Demo Remote Development

Enable full-featured remote development over SSH on Linux, macOS, or Windows—all from the Cursor AI client. This guide leverages the Remote – SSH extension in Cursor, identical to Visual Studio Code’s setup.

Prerequisites

1. Install the Remote – SSH Extension

1. Open Cursor AI.
2. Go to the Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X / ⌘+Shift+X).
3. Search for Remote – SSH and click Install.
   

2. Configure a New SSH Host

1. Click the >< icon in the status bar, then Add New SSH Host.
2. Enter your connection string, e.g.:

   [email protected]
   

3. Choose which SSH config file to update (usually ~/.ssh/config).
   

3. Connect to the Remote Host

1. Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / ⌘+Shift+P) and select Remote-SSH: Connect to Host.
2. Choose [email protected].
3. When prompted, select the remote OS and accept the host fingerprint.

   Remote Platform	Description
   Linux	Standard distributions (Ubuntu, Arch, etc.)
   macOS	Apple M-series or Intel-based
   Windows	Windows Server or Win10/11

Cursor AI will install the VS Code Server on the remote machine and open a new window.

4. Open a Remote Workspace

After connecting, use File > Open Folder or Git: Clone to start working in your remote project directory.

Example:

cd ~/KodeKloudTaskMan

5. Use the Integrated Terminal

Every new terminal is a shell session on the remote host:

$ ls -la
drwxr-xr-x   3 jeremy jeremy   4096 Mar 26 20:37  .cursor
-rw-r--r--   1 jeremy jeremy      0 Mar 26 20:37  .DS_Store
drwxr-xr-x   3 jeremy jeremy   4096 Mar 26 20:37  KodeKloudTaskMan

Inspect running processes to verify the remote environment:

$ ps aux
jeremy    193885  0.0  0.0   4992  3360 pts/4    S    20:48   0:00 /usr/bin/python3 /home/jeremy/.cursor-server/extensions/ms.python.python-2024.12.3-linux-x64/python
jeremy    193886  0.0  0.0   4980  1936 pts/4    S    20:48   0:00 /usr/bin/python3 /home/jeremy/.cursor-server/cli/servers/Stable-82fe0f61c01d0791db7e5ab048849d5

6. Verify Remote OS Kernel

$ uname -r
6.5.12-arch1-1

7. Sample Python Function on the Remote Host

Here’s a quick Flask utility you might run remotely:

import os
import csv
import sqlite3
from flask import Flask, render_template, request, redirect, url_for, flash, session, g
from datetime import datetime
import hashlib
import logging

app = Flask(__name__)
app.config['SECRET_KEY'] = 'dev'  # Change before production
app.config['DATABASE'] = os.path.join(app.instance_path, 'task_manager.sqlite')

def read_csv(file_path):
    """Read and print each row from a CSV file."""
    with open(file_path, newline='') as f:
        reader = csv.reader(f)
        for row in reader:
            print(row)

8. Connecting to macOS or Windows Hosts

Repeat steps 2–4 with your other SSH targets:

1. Add a new host entry, for example:

   [email protected]
   

2. Select macOS (or Windows).
3. Authenticate and open your project (e.g., a Pygame simulator).
   

By following these steps, Cursor AI transforms any client machine into a powerful remote development workstation, leveraging specialized hardware or unique OS environments without leaving your desk.

Links and References

• Remote – SSH Extension
• VS Code Remote Development Docs
• OpenSSH Documentation