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Skillscursor-env-setup

cursor-env-setup

Agents & models

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Updated 10-15 17:30

About this skill

Cloud env setup + human git identity

When to use

  • Brand-new project that will run on Cursor Cloud Agents
  • Existing repo that still commits as Cursor Agent with a Co-authored-by: trailer
  • You want Cloud Agent commits attributed to the human (and optionally SSH-signed as them)

What this skill adds (on top of /env-setup)

  1. Cursor /env-setup first — agent-driven Cloud Environment setup (deps, Build/snapshot, install / start / terminals). Do not skip it.
  2. This skill second — drop in git identity scripts + hooks and wire them into install / start.
  3. Secrets last — tell the human how to set personal Cloud Agent secrets for name, email, and optional signing key.

Keep stack-specific install steps (Ruby, Node, Postgres, etc.) in the project's own .cursor/install.sh / start.sh. This skill only owns the git attribution layer.

Preferred git handling (defaults this skill installs)

Preference Behavior
Author Human from GIT_AUTHOR_NAME_OVERRIDE + GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL_OVERRIDE
Co-author trailer Blocked — neutralize Cursor *.co-author hooks; strip any Co-authored-by: lines
Subject line Strip a trailing period on the first non-blank line
Branch names No slashes (blocks managed cursor/... prefixes). Prefer short kebab-case (2–3 words). Avoid agent random suffixes (convention)
Signing Optional SSH signing via GIT_SIGNING_SSH_KEY; if identity is overridden without a key, disable Cursor's managed signing so GitHub does not show Unverified under the human's name

When the override secrets are unset, leave Cursor's default identity alone (safe for contributors who have not configured personal secrets).

Steps for the agent

1. Run Cursor env setup

Invoke Cursor's built-in /env-setup (or follow Cloud Environment Setup: dashboard agent-driven setup / Dockerfile / .cursor/environment.json).

Ensure the environment can install deps and produce a successful Build. Commit .cursor/environment.json when the repo should own the config.

Minimal shape (extend with project install / start / terminals as needed):

{
  "install": "bash .cursor/install.sh",
  "start": "bash .cursor/start.sh"
}

2. Add the git layer files

Copy from this skill into the repo (paths relative to skill root):

Source Destination
scripts/git-identity.sh .cursor/git-identity.sh
hooks/pre-commit .githooks/pre-commit
hooks/commit-msg .githooks/commit-msg

Make scripts executable (chmod +x).

3. Wire install + start

In .cursor/install.sh (idempotent), install hooks into .git/hooks so Cursor's managed dispatcher still chains to them:

# Install the repo git hooks. Cursor's managed hook dispatcher chains to
# /workspace/.git/hooks, so these run alongside the managed secret scanner.
for hook in pre-commit commit-msg; do
  [ -f ".githooks/$hook" ] && install -m 755 ".githooks/$hook" ".git/hooks/$hook"
done

In .cursor/start.sh (runs when an agent boots), call identity setup early (non-fatal):

bash .cursor/git-identity.sh || true

See templates/install-snippet.sh and templates/start-snippet.sh for copy-paste stubs.

4. Document in AGENTS.md (generic)

Add a short Cloud Agents section, for example:

  • Commits must be authored as the human configured by Cloud Agent secrets — do not author as Cursor Agent and do not add a Co-authored-by: trailer.
  • .cursor/git-identity.sh (from start.sh) sets user.name / user.email from GIT_AUTHOR_NAME_OVERRIDE and GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL_OVERRIDE, disables Cursor *.co-author hooks, and signs with GIT_SIGNING_SSH_KEY when set.
  • .githooks/commit-msg strips Co-authored-by: and trailing periods on the subject; .githooks/pre-commit requires user.email to match GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL_OVERRIDE when set, and blocks branch names that contain /.
  • Prefer short kebab-case branch names with no / and no cursor/ prefix.
  • Do not append agent random suffixes to branch names (e.g. -efe5, -99c1) — document as convention; hooks do not enforce this.
  • Prefer short imperative commit subjects (≈70 chars, no trailing period).

5. Stop and instruct the human (secrets)

Do not invent or paste secret values. End the setup with clear instructions:

How to set git identity variables (human)

Set these as personal-scoped secrets in the Cloud Agents dashboard (or Cursor Settings → Secrets). Personal secrets override team secrets of the same name, so each teammate's agents author/sign as them.

Secret Required Purpose
GIT_AUTHOR_NAME_OVERRIDE Yes (for human attribution) Commit author name
GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL_OVERRIDE Yes (for human attribution) Commit author email (must match the GitHub account / noreply you want on commits)
GIT_SIGNING_SSH_KEY Optional SSH signing private key, base64-encoded on one line (keeps PEM newlines intact). Register the matching public key as a GitHub Signing key.

Encode a signing key (optional)

# macOS (default)
base64 < ~/.ssh/git_signing_key | tr -d '\n' | pbcopy
# Linux: base64 < ~/.ssh/git_signing_key | tr -d '\n'

Paste the single line into GIT_SIGNING_SSH_KEY. If the key cannot be parsed, the script disables signing instead of blocking commits.

Verify on the next agent run

After secrets are saved, start a Cloud Agent and confirm:

git config user.name
git config user.email
# optional: git config --get commit.gpgsign

Create a throwaway commit on a slash-free branch and confirm GitHub shows the human author (Verified if signing is configured). Also confirm a slashy branch name is rejected at commit time.

Human checklist

  1. Create the three personal secrets above (signing key optional but recommended).
  2. Register the SSH public key as a GitHub Signing key (not only an auth key).
  3. Rebuild / refresh the Cloud Agent environment so install + start pick up the new scripts.
  4. Verify: human author, no Co-authored-by:, Verified when signing is configured, slash branch rejected on commit.

Gotchas

  • git commit --no-verify bypasses these hooks.
  • The slash rule runs at commit time, not branch creation. If the agent is already on cursor/foo-99c1, rename first: git branch -m flat-kebab-name.
  • Random suffixes (-efe5, -99c1) need AGENTS.md / prompt discipline — not hook-enforced.
  • Never put the private signing key in chat or the repo — personal Cloud Agent secret only.
  • Name/email override without GIT_SIGNING_SSH_KEY leaves commits unsigned by design (avoids Cursor-managed signatures under the human's name showing as Unverified).
  • Laptop-global core.hooksPath setups are not present on Cursor VMs. Cloud Agents must use the repo .githooks + secrets path from this skill.

Out of scope

  • Language/runtime install recipes (leave to /env-setup + project scripts)
  • Forcing a specific person's name/email in the skill files (always env-driven)
  • Requiring co-author trailers (this skill removes them by design)

Files in this skill

  • scripts/git-identity.sh — apply overrides, neutralize *.co-author, optional SSH sign
  • hooks/pre-commit — email match + no / in branch names + neutralize co-author
  • hooks/commit-msg — strip Co-authored-by: + trailing subject period
  • templates/* — install/start wiring snippets