32dots HEIDELBERG AI
Curriculum › Cursor course › cursor-00
Session 0 easy

Start here: install Cursor and your first AI edit

LESSONLesson 0 · ~20 min

🎯Goal. Install Cursor, open a folder, and make your first change by describing it in plain English.

▶ Try this prompt

Create a Python file called analysis.py with a function that loads a CSV with pandas and prints the first 5 rows. Add a short comment above each line explaining what it does.

Download Cursor from cursor.com, sign in (the Hobby plan is free, no credit card), open or create a project folder, then open the chat sidebar and type your idea — in any language you like.

  1. 1Go to cursor.com, download and install Cursor, and sign in. Because Cursor is built on VS Code, the interface is immediately familiar — same layout, shortcuts, and extension ecosystem.
  2. 2Open a folder (File → Open Folder) so Cursor has a project to work in, then open the chat sidebar and paste the prompt above.
  3. 3Cursor proposes the new file and the code; review the diff and accept it. You just wrote working code without typing syntax from memory.

✓You'll see. A new analysis.py file appears with a complete, commented function — generated from one plain-English request, with a diff you approve before it lands.

💳Cost. The Hobby plan is free with no credit card, including limited Agent requests and limited Tab completions — enough to follow this course's first lessons.

💡Takeaway. Cursor is VS Code with AI woven into every layer: you describe what you want, review the change, and accept it.