An 8-step plan-first agent workflow in Cursor

Melvin Vivas · X post · 2026-05-15 · Open on X

Topics: AI Dev Tools & Productivity, AI Agents, Tool Use & MCP · Level: beginner

Summary

The creator shares his Cursor development workflow. He isolates work in a worktree or branch, plans with the agent in Plan Mode and refines the plan before building. Then he lets the agent build, checks the results and merges.

Key points

• 1. Create a new git worktree or branch for each feature.
• 2. Start Plan Mode and describe the feature(s), whatever the size.
• 3. Let the agent gather the information it needs.
• 4. Iterate on the plan before any code is written.
• 5. Build.
• 6. Let the agent work ("have coffee").
• 7. Verify the results.
• 8. Merge.

Resources mentioned

• Cursor · tool · x.com · free · recommended by both Bashiri Smith & Melvin Vivas
  AI-native code editor (VS Code with AI built in).
  Also in: GLM 5.3 and GLM 5.3 Flash now in Cursor (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Grok Bot Can Now Hand Off Coding Tasks to Cursor (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Why Plan Mode Still Matters in AI Coding Assistants (Codex, Claude, Cursor) (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Why Plan Mode Still Matters in AI Coding Agents (Codex, Claude, Cursor) (Melvin Vivas on X · notes) and 121 more

Try this

• Use a separate worktree or branch for each agent task.
• Plan in Plan Mode and iterate on the plan before building.
• Always check the agent's results before merging.