Cursor vs GitHub Copilot: Which AI Editor is Better for Python

[brianMutea]

…er for Python?

Where to put new files:

• New files should go into a top-level subfolder, named after the article slug. For example: my-awesome-article

How to merge your changes:

1. Make sure the CI code style tests all pass (+ run the automatic code formatter if necessary).
2. Find an RP Team member on Slack and ask them to review & approve your PR.
3. Once the PR has one positive ("approved") review, GitHub lets you merge the PR.
4. 🎉

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Adds a prompt transcript file for the “Cursor vs GitHub Copilot: Which AI Editor Is Better for Python” article materials, documenting the exact prompts used to compare both editors across setup, implementation, testing/debugging, planning, and review tasks.

Changes:

• Added a new prompts.md documenting the prompts used throughout the comparison workflow.
• Included example persistent-instructions snippets for both Cursor project rules and GitHub Copilot repository instructions.

Suppressed comments (7)

cursor-vs-copilot-python/prompts.md:21

• Remove the :contentReference[oaicite:…]{…} citation artifact; it isn't valid Markdown for this repo and will render as stray text.

Use this prompt in **Agent** mode after setting up the project. It defines the requirements for the command-line Markdown note manager, including Markdown storage, YAML frontmatter, the note data model, SQLite persistence, and the command-line interface. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}

cursor-vs-copilot-python/prompts.md:40

• Remove the :contentReference[oaicite:…]{…} citation artifact; it isn't valid Markdown for this repo and will render as stray text.

Use this prompt in **Agent** mode after deliberately removing the `self._conn.commit()` call from `NoteStore.add_note()`. It asks the editor to run the existing tests, investigate any failures, fix the underlying problem, and verify the fix by running the complete test suite again. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}

cursor-vs-copilot-python/prompts.md:51

• Remove the :contentReference[oaicite:…]{…} citation artifact; it isn't valid Markdown for this repo and will render as stray text.

Use this prompt in **Plan** mode to compare how Cursor and GitHub Copilot plan a multi-file change before modifying the project. The feature adds support for archiving notes while keeping archived notes out of normal searches and listings unless explicitly requested. :contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}

cursor-vs-copilot-python/prompts.md:65

• Remove the :contentReference[oaicite:…]{…} citation artifact; it isn't valid Markdown for this repo and will render as stray text.

Use this prompt in **Ask** mode after deliberately replacing the parameterized search query with an interpolated SQL query. It asks the editor to inspect the database layer for correctness, SQL safety, and code quality without changing the implementation. :contentReference[oaicite:4]{index=4}

cursor-vs-copilot-python/prompts.md:75

• Remove the :contentReference[oaicite:…]{…} citation artifact; it isn't valid Markdown for this repo and will render as stray text.

Use the `/review` command in Cursor after introducing the SQL injection vulnerability. Unlike the broader review in Ask mode, `/review` focuses on the changes in the current diff and identifies issues introduced by those changes. :contentReference[oaicite:5]{index=5}

cursor-vs-copilot-python/prompts.md:87

• Remove the :contentReference[oaicite:…]{…} citation artifact; it isn't valid Markdown for this repo and will render as stray text.

Add the following instructions to `.cursor/rules/markdown-note-manager-rules.mdc`. The rule applies to Python files and gives Cursor persistent guidance about type hints, YAML parsing, file operations, SQL queries, and the note representation. :contentReference[oaicite:6]{index=6}

cursor-vs-copilot-python/prompts.md:106

• Remove the :contentReference[oaicite:…]{…} citation artifact; it isn't valid Markdown for this repo and will render as stray text.

Add the following instructions to `.github/copilot-instructions.md`. GitHub Copilot uses this file as persistent repository guidance when working on the project. :contentReference[oaicite:7]{index=7}

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[brianMutea]

Hi @stephengruppetta, I’ve pushed the code.