Cursor Security Checklist

Cursor AI code security checklist — check before you ship

Cursor's agent mode and tab-completions write a lot of code you didn't type — and accepting a plausible-looking suggestion is exactly how insecure patterns slip in. This checklist covers what to verify before shipping Cursor-written code.

1. AI-suggested secrets (the #1 Cursor risk)

Completions trained on public code love to produce hardcoded keys and example credentials that end up committed.

• No API keys or placeholder secrets left in accepted completions
• Secrets loaded from process.env / environment config, never literals
• .env files are in .gitignore before your first commit

2. Injection patterns

• No SQL built by string concatenation — parameterized queries only
• User input never reaches eval, exec, or shell commands
• User content escaped before rendering (XSS)

3. Agent-mode edits

• Multi-file agent changes reviewed diff-by-diff, not accepted wholesale
• Auth middleware and validation weren't "simplified away" during a refactor
• Error handling still exists after the AI cleaned up your code

4. Dependencies

• Every package the AI imported actually exists (hallucinated names are a real supply-chain risk)
• No known-vulnerable versions pinned by generated code

5. Before you push

• Scanned the changed files — inside Cursor with the VibeSafe extension (Ctrl+Shift+V) or on the web
• No critical issues in the scan
• Secrets rotated if anything was ever committed by mistake

Questions developers ask

Is Cursor safe to use?

Cursor itself is safe — the risk is in unreviewed AI output. Treat accepted completions like code from a fast but junior teammate: useful, but checked before it ships.

Can I scan without leaving Cursor?

Yes — the VibeSafe extension works in Cursor. Press Ctrl+Shift+V to scan the current file and get inline squiggles on flagged lines.

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