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CKB + Cursor: Supercharging Your AI Editor

By CKB Team

Cursor is a popular AI-powered code editor. By default, it searches your codebase with text matching. CKB upgrades that to semantic understanding—your AI knows what functions call what, not just where strings appear.

This guide covers setting up CKB with Cursor.

The Difference CKB Makes

Without CKB:

You: "What calls the handlePayment function?"

Cursor: "I found handlePayment mentioned in these files:
- payment.go (definition)
- payment_test.go (tests)
- README.md (documentation)
- old_payment.go.bak (backup file)"

With CKB:

You: "What calls the handlePayment function?"

Cursor: "handlePayment in internal/payment/handler.go is called by:
- CheckoutController.Process() in controllers/checkout.go:45
- RefundController.Execute() in controllers/refund.go:78
- WebhookHandler.ProcessPayment() in webhooks/stripe.go:123

It has 3 callees: validateCard(), chargeCard(), sendReceipt()
12 tests cover this function."

Setup

Step 1: Install CKB

npm install -g @tastehub/ckb

Step 2: Index Your Project

cd /your/project
ckb init

Step 3: Configure Cursor

Open Cursor's MCP configuration:

# macOS
~/.cursor/mcp.json

# Windows
%APPDATA%\Cursor\mcp.json

# Linux
~/.config/cursor/mcp.json

Add CKB:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ckb": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@tastehub/ckb", "mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Step 4: Restart Cursor

Close and reopen Cursor for the config to take effect.

Choosing a Preset

The default includes all tools, but you can optimize for your workflow:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ckb": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@tastehub/ckb", "mcp", "--preset=core"]
    }
  }
}
Preset Tools Best For
core 21 General development
review 27 Code review
refactor 33 Large refactoring
full 92 Everything

Verify It's Working

In Cursor's chat, type:

What CKB tools do you have access to?

You should see a list including searchSymbols, getCallGraph, prepareChange, etc.

Test with a real query:

What's the most complex function in this codebase?

CKB will analyze cyclomatic complexity and report the results.

Cursor-Specific Tips

Use Cmd+K with CKB Context

When using Cursor's inline edit (Cmd+K), you can reference CKB analysis:

You: [select a function, press Cmd+K]
"Refactor this to reduce complexity. CKB says it has 15 branches."

Combine with Cursor's @ References

You: "What calls @symbol:handlePayment and what tests cover it?"

Cursor's @ reference plus CKB's semantic analysis gives you precise answers.

Use Chat for Impact Analysis

Before making changes:

You: "I'm about to modify the User struct. What's the impact?"

Cursor: [uses prepareChange]

"Modifying the User struct affects:
- 23 functions that use User fields
- 8 API endpoints that serialize User
- 45 tests

Risk score: 67 (Medium-High)
Suggested reviewers: @alice, @bob"

Common Workflows

Understanding New Code

You: "Explain the authentication flow in this codebase"

Cursor: [uses explore and getCallGraph]

"Authentication flows through these components:

1. AuthMiddleware (middleware/auth.go)
   - Extracts JWT from headers
   - Calls TokenService.Validate()

2. TokenService (services/token.go)
   - Validates token signature
   - Checks expiration
   - Returns user claims

3. UserContext (context/user.go)
   - Attaches user to request context
   - Used by downstream handlers

Entry points: /api/login, /api/refresh
All protected routes go through AuthMiddleware."

Pre-Change Analysis

You: "I want to rename getUserById to fetchUser. What needs to change?"

Cursor: [uses prepareChange with rename]

"Renaming getUserById → fetchUser requires updates in:

Direct callers (12):
- user_controller.go:34, 67, 89
- profile_service.go:23, 45
- admin_handler.go:12
... and 6 more

Tests (8):
- user_controller_test.go
- profile_service_test.go
- integration_test.go

No external API impact (internal function).

Would you like me to perform this rename?"

Finding Dead Code

You: "Are there any unused functions in the utils package?"

Cursor: [uses findDeadCode]

"Found 4 unused functions in pkg/utils/:

- formatOldDate() - last modified 2024-03, no callers
- validateLegacyToken() - replaced by new auth system
- convertV1Response() - V1 API removed
- debugPrint() - debugging helper, test-only usage

Total: 89 lines of dead code"

Keeping Index Updated

Manual Update

ckb index

Automatic via File Watcher

# Run in terminal, keeps index fresh
ckb watch

Git Hook

# .git/hooks/post-merge
#!/bin/bash
ckb index --incremental --quiet

Troubleshooting

"CKB is indexed for the wrong project"

Cursor doesn't pass your workspace directory to MCP servers. CKB may start indexed for a different project.

What happens: Error messages say something like "CKB index is for /some/other/path". The AI agent will automatically call switchProject to fix this — no action needed on your part.

If auto-correction doesn't work: Tell Cursor explicitly:

Switch CKB to this project using switchProject

"CKB tools not available"

  1. Check mcp.json syntax is valid JSON
  2. Verify CKB is installed: which ckb
  3. Restart Cursor completely
  4. Check Cursor's MCP logs in Developer Tools

Slow responses

  1. Use a smaller preset (--preset=core)
  2. Check index size: ckb status
  3. Exclude large generated files in .ckb/config.json

Stale results

# Force rebuild
ckb index --force
Feature Cursor Built-in With CKB
Find text ✓ ✓
Find symbol ✓ ✓
Find callers ~ (text search) ✓ (semantic)
Impact analysis ✗ ✓
Dead code detection ✗ ✓
Code ownership ✗ ✓
Cross-repo search ✗ ✓

CKB complements Cursor's built-in features—use both.

Next Steps

Links: