# How to use Cursor Automations, with a prompt to design your own Source: https://aaronmakelky.com/blog/how-to-use-cursor-automations Last updated: 2026-10-16 Cursor Automations are cloud agents that run on a schedule with your computer off. How Aaron uses them to get more out of Cursor, and one prompt to paste in and design your own. October 16, 2026 · 3 min read Cursor · Cursor Automations · AI Agents · Prompts ![Cursor app icon: a black cube with a white arrow](/images/blog/design-your-own-cursor-automations/cursor-icon.png) My favorite feature in Cursor is cloud agents, which Cursor calls automations. Think of them like tasks that trigger on a schedule and run in the cloud without your device needing to be on. I run Cursor Automations that file my inbox, my meeting notes, and new business into a repo, and a morning brief before I start. Paste this into Cursor and tell it where you want yours delivered. I also posted this on X. [Read the post on X](https://x.com/theaaron/status/2111239930915832098) if you want the replies too. ![Cursor's App Store page on an iPhone, with previews that say Build from anywhere, kick off new agents and manage existing ones, and Talk to Cursor.](/images/blog/design-your-own-cursor-automations/app-store-cloud-agents.jpg) Cursor on the App Store. You can kick off new agents and manage existing ones from your phone. ## What the Cursor Automations prompt sets up The prompt teaches Cursor five shapes to start from: inbox triage, a chief-of-staff repo, meeting notes, lead intake, and a morning briefing. It asks what you already use before it writes anything, then gives you three automations to paste into [cursor.com/automations](https://cursor.com/automations). ![Five numbered rows, each naming one Cursor Automation shape with a line on what it does: inbox triage, chief-of-staff repo, meeting notes, lead intake, and morning briefing.](/images/blog/design-your-own-cursor-automations/five-shapes.jpg) The five shapes the prompt starts from. ## Rules I kept in the prompt - One job per automation. Each one does a single task, so you can tell when it fails. - Quiet when nothing changed. No empty pull request and no "all clear" message. - The result lands somewhere you will look. A repo, a doc, or the delivery you chose. Not only the chat. - You keep the send button. Sending, posting, spending, booking, and deleting stay with you. ## How to get more out of your Cursor subscription I was paying for Grok and not using Cursor. Cursor is now part of the unified billing, so if you already have that plan, Cursor is worth opening. Start with the feature I like most: cloud agents, which Cursor calls automations. Pick one job you repeat by hand, make it one automation, and have it leave its result somewhere you will look. Then add the next one. ![Cursor's profile screen showing 5 local agents and 994 cloud agents, a bar chart of daily cloud agent use, a 58-day streak, and a Manage Plan link.](/images/blog/design-your-own-cursor-automations/cursor-profile-usage.jpg) My Cursor profile. Most of my agent work runs in the cloud. My meeting notes automation is called Meeting Note Clerk, and it has its own page: [Meeting Note Clerk](/tools/meeting-note-clerk). I also keep every post about Grok Bot on my [Grok Bot index](/grok-bot). If you want to see a full setup built around these ideas, read [how I gave every AI agent its own Linear account](/blog/linear-multi-agent-workspace), or [how I organize Grok Bot as a chief of staff](/blog/how-i-set-up-grok-bot). I post what I'm building with agents on X. [Follow me @theaaron](https://x.com/theaaron) to see what breaks next. ## Related pages - [All field notes](/blog) - [Meeting Note Clerk](/tools/meeting-note-clerk) - [All my Grok Bot notes](/grok-bot) - [I gave every AI agent its own Linear account](/blog/linear-multi-agent-workspace) - [How I organize Grok Bot as a chief of staff](/blog/how-i-set-up-grok-bot) - [How I gave my bots email without giving them Gmail](/ai-agent-email-inbox) - [About Aaron Makelky](/about) ## Sources and references - [Cursor Automations](https://cursor.com/automations) - [Aaron on X (@theaaron)](https://x.com/theaaron) ## Common questions ### How do I use Cursor Automations? Open cursor.com/automations, then create one automation for one repeated job. Give it a trigger, either a schedule or an event such as a new email or a merged pull request, and tell it where the result should go. Or paste the prompt from this post and let Cursor design three for you. ### Are Cursor Automations the same as cloud agents? Yes. Cursor calls them automations, and the same feature is what Aaron Makelky describes as cloud agents: tasks that trigger on a schedule and run in the cloud without your device needing to be on. ### What is a Cursor Automation? A cloud agent in Cursor that runs on its own, on a schedule or when something happens, such as a new email, a webhook, or a merged pull request. It runs in the cloud, so your own computer does not need to be on. ### Why does the prompt ask questions before it designs anything? It asks which tools you already use, which check you repeat by hand, where results should land, and what must stay in your hands. Your answers decide the automations, so the prompt does not invent your stack. ### What stays with me when an automation runs? Sending, posting, spending, booking, and deleting. The prompt tells the agent to leave those actions to you, except a morning brief you asked to receive by email or Slack.