Use cases
Nightshift for Cursor
Run accountable, recoverable engineering shifts in Cursor with native skills, hooks, persistent state, and conservative IDE-to-CLI recovery.
Answers: Nightshift plugin for Cursor · Updated
Nightshift is a first-class Cursor plugin. Install it from the public Cursor Directory, open the real project, run Setup, and use the same durable punch list, rules, decisions, and receipts that travel across supported hosts.
Install and start in the project
Open the Nightshift listing in Cursor Directory, install the plugin, then open the persistent project you want it to change before invoking Setup.
- Run Setup and approve only useful gates.
- Add one small punch-list item.
- Start with an attended run.
- Use Status, Doctor, Stop, Reset, or Purge through the installed skills.
Native hooks keep the contract visible
Cursor-shaped stop, tool, and session events feed the shared Nightshift state. The clock-out gate returns open work, configured rules inspect observable tools, and a clean owner close stands the watchman down.
- The plugin augments Cursor; it does not replace or proxy Cursor's runtime.
- Project state stays local under the authoritative Nightshift workspace.
- The same workspace can support an intentional handoff to another native host.
Understand the recovery boundary
Cursor IDE Agent and the Cursor CLI store conversations separately. When an IDE-owned shift dies, Nightshift can mint a CLI worker that receives the same durable contract, but it does not call that worker the same IDE chat.
- The original tab receives an attach-or-stop instruction.
- Later revivals resume the recorded CLI worker.
- Uncertain ownership stands down instead of risking two workers.
Start with a bounded prompt
This prompt names the outcome and preserves Nightshift’s review boundary. Paste it into the supported coding host from the project you want to change.
Open the project in Cursor, install Nightshift from its public directory listing, run Setup, and prepare one small attended shift before enabling unattended recovery.What this workflow does not claim
- Cursor IDE Agent and Cursor CLI use different conversation stores; Nightshift never claims that a CLI worker resumes the same IDE chat.
- The Cursor CLI currently needs explicitly offered project hook wiring for headless shift mechanics.
Evidence and sources
These links support the released behavior, public outcomes, or problem language described on this page.