Cursor Glass: Skills Setup for the New Cursor 3 (2026)
Cursor 3 changed everything. Here's how skills work in the new design.
On April 2, 2026, Cursor shipped its biggest redesign since launch. Codename Glass. The Agents Window, parallel agent execution, Design Mode, multi-repo support, and cloud agent environments (added May 13) changed how the tool works fundamentally.
For skills, the most important change is this: Cursor now has real agentic capabilities, not just chat. The Composer 2.5 release in May scored 62 on Artificial Analysis's Coding Agent Index, a 14-point jump. Skills matter more in Cursor now because the agent is capable enough to use them properly.
Quick Answer: Cursor 3 (Glass) supports SKILL.md skills. Place them in
.cursor/skills/in your project root. With the new Agents Window and parallel execution, skills give each agent specialized knowledge.
What changed in Glass
Agents Window. A dedicated panel for running agent tasks. Not just a chat sidebar anymore. Full agent execution with file edits, terminal commands, and iterative problem-solving.
Parallel agent execution. Run multiple agents on different tasks simultaneously. This is Cursor's answer to Claude Code's Agent Teams and Codex's subagents.
Design Mode. Visual UI generation from screenshots, Figma references, or descriptions. A frontend design skill combined with Design Mode produces better results than either alone.
Cloud agent environments. Agents can run in cloud sandboxes, not just your local machine. Added May 13.
Multi-repo support. Agents can work across multiple repositories in one session.
Recommended skills
harness-engineering
by Roy Yuen
Design, debug, and harden AI control loops with explicit contracts and automated…
production-agent-architect
by Roy Yuen
Architect, scaffold, and harden production-grade AI agents with battle-tested pa…
AGENTS.md & Agent-Config Quality Gate — Catch Ambiguous Rules, Conflicts & Missing Guardrails Before You Ship
by PubsProToolkit
An adversarial reviewer for AGENTS.md and agent instruction files. It flags ambi…
Setting up skills in Cursor 3
Skills go in your project root:
your-project/.cursor/skills/skill-name/SKILL.md
Cursor also reads .cursorrules files, but SKILL.md is the more portable format. If you have both, they complement each other: .cursorrules for Cursor-specific configuration, SKILL.md for agent knowledge that works across tools.
Cursor reads skills at session start. New skills added mid-session may require restarting the agent.
Best skills for Cursor Glass
Frontend and design skills. Design Mode generates UI. A design skill ensures the output follows your design system, not Cursor's defaults. This is the highest-impact skill for Cursor-specific workflows.
Code review skills. The Agents Window runs full agent tasks. A review skill ensures output quality before you accept changes.
Architecture skills. Multi-repo support means agents work across codebases. An architecture skill keeps patterns consistent across repos.
Testing skills. Parallel agents can write tests while another agent implements features. Framework-specific testing skills ensure the tests are actually useful.
Browse Cursor-compatible skills at agensi.io/skills.
Cursor Rules vs SKILL.md in Glass
Both work. The practical difference: .cursorrules files only work in Cursor. SKILL.md files work in Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, Kiro, Grok Build, and 20+ other agents. If you want portability, use SKILL.md. If you want Cursor-specific behavior, use .cursorrules. Most teams use both.
Related: Best Cursor Skills 2026 and Cursor Rules vs SKILL.md.