CHALLENGE 5: Squash a Bug with Cursor

CHALLENGE 5: Squash a Bug with Cursor

Level: Advanced
Find and fix a non-trivial bug in an existing project, using Cursor to trace it across files. Always check cursor.com/docs for the latest.

What are we building?

Debugging is where AI really earns its keep. You’ll take a project with a real bug and use Cursor to understand the codebase, trace the problem across files, find the root cause, and confirm the fix instead of hunting line by line on your own.

How it works

1. Go to cursor.com and click Download (it auto-detects your OS).
2. Find a bug — one in your own project, or a known issue in an open-source repo.
3. Ask Cursor to investigate — describe the symptom, let it search the code.
4. Fix the root cause — not just the symptom.
5. Verify — run it and confirm the bug is gone.

Steps

1. Open a project that has a bug (a failing test, a wrong output, a crash).
2. Open the AI chat or Agent and describe the symptom, e.g., “When I submit the form with an empty name, the app crashes instead of showing an error. Find out why.”
3. Let Cursor search across files to locate the cause. Ask it to explain what’s going wrong.
4. Have Cursor propose a fix. Review it — make sure it addresses the root cause, not just the surface.
5. Run the app or the tests to confirm the bug is fixed.

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Submit: Link us to the before/after (PR, diff, or screenshots) + a sentence on how Cursor helped you track it down.