# Cursor agent best practices: plan, scope, and verify multi-file changes

Cursor’s agent is most useful when you give it a bounded job and a way to prove the job is complete. The current best practice is simple: plan before editing, let the agent find relevant context, keep repository instructions short, and make tests or checks part of the task rather than an afterthought.

That workflow matters once a change crosses more than one file. A login fix, billing change, or UI state update can look correct in one screen while leaving a stale type, an untested error path, or a second implementation untouched. Cursor’s own [best-practices guide](https://cursor.com/blog/agent-best-practices) describes plans, context management, rules, skills, and review as the pieces of a longer agent session. Here is how to turn those ideas into a repeatable production workflow.

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*This is an excerpt. Read the full post at [otf-kit.dev/blog/cursor-agent-best-practices](https://otf-kit.dev/blog/cursor-agent-best-practices) — full-stack kits your AI coding agent can actually ship to production. [Browse the kits →](https://otf-kit.dev)*