No Clocks

Intent context defines what the user wants to get out of the model. For example, a system prompt usually serves as high-level instructions for how the user wants the model to behave. Most of the “prompting” done in Cursor is intent context. “Turn that button from blue to green” is an example of stated intent; it is prescriptive.

State context describes the state of the current world. Providing Cursor with error messages, console logs, images, and chunks of code are examples of context related to state. It is descriptive, not prescriptive.

Together, these two types of context work in harmony by describing the current state and desired future state, enabling Cursor to make useful coding suggestions.