# Cursor

> `cursor@1.0.0`

Cursor is an AI-first code editor — a fork of VS Code engineered around long-context model reasoning, project-wide edit operations, and an agentic terminal. The marketing surface at cursor.com reads as quietly editorial rather than loud-tech: a warm "Sand" near-paper canvas, deep "Cursor Ink" text, and a single hot "Cursor Orange" (#F54E00) accent. Product chrome inverts to a "Cursor Night" dark canvas with ANSI-aligned semantic greens and reds. Typography on the marketing site is Cursor's proprietary "CursorGothic" sans with a "BerkeleyMono" mono pair; neither is publicly distributed.


**Tags:** `cursor`, `ai`, `developer-tools`, `code-editor`, `warm`, `light-first`, `paper`

## Atoms

### Palette

**Cursor** · `cursor@1.0.0` · Proprietary — All Rights Reserved

> Cursor's brand palette, captured directly from the live cursor.com marketing site where the design system exposes named color tokens on :root (--color-theme-bg, --color-theme-text, --color-theme-accent, --color-theme-product-ansi-*). Cursor presents a warm light-first canvas — a near-paper "Sand" surface, a deep ink "Cursor Ink" text, and a saturated orange "Cursor Orange" (#F54E00) as the primary accent — supported by an ANSI-aligned green and red used by the product UI. The brand reads as quietly editorial: small palette, warm neutrals, a single hot accent. 

### Fonts

| Role | Font | License | Classification |
|------|------|---------|----------------|
| `heading` | **Inter** `(inter@1.0.0)` | OFL-1.1 | sans-serif |
| `body` | **Inter** `(inter@1.0.0)` | OFL-1.1 | sans-serif |
| `mono` | **JetBrainsMono Nerd Font** `(jetbrainsmono-nerdfont@1.0.0)` | OFL-1.1 | monospace |

## Swatches

| ID | Name | Value |
|----|------|-------|
| `sand-canvas` | Sand Canvas | `#F7F7F4` |
| `sand-card` | Sand Card | `#F2F1ED` |
| `sand-card-hover` | Sand Card Hover | `#EBEAE5` |
| `sand-border` | Sand Border | `#E1E0DB` |
| `cursor-ink` | Cursor Ink | `#26251E` |
| `cursor-ink-secondary` | Cursor Ink Secondary | `#4A443B` |
| `cursor-ink-tertiary` | Cursor Ink Tertiary | `#76716A` |
| `cursor-orange` | Cursor Orange | `#F54E00` |
| `cursor-orange-pressed` | Cursor Orange Pressed | `#DB7042` |
| `cursor-green` | Cursor Green | `#1F8A65` |
| `cursor-red` | Cursor Red | `#CF2D56` |
| `cursor-night` | Cursor Night | `#1A1A17` |
| `cursor-night-elevated` | Cursor Night Elevated | `#26251E` |
| `cursor-night-border` | Cursor Night Border | `#3C3933` |

## Mode role mappings

### Light mode

| Role | Swatch | Hex |
|------|--------|-----|
| `background` | `sand-canvas` | `#F7F7F4` |
| `surface` | `sand-card` | `#F2F1ED` |
| `surface-elevated` | `sand-card-hover` | `#EBEAE5` |
| `text-primary` | `cursor-ink` | `#26251E` |
| `text-secondary` | `cursor-ink-secondary` | `#4A443B` |
| `text-tertiary` | `cursor-ink-tertiary` | `#76716A` |
| `primary` | `cursor-orange` | `#F54E00` |
| `primary-hover` | `cursor-orange-pressed` | `#DB7042` |
| `accent` | `cursor-orange` | `#F54E00` |
| `accent-hover` | `cursor-orange-pressed` | `#DB7042` |
| `success` | `cursor-green` | `#1F8A65` |
| `warning` | `cursor-orange` | `#F54E00` |
| `error` | `cursor-red` | `#CF2D56` |
| `border` | `sand-border` | `#E1E0DB` |

### Dark mode

| Role | Swatch | Hex |
|------|--------|-----|
| `background` | `cursor-night` | `#1A1A17` |
| `surface` | `cursor-night-elevated` | `#26251E` |
| `surface-elevated` | `cursor-ink-secondary` | `#4A443B` |
| `text-primary` | `sand-canvas` | `#F7F7F4` |
| `text-secondary` | `sand-card-hover` | `#EBEAE5` |
| `text-tertiary` | `cursor-ink-tertiary` | `#76716A` |
| `primary` | `cursor-orange` | `#F54E00` |
| `primary-hover` | `cursor-orange-pressed` | `#DB7042` |
| `accent` | `cursor-orange` | `#F54E00` |
| `accent-hover` | `cursor-orange-pressed` | `#DB7042` |
| `success` | `cursor-green` | `#1F8A65` |
| `warning` | `cursor-orange` | `#F54E00` |
| `error` | `cursor-red` | `#CF2D56` |
| `border` | `cursor-night-border` | `#3C3933` |

