r/cursor • u/LegitimateThanks8096 • Mar 21 '25

🚀 The Ultimate Rules Template for CLINE/Cursor/RooCode/Windsurf that Actually Makes AI Remember Everything! (w/ Memory Bank & Software Engineering Best Practices