Demo Natural Language Commands

Explore how Cursor’s integrated terminal—powered by Visual Studio Code—lets you run plain-language instructions to automate your development workflow.

Prerequisites

Visual Studio Code with Cursor AI extension installed
Python 3.x and venv support
Z Shell (Zsh) configured as your default shell

1. Open the Integrated Terminal

Open the terminal via Terminal > New Terminal (or press Ctrl+ on Windows/Linux, ⌘+ on macOS). You’ll start in a Z Shell session:

jeremy@MACSTUDIO kodekloud1 % ps
  PID   TTY          TIME CMD
 70600 ttys000    0:00.00 -zsh
 80016 ttys002    0:00.01 /bin/zsh -i
 80061 ttys006    0:00.02 /bin/zsh -i
jeremy@MACSTUDIO kodekloud1 % ls -la
total 0
drwxr-xr-x   2 jeremy  staff   64 Mar 24 21:26 .
drwxr-xr-x  28 jeremy  staff  896 Mar 24 21:26 ..

Action	Shortcut / Command	Description
Open Terminal	Ctrl+ `/ ⌘+`	Launches the integrated terminal
Command Palette	Ctrl+Shift+P / ⌘+Shift+P	Opens the Command Palette for NL commands

2. Generate a Flask API Project

Invoke the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / ⌘+Shift+P) and type your natural-language instruction:

“Create a Flask API project with SQLAlchemy.”

After hitting Enter, Cursor AI runs:

jeremy@MACSTUDIO kodekloud1 % mkdir -p app/models app/routes \
  && touch app/__init__.py app/models/__init__.py app/routes/__init__.py \
  && echo -e "flask\nflask-sqlalchemy\nflask-migrate" > requirements.txt

3. Set Up a Python Virtual Environment

Next, ask:

“Create a Python virtual environment and activate it.”

jeremy@MACSTUDIO kodekloud1 % python3 -m venv venv && source venv/bin/activate
(venv) jeremy@MACSTUDIO kodekloud1 %

Note

Using virtual environments isolates dependencies per project. Always activate your venv before installing packages.

4. Install Testing and Database Drivers

Ask Cursor AI:

“Install PyTest and the PostgreSQL driver.”

(venv) jeremy@MACSTUDIO kodekloud1 % pip install pytest psycopg2-binary
Collecting pytest
  Downloading pytest-8.3.5-py3-none-any.whl
Collecting psycopg2-binary
  Downloading psycopg2_binary-2.9.10-cp313-cp313-macosx_*.whl
Successfully installed pytest-8.3.5 psycopg2-binary-2.9.10

Then update your requirements.txt:

(venv) jeremy@MACSTUDIO kodekloud1 % pip freeze > requirements.txt

5. Handling Import Errors

If you encounter:

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'flask_sqlalchemy'

simply instruct Cursor AI:

(venv) jeremy@MACSTUDIO kodekloud1 % pip install flask-sqlalchemy

6. Best Practices for Natural Language Commands

Best Practice	Description
Be Specific Yet Concise	Focus on required packages, directories, or flags without fluff.
Include Essential Details	Specify file names, frameworks, or versions in your instruction.
Iterate: Run, Observe, Refine	Adjust your prompt based on Cursor’s output for accuracy.
Combine Related Tasks	Group folder creation, file initialization, and dependency installs.
Learn from AI Suggestions	Study generated commands to level up your CLI proficiency.

Warning

Overly vague instructions may lead to unexpected operations. Always review generated commands before executing.

By leveraging Cursor AI’s natural language commands, you reduce context switching and automate routine setup tasks. Extend this workflow to SSH sessions, container orchestrations, and more advanced development scenarios.

Links and References

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