skepticism. After all, the market is already saturated with AI-powered terminal tools. However, after conducting a thorough cursory review of the new offering, it's clear this isn't just another redundant addition to the developer toolkit—it's a genuine improvement that delivers surprising benefits even for experienced users of other AI coding assistants.

Key Features of the Cursor CLI

The Cursor CLI offers several familiar features you'd expect from a modern terminal-based AI coding assistant, but with some notable advantages:

  • Seamless integration with Cursor IDE's MCP servers for consistent experience
  • Model selection matching what's available in the Cursor IDE
  • Auto-run mode (similar to "YOLO mode") for allowing tool calls and file operations
  • Clear command to start new chats and compress feature to summarize chat history
  • Vim keybindings toggle for terminal power users
  • Shell command integration with both /shell and ! prefix options
  • Headless mode for running in scripts and GitHub actions

While these features aren't revolutionary on their own, the magic lies in the Cursor agent itself and how it performs in the CLI environment.

The Cursor Agent Advantage: Planning Capabilities

When conducting a head-to-head comparison between Cursor CLI and Claude Code (both using Claude Sonnet 4), the differences in planning capabilities became immediately apparent. Using a simple prompt to "Plan out the UI for a travel booking app," the results were strikingly different.

Claude Code's limited planning output compared to Cursor CLI's comprehensive approach
Claude Code's limited planning output compared to Cursor CLI's comprehensive approach

The Cursor agent produced a remarkably detailed plan that included:

  • Comprehensive user flows and customer journey mapping
  • Detailed information architecture and navigation structure
  • ASCII wireframes for key screens directly in the terminal
  • Design token recommendations
  • Responsive design strategy
  • Accessibility and usability considerations
  • Implementation roadmap with phased approach

In contrast, Claude Code produced a much more limited plan with basic screen descriptions and minimal detail. This difference in planning quality directly affected the implementation quality in the next step.

Superior Implementation Results

When prompted to "code the landing page" based on the previously generated plans, the Cursor CLI again demonstrated superior results:

Cursor CLI generating more modular, well-structured code compared to alternatives
Cursor CLI generating more modular, well-structured code compared to alternatives

The Cursor agent intelligently:

  • Created separate component files rather than putting everything in one file
  • Provided a clear diff view for edited files
  • Offered a convenient review mode (Ctrl+R) to examine generated code
  • Respected and utilized the existing design system, including theme switching functionality
  • Generated visually appealing components that worked properly in both light and dark modes

Claude Code, despite using the same underlying model, placed all code in a single file with comment separators rather than creating proper components. It also failed to utilize the existing design system and theme switching capabilities.

User Interface and Experience

Beyond the functional advantages, the Cursor CLI offers one of the best terminal interfaces among AI coding assistants. The UI includes:

  • Syntax highlighting for headers and code blocks
  • Clear visual indicators for file operations
  • Truncated code views with easy expansion options
  • An intuitive review mode for examining generated files
  • Context-aware follow-up prompting directly from the review interface

The only notable limitation encountered was with running development servers—when executing commands like "npm run dev" that don't terminate naturally, the CLI would wait indefinitely. Adding a background shell mode would address this limitation.

Why Consider Switching to Cursor CLI

After conducting this cursory check of Cursor CLI capabilities, there are several compelling reasons to consider adopting it:

  1. Superior planning and implementation quality compared to alternatives using the same underlying models
  2. Language-agnostic functionality that works for any programming language, not just those well-supported in VS Code forks
  3. Consistency between CLI and IDE experiences if you're already using Cursor
  4. Single subscription advantage if your company already pays for Cursor or you want to minimize tool costs
Cursor CLI delivers impressive results that make it worth considering as your primary AI coding assistant
Cursor CLI delivers impressive results that make it worth considering as your primary AI coding assistant

Areas for Improvement

While the cursor review meaning is overwhelmingly positive, there are still some areas where the CLI could improve:

  • Adding background shell mode for long-running commands
  • Improving error handling when commands don't terminate as expected
  • Expanding the headless mode capabilities for more complex automation scenarios

Conclusion: A Surprisingly Valuable Addition

The Cursor CLI represents more than just another terminal tool—it's a genuinely useful extension of the Cursor ecosystem that brings the power of their agent to any development environment. For developers who value well-structured code, comprehensive planning, and consistent experiences across tools, this CLI deserves serious consideration.

Whether you're already a Cursor IDE user or someone looking for a better terminal-based AI coding assistant, the Cursor CLI offers enough unique advantages to justify giving it a try. The surprising quality of its output—particularly in code organization and planning depth—makes it stand out in an increasingly crowded field.

Let's Watch!

Cursor CLI Review: Why This Terminal Tool Surpasses Expectations

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