Beyond Code: Using Cursor for Design, Data, and Documentation

The role of a modern software engineer often extends beyond writing application logic. We are frequently involved in UI design discussions, database schema planning, and the creation of technical documentation. While Cursor is primarily a code editor, its powerful AI is a versatile language model capable of assisting with a wide range of text-based tasks that are crucial to the software development lifecycle.

In this lesson, we will explore how to push the boundaries of what we can do with Cursor. We will learn how to use it as an assistant for generating UI components with specific styling frameworks, for data modeling and SQL query generation, and for drafting professional technical documents.

Assisting with UI/UX component generation

While we can ask the AI to “style a component,” a more effective workflow is to provide it with a clear design specification, allowing it to generate the necessary HTML and CSS. This is particularly powerful when working with utility-class frameworks like Tailwind CSS.

Let’s generate the HTML for a new “Create Note” modal in our Markdown Notes App. ...