A slimmer .cursor: thin always-on rules, glob-scoped detail

Slim the .cursor directory: thin always-on rules, glob-scoped detail. Cursor users whose context grew noisy.

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what to steal

Move catalogs out of always-on files into a reference folder.

Our takeaway from the source, not a quote.

Drawn from this card's sourced fields. Amber = older model named by the source. Rose = cut or replaced.

philliant-lean-cursor-dir.toml

# Slim the .cursor directory: thin always-on rules, glob-scoped detail
# source: https://philliant.com/posts/20260716-efficient-cursor-directory-for-token-efficiency/

[rig]
who     = "Cursor users whose context grew noisy"
author  = "Philip Mathew Hern"
date    = "2026-07-16"

harness = ["Cursor"]
models  = []

[keep]
  - Small AGENTS.md with route-by-task table
  - .cursor/README.md index
  - Glob-scoped rules (alwaysApply: false)
  - On-demand skills
  - .cursor/reference/ for catalogs
[cut]
  - Duplicate guidance

thing	status	why (per source)
Duplicate guidance	removed	One canonical doc per topic
Full skill tables in always-on files	moved to reference	Saves tokens every turn

Source: https://philliant.com/posts/20260716-efficient-cursor-directory-for-token-efficiency/ · checked 2026-10-14

Five harnesses, three machines, one orchestrator

steal → Install several harnesses on worker machines and drive them from one place.

Claude CodeCodexCursor

by Stefan (@stefancrncic)

~/rigs/mikeholp-route-claude-codex.toml2026-10-11

Route by task type and make each agent review the other

steal → Have the agent that didn't write the change review it.

Claude CodeCodexCursor Claude Opus 5.5Claude Sonnet 5.5 git push / commit in C

by Mike Holp

~/rigs/flaviocopes-22-mcps.toml2026-09-28

22 MCP servers, 300+ tools, two used daily

steal → List your MCPs next to what you used this week. Disconnect the idle ones.

Cursor GitHub MCP

by Flavio Copes