Tune the CLI with a config file
interface & shortcuts
// what it does
Global settings live in ~/.cursor/cli-config.json (project overrides in <project>/.cursor/cli.json). Common keys: version, editor.vimMode, model, approvalMode, sandbox.mode, notifications, and the display.* toggles. Edit it directly, or use /config in a session; /vim toggles Vim keys on the fly. Override the config directory with CURSOR_CONFIG_DIR or XDG_CONFIG_HOME.
// shell
$ { "version": 1, "editor": { "vimMode": true }, "notifications": true }$ /config// gotcha
The file is strict JSON with no comments. A corrupt file is backed up as .bad and recreated with defaults, and some fields are CLI-managed and may be overwritten — so hand edits to those keys can silently revert.