## Brand semantic roles

### Colors

| Role | Swatch | Hex |
|------|--------|-----|
| `identity` | `sand-canvas` | `#F7F7F4` |
| `on-identity` | `cursor-ink` | `#26251E` |
| `primary` | `cursor-orange` | `#F54E00` |
| `primary-hover` | `cursor-orange-pressed` | `#DB7042` |
| `accent` | `cursor-orange` | `#F54E00` |
| `accent-hover` | `cursor-orange-pressed` | `#DB7042` |
| `mark` | `cursor-ink` | `#26251E` |
| `success` | `cursor-green` | `#1F8A65` |
| `warning` | `cursor-orange` | `#F54E00` |
| `error` | `cursor-red` | `#CF2D56` |
| `text-primary-light` | `cursor-ink` | `#26251E` |
| `text-primary-dark` | `sand-canvas` | `#F7F7F4` |
| `background-light` | `sand-canvas` | `#F7F7F4` |
| `background-dark` | `cursor-night` | `#1A1A17` |
| `surface-light` | `sand-card` | `#F2F1ED` |
| `surface-dark` | `cursor-night-elevated` | `#26251E` |
| `text-secondary-light` | `cursor-ink-secondary` | `#4A443B` |
| `text-tertiary-light` | `cursor-ink-tertiary` | `#76716A` |
| `border-light` | `sand-border` | `#E1E0DB` |

### Typography

| Role | Font role key |
|------|---------------|
| `display` | `heading` |
| `prose` | `body` |
| `code` | `mono` |

## Rules

### 🛑 error (6)

#### `contrastRatio` → `text-primary`

- **against:** `background`
- **minRatio:** `4.5`
- **standard:** `WCAG-AA`

> Cursor Ink (#26251E) on Sand Canvas (#F7F7F4) reads at ~15:1 — comfortably above WCAG AA. The brand's editorial posture and long-form documentation rewards holding the AA floor decisively rather than nudging into AAA-only territory. 

#### `colorChoice` → `roles.colors.primary`

- **allowed:** cursor-orange, cursor-orange-pressed
- **forbidden:** cursor-green, cursor-red, cursor-ink, sand-card

> Cursor Orange (#F54E00) is the single hot accent on the cursor.com marketing surface (--color-theme-accent on the live site). The product greens and reds are reserved for ANSI semantic states and must not stand in for the primary brand action color; the inks are text, not action. 

#### `colorChoice` → `roles.colors.mark`

- **allowed:** cursor-ink, sand-canvas
- **forbidden:** cursor-orange, cursor-green, cursor-red

> The Cursor wordmark on the live marketing site renders in Cursor Ink on light canvas or Sand Canvas on the night canvas — monochromatic, not orange. The orange is an action accent, not a logo fill. 

#### `forbiddenTreatment` → `logo`

- **treatments:** stretched, rotated, recolored, drop-shadow, gradient-fill, on-busy-photo

> Cursor's identity is restrained by design. Recolored, skewed, or gradient-filled marks conflict with the quiet, editorial voice of the cursor.com surface. 

#### `contextRestriction` → `roles.colors.warning`

- **forbiddenContexts:** error-state, destructive-action
- **allowedContexts:** call-to-action, inline-highlight, product-emphasis

> Cursor Orange does double duty as accent + warning on the live site (--color-warning aliases to --color-theme-accent). The error state is the separate Cursor Red (#CF2D56) — orange must not stand in for destructive or failure states. 

#### `accessibilityRequirement` → `*`

- **standard:** `WCAG-AA`
- **criterion:** `1.4.3`

> WCAG 2.1 Success Criterion 1.4.3 (Contrast Minimum) — Level AA. The sand canvas and Cursor Ink combination starts well above AA; consumers must hold that floor when adapting the palette. 

### ⚠️ warning (1)

#### `enumMembership` → `typography.heading.fontWeight`

- **allowed:** 400, 500, 600

> The live cursor.com surface renders display headings in the 400–600 weight band on the proprietary CursorGothic face. Heavier weights (700+) push the brand into a louder marketing voice than the editorial baseline supports. 

### 💡 recommendation (2)

#### `fontPairing` → `typography.code`

- **requires:** `prose`
- **minSizeRatio:** `0.875`

> Cursor pairs its proprietary BerkeleyMono with the sans for inline code on the marketing site; JetBrains Mono Nerd Font (the open-source substitute) reads cleanly at 0.875× of the body size and preserves the editorial rhythm. 

#### `compositionConstraint` → `roles.colors.primary`

- **pairsWith:** sand-canvas, sand-card, cursor-night, cursor-ink
- **doesNotPairWith:** cursor-red, cursor-green

> Cursor Orange is calibrated to read on the warm sand canvas and on the cursor-night dark canvas. Pairing it adjacent to the ANSI green or red introduces a chromatic conflict — three saturated hues competing — that breaks the calm one-accent voice of the brand. 

## Provenance

- **Source:** <https://www.cursor.com/>
- **License:** `Proprietary — All Rights Reserved`
- **Attribution:** Cursor and the Cursor mark are trademarks of Anysphere, Inc. Visual identity captured from the deployed stylesheet on cursor.com (--color-theme-*, --color-bg, --color-accent, --font-mono token families). 
- **Imported:** `2026-05-19`
- **Notes:** Derived from live site CSS at https://www.cursor.com/ on 2026-05-19; no public brand guide located. The proprietary "CursorGothic" sans is declared via @font-face on cursor.com but is not publicly distributed; Inter is the open-source rendering substitute. The proprietary "BerkeleyMono" mono is not publicly distributed; JetBrains Mono Nerd Font is the open-source rendering substitute. Although Cursor's product chrome (the IDE itself) is dark-first, the marketing brand surface is light-first — `identity` is therefore mapped to the sand canvas rather than the night canvas. 

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*Generated by the brand-atoms converter. Source: `cursor@1.0.0` from the encyclopedia.*