Cursor Model Selection

What it does

When your agent uses it

• Change cursor model
• Cursor ai model
• Cursor auto mode

Example prompts

• “cursor model”
• “cursor gpt”
• “cursor claude”
• “/cursor-model-selection”

Requirements

• Python 3
• Compatibility (from SKILL.md): Designed for Claude Code
• Pre-approved tools (allowed-tools): Read, Write, Edit, Bash(cmd:*)

Workflow steps

4 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

1. 1Use an approved economical model for simple explanations or edits; escalate only for a defined complex task.
2. 2Confirm the model's data-handling route before attaching proprietary or regulated content.
3. 3Record material model decisions for high-risk work and independently validate all generated output.
4. 4Reassess model choice when quality, cost, privacy, or latency exceeds the agreed threshold.

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 80f86df. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

• Tool permissions

  Pre-approves these tools, so the agent can use them without asking each time:

  • Read
  • Write
  • Edit
  • Bash(cmd:*)

  From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

• Runs code

  Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

  • cursor

  From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

• Network

  Links to these hosts (documentation or services it may open):

  • docs.cursor.com
  • cursor.com

  From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

• Credentials

  Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

  From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

• Compatibility

  Designed for Claude Code

  From compatibility in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

Context cost

Cursor Model Selection loads about 2k tokens when it runs, and up to ~2.9k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 55 tokens; SKILL.md has 738 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it

~55

When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches

~2k

With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them

~2.9k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace at commit 80f86df, republished under its MIT licence (© jeremylongshore). 738 words, ~2,048 tokens.

name

cursor-model-selection

description

Configure and select AI models in Cursor for Chat, Composer, and Agent mode. Triggers on "cursor model", "cursor gpt", "cursor claude", "change cursor model", "cursor ai model", "cursor auto mode".

allowed-tools

Read, Write, Edit, Bash(cmd:*)

compatibility

Designed for Claude Code

version

1.19.0

license

MIT

author

Jeremy Longshore <jeremy@intentsolutions.io>

tags

saas, cursor, cursor-model

Bug fix in one file        → GPT-4o or Claude Sonnet
Multi-file refactoring     → Claude Sonnet or Opus
Architecture planning      → Claude Opus or GPT-5
Test generation            → GPT-4o (fast + good patterns)
Complex algorithm design   → o1/o3 reasoning models
Large codebase analysis    → Gemini 2.5 Pro (1M context)
Simple autocomplete        → cursor-small (automatic via Tab)
"I don't know"             → Auto mode

API Key: sk-proj-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

API Key: sk-ant-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

API Key: AIzaSyxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Cursor Settings > Models > Azure:
  API Key:       xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  Endpoint:      https://my-instance.openai.azure.com
  Deployment:    gpt-4o-deployment-name
  API Version:   2024-10-21

Tier 1 (Fast + Cheap):    cursor-small, GPT-4o-mini, Claude Haiku
  Use for: simple questions, syntax help, boilerplate

Tier 2 (Balanced):        GPT-4o, Claude Sonnet
  Use for: most coding tasks, debugging, refactoring

Tier 3 (Premium):         Claude Opus, GPT-5, o1/o3
  Use for: architecture decisions, critical bugs, complex logic

# Claude models: Verbose, well-documented, defensive
def process_order(order: Order) -> Result[ProcessedOrder, OrderError]:
    """Process an order through the payment and fulfillment pipeline.

    Args:
        order: The order to process.

    Returns:
        Result containing the processed order or an error.

    Raises:
        Never raises -- errors returned as Result.Err.
    """
    if not order.items:
        return Err(OrderError.EMPTY_ORDER)
    ...

# GPT models: Concise, pragmatic, fewer comments
def process_order(order: Order) -> ProcessedOrder:
    if not order.items:
        raise ValueError("Order has no items")
    ...

© jeremylongshore, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 5 other files (references) in skills/.curated/cursor-model-selection of jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace.

• SKILL.md
• references/available-models.md
• references/errors.md
• references/examples.md
• references/model-comparison.md
• references/model-selection-by-task.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 80f86df