Install and Configure Your First Tool
Step-by-step setup for each major tool: install, sign in, pick a model, and understand what the free tier gets you.
The previous chapter compared these tools. This one installs them. Pick the one you want to start with — you can come back and set up another later, and most people eventually run two.
Cursor
Its own editorPeople who want an editor that already has AI built in.
Cost: Free tier, paid plan for heavier use
- 1
Download it
Go to cursor.com and download the build for your operating system.
- 2
Import your VS Code setup
On first launch it offers to bring across your VS Code extensions, theme, and keybindings. Accept — Cursor is a fork of VS Code, so everything transfers.
- 3
Sign in
Create an account. The free tier is enough to complete this course.
- 4
Open a project folder
File → Open Folder, and choose the folder you made in the previous chapter. Cursor indexes the whole folder so it can answer questions about any file in it.
Opening a single file instead of a folder is the most common setup mistake — it removes almost all of the context.
- 5
Find the two shortcuts that matter
Cmd/Ctrl+K edits the code you have selected. Cmd/Ctrl+L opens a chat about your project. Almost everything else is optional.
Whatever you chose: point it at a folder
Every repo-aware tool has the same failure mode, and it is worth stating once on its own. These tools answer questions using what they can see. If you open a single file, they can see a single file — and they will still answer confidently, just with invented details about the rest of your project.
Open the folder, not the file. This one habit removes a large share of the “why is the AI making things up” problem before it starts.
Here is the concrete version of that problem. Ask a tool that only sees one open file to explain how your authentication flow works, and it will answer anyway — drawing on generic patterns from millions of other codebases, not yours. The answer sounds authoritative because plausible text always does. It just is not about your project. The next part of the course goes into exactly why that happens; for now, the fix is the one above.
A first real test
Do not start with “build me an app.” Start with a question that has a verifiable answer, so you learn what the tool can actually see:
What files are in this project, and what does each one do?Do not guess — if you cannot see something, say so.A repo-aware tool lists your real files. A chat window tells you it cannot see them. Both answers are correct for what that tool is, and knowing which you are holding is the whole point of this chapter. The answer to distrust is the confident-sounding third option: a chat-only tool that rattles off filenames as though it can see your folder. That is worse than not knowing, because it means it invented an answer instead of admitting the limit.
Key takeaways
- Open the folder, never a single file. Context is the difference between an answer and a guess.
- Verify the install with a command that prints a version, rather than assuming it worked.
- Students should check GitHub Education before paying for Copilot.
- Never paste secrets into a browser chat window.
- Test a new tool with a question you can check, not a task you cannot.
Before you move on
Quick check
Answer these to unlock the next chapter: 3 of 4 to pass. You can retake it anytime.
Make a free account to read on
Every chapter is free — an account lets your course progress follow you from your laptop to your phone. No payment, no trial.