How to beginner · 3 min read

How to use Cursor AI

Q: How to use Cursor AI

Use Cursor AI by integrating its Python SDK or API to enable AI-assisted code generation and completion. Typically, you install the cursor-python package, set your API key via environment variables, and call its client methods to generate or complete code snippets.

Quick answer

Use Cursor AI by integrating its Python SDK or API to enable AI-assisted code generation and completion. Typically, you install the cursor-python package, set your API key via environment variables, and call its client methods to generate or complete code snippets.

PREREQUISITES

Python 3.8+
Cursor AI API key
pip install cursor-python

Setup

Install the official cursor-python SDK and set your API key as an environment variable for authentication.

bash

pip install cursor-python

Step by step

Use the Cursor client to generate code completions by providing prompts. Below is a complete example demonstrating initialization and a simple code generation call.

python

import os
from cursor import Cursor

# Initialize client with API key from environment
client = Cursor(api_key=os.environ["CURSOR_API_KEY"])

# Define a prompt for code generation
prompt = "Write a Python function to reverse a string."

# Call the generate_code method
response = client.generate_code(prompt=prompt, max_tokens=100)

# Print the generated code
print(response.generated_code)

output

def reverse_string(s):
    return s[::-1]

Common variations

Use async calls if supported by the SDK for non-blocking code generation.
Adjust max_tokens or temperature parameters to control output length and creativity.
Switch models if Cursor AI offers multiple code generation models.

python

import asyncio
from cursor import Cursor

async def async_generate():
    client = Cursor(api_key=os.environ["CURSOR_API_KEY"])
    prompt = "Generate a Python class for a linked list."
    response = await client.generate_code_async(prompt=prompt, max_tokens=150)
    print(response.generated_code)

asyncio.run(async_generate())

output

class LinkedList:
    def __init__(self):
        self.head = None
    # Additional linked list methods...

Troubleshooting

If you get authentication errors, verify your CURSOR_API_KEY environment variable is set correctly.
For timeout or network issues, check your internet connection and retry.
If code generation results are incomplete, increase max_tokens or adjust temperature.

✅

Key Takeaways

Install the official cursor-python SDK and set your API key via environment variables.
Use client.generate_code() for synchronous code generation with customizable parameters.
Async generation is available for non-blocking workflows if supported by the SDK.
Adjust max_tokens and temperature to control output length and creativity.
Verify API key and network connectivity to troubleshoot common errors.

Verified 2026-04 · cursor-python SDK

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