The modern code editor is no longer judged by how many extensions it supports or how customizable its interface is. What matters now is how effectively it can manage AI agents, and Cursor 3 has pulled ahead where it counts.
Its redesigned agent experience puts every agent in one place, makes it easy to monitor progress, and lets me run multiple tasks in parallel instead of waiting for one job to finish before starting another.
VS Code still feels built around manual coding
It’s about to change, though
I have relied on VS Code for years, and it remains one of the most flexible code editors available. However, its familiar interface still feels primarily designed for traditional coding.
I open a workspace, move between files, manage terminals, install extensions, and work through problems one task at a time.
Copilot and agent mode have made the experience much smarter, but they often feel like powerful additions sitting atop an editor originally designed for manual development.
To Microsoft’s credit, VS Code clearly understands where development is heading. The company has introduced a brand-new Agents view in the latest beta version.
It’s still rough around the edges, but I am excited to see the Windows maker going in the right direction with VS Code.
Cursor 3.0 puts agents at the center
All my coding agents are finally organized
Cursor version 3 feels less like a traditional code editor with an attached AI assistant and more like a dedicated control center for agentic development. The new Agents interface isn’t tucked away inside a small chat panel.
It sits at the heart of the experience and gives me a clear place to start tasks, follow progress, review changes, and step in whenever an agent needs guidance.
I can ask one agent to build a new dashboard, assign another to troubleshoot an authentication issue, and let a third inspect the project for accessibility problems. Instead of constantly switching between editor tabs, terminal windows, and chat sessions, I can oversee the entire workflow from one place.
That shift may sound cosmetic, but it changes how I approach a project. I spend less time manually navigating the codebase and more time defining tasks, reviewing implementation plans, and making higher-level decisions.
With Cursor 3’s organized interface, I can quickly see which agents are still working, which tasks have finished, and where my input is required. This becomes useful when I run independent jobs in parallel.
I am also eager to test Grok 4.5 inside this workflow. Cursor jointly trained the new model with SpaceXAI using developer interactions and coding data from Cursor, focusing on long-running software and knowledge work.
I am curious to see how it performs against Claude Code Fable 5, Anthropic’s flagship model for ambitious coding projects, and GPT-5.6 Sol, OpenAI’s new flagship for coding, research, and long-horizon agentic tasks.
Cursor turns me into a project manager
The interface makes agent’s progress easier to follow
Cursor 3 has changed my role in a coding project. I am no longer focused on writing every function, fixing every small bug, or moving line by line through the codebase.
I now spend more time defining tasks, assigning them to agents, reviewing their plans, and checking whether the final implementation actually makes sense. In many ways, I feel less like a solo developer and more like a project manager supervising a small engineering team.
For example, I recently worked on a habit-tracking web app with a built-in focus timer. Instead of asking one agent to build everything from start to finish, I divided the work into separate jobs.
One agent handled the dashboard and habit cards, another built the timer and session history, and a third reviewed the app for mobile responsiveness and accessibility. While those agents worked in parallel, I monitored their progress, clarified requirements, and stepped in when two tasks started touching the same files.
Once they finished, I reviewed the diffs, tested the app, and decided which changes were worth keeping.
The main reason I prefer Cursor 3 is simple: it matches the way I build software. I rarely start with a blank file and write everything manually anymore.
AI at the center
Make no mistake, VS Code is still the safer choice for developers who value familiarity, extensions, and complete control over their setup. However, that is no longer the only benchmark that matters to me.
As coding becomes more agent-driven, the better editor is the one that helps me delegate, monitor, and coordinate work without creating more friction.
Cursor 3 does that very well. With the new agents view, VS Code is heading in the same direction, but I would still hold my judgment since it’s still in beta.
For now, Cursor 3 is the better editor for the way I want to build the software.
