What I wish I knew before cleaning up a code mess you didn't write
A practical, opinionated way to use Cursor for cleaning up a code mess you didn't write, with the step I always forget.
This isn't a tutorial. It's what I do, and the one mistake I keep making.
The task: cleaning up a code mess you didn't write. Cursor helps here because knows your whole codebase and edits across files.
Step three is the boring one people skip: clean the input before the tool touches it. Garbage in is still garbage out.
Step two, give it one job, not five. The moment you pile on asks, the output splits its attention and you get a polite nothing.
What I do differently is to set a limit. A timer on the task keeps the tool from becoming a thirty-minute rabbit hole.
The catch is that it's only as good as the example you feed it. A weak example gives a weak result, and that's on you.
I use it now without thinking, which is the highest praise I give a tool.