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Engineering Docs uses Cursor’s native rules system to deliver all 22 skills. Instead of a monolithic plugin file, the installer extracts each SKILL.md into its own .mdc rule file — giving Cursor’s context engine fine-grained control over when each skill is applied. Windsurf reads the same .cursor/rules/ directory, so one install command covers both editors.

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Install with npx

1

Run the installer from your project root

terminal
The short alias -r also works:
terminal
The installer creates .cursor/rules/ in your current working directory if it does not already exist.
2

Confirm the rule files were created

The installer prints one confirmation line per skill as it copies each file:
3

Restart Cursor or Windsurf

Rules in .cursor/rules/ are loaded at editor startup. Close and reopen Cursor (or Windsurf) to activate the new rules. You do not need to configure anything else — the rules are detected automatically.
Always restart after install. Cursor and Windsurf do not hot-reload .cursor/rules/ changes. Skipping the restart means the skills will not be available in the current editor session.

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What gets created

The --cursor flag runs a special install path in scripts/install.js. For every subdirectory in skills/, it reads the SKILL.md file and copies it to .cursor/rules/ with a prefixed filename:
Each .mdc file contains the full SKILL.md content for that skill — the auto-trigger intent, key concepts, document template structure, and behavioral standards. The engineering-docs- prefix keeps all rules grouped together and prevents naming collisions with your own project rules.
This install is workspace-scoped. The rules are created in the .cursor/rules/ directory of the project where you run the command, not in a global directory. Run the install in each repository where you want the skills available, or add .cursor/rules/ to your project starter template.

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Install with the setup script

Both scripts use the same Cursor-specific install logic as npx engineering-docs --cursor — they copy each SKILL.md as an individual .mdc rule file rather than copying the full plugin tree.

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Cursor plugin manifest

The repository also ships a plugin.json at integrations/plugins/.cursor-plugin/plugin.json for editors that consume a structured manifest alongside the rules:
integrations/plugins/.cursor-plugin/plugin.json

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Adding to version control

The .cursor/rules/ directory is project-local. If you want the entire team to have access to the skills without each person running the installer, commit the generated .mdc files:
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Team members who clone the repository will have all 22 rules available as soon as they open the project in Cursor or Windsurf, without running any install command.