Step-by-Step Guide

How to Use Cursor for Code Review (2026 Guide)

Use Cursor's AI chat to review pull requests, spot bugs, and understand unfamiliar code in your codebase.

⏱ PT10M 📊 Intermediate 📅 Updated May 2026

What you'll need

Cursor installed (free tier available)
A codebase or PR to review

Open the file or diff in Cursor

Open the file you want to review in Cursor. For PR reviews, use 'git diff' output or open changed files directly.

Select the code and open Chat

Select the function, class, or block you want reviewed. Press Cmd+L (Mac) or Ctrl+L (Windows) to send it to the Chat panel with context attached.

Ask for a security and logic review

Type: 'Review this code for security vulnerabilities, edge cases, and logic errors. List issues by severity.' Cursor responds with specific line-level feedback.

💡 Tip: Adding 'be critical and assume worst-case inputs' surfaces more edge cases than a neutral prompt.

Ask Cursor to explain unfamiliar code

For code you didn't write, ask: 'Explain what this function does and what assumptions it makes.' This is especially useful for inherited codebases.

Generate fix suggestions

For each issue Cursor finds, ask: 'How would you fix this?' Then use Cmd+K to apply the suggestion inline without leaving the file.

💡 Tip: Review the AI's fix before applying — Cursor's suggestions are usually correct but occasionally miss business-logic context.

Run tests after changes

Use Cursor's terminal integration to run your test suite immediately after applying changes. Type the test command in the Chat panel and Cursor will run it.

Pro Tips

Add a .cursorrules file to your repo with your team's code style guide — Cursor incorporates it into every review.
Use @codebase in the chat prompt to let Cursor search across all files, not just the selected block.
For large PRs, review file by file rather than the entire diff at once.

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