Cursor Rules vs Skills: Which Should You Use?

Cursor now supports Agent Skills (folders with SKILL.md in .cursor/skills/ or .agents/skills/) alongside project rules (.cursor/rules/*.mdc).

Rules

• Best for always-on conventions: code style, framework choices, "never do X".
• Can apply always, by file glob, or when the agent judges them relevant.
• Format: frontmatter with description, globs, alwaysApply, then Markdown.

Skills

• Best for procedures: "write a migration", "triage this bug", "release notes".
• Load on demand when the agent decides they're relevant, or invoke one with /skill-name. Scope one to certain files with paths.
• Portable: the same folder works in Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI and Copilot.

Rule of thumb

Facts and constraints → rule. Multi-step workflows → skill.

Converting

Cursor (2.4 and later) has a built-in /migrate-to-skills skill that converts "Apply Intelligently" rules and slash commands into skills. Rules that are always-on or glob-scoped stay as rules. Or generate both at once: every MakeASkill zip includes a SKILL.md *and* a matching .mdc rule.