Continue vs Cursor | agentconfig.ing

Continue vs CursorComparisonUpdated 2026-03-16

SUMMARY

Continue (IDE) uses markdown configuration while Cursor (IDE) uses mdc. They differ on 3 of 11 compared features. Both tools provide AI-assisted development but take different approaches to project configuration.

FEATURE COMPARISON

Feature	Continue	Cursor	Notes
Config format	markdown	mdc
Hierarchy support	✓	✓	Whether config files can be placed at multiple directory levels
Global config	✓	✓	User-wide configuration outside any project
Project config	✓	✓
Subdirectory scoping	✓	✓	Config files in subdirectories that apply only to that subtree
File inclusion / imports	✗	✗	Ability to include or reference other files from config
Ignore file	✗	.cursorignore
IDE integration	✓	✓
Schema / structure	Free-form (Markdown)	Hybrid (MDC frontmatter + Markdown)	Whether config uses structured schema or free-form content
Git committed	✓	✓	Whether primary config files are intended to be version-controlled
Encoding	UTF-8	UTF-8

FILE MAPPING

Purpose	Continue	Cursor
Project rules	.continue/rules/*.md	.cursor/rules/*.mdc
Project rules	.continuerules	AGENTS.md

SIDE-BY-SIDE CODE SAMPLES

Continue

.continue/rules/*.md

markdown

# Code Style Rules

- Use TypeScript strict mode for all files
- Prefer named exports over default exports
- Use async/await over .then() chains
- Keep functions under 30 lines
- Use descriptive variable names (no single letters except loop counters)

Cursor

.cursor/rules/*.mdc

mdc

---
description: React component conventions and patterns
globs: "*.tsx"
alwaysApply: false
---

# React Component Rules

- Use functional components with explicit return types
- Define props interface directly above the component
- Export components as named exports, never default
- Use Tailwind CSS utility classes exclusively

KEY DIFFERENCES

1. Config format

Continue: markdown. Cursor: mdc.

2. Ignore file

Continue: Not supported. Cursor: .cursorignore.

3. Schema / structure

Continue: Free-form (Markdown). Cursor: Hybrid (MDC frontmatter + Markdown).

WHICH SHOULD I USE?

Recommendation

Choose based on your IDE/CLI preference. If you use Continue, configure .continue/config.yaml. If you use Cursor, configure .cursorrules. Many projects include config files for multiple tools so each team member can use their preferred editor.

PORTABILITY TIP

sync-instructions.sh

bash

# Maintain a single source of truth:
cp AI-INSTRUCTIONS.md CLAUDE.md
cp AI-INSTRUCTIONS.md .cursorrules
cp AI-INSTRUCTIONS.md AGENTS.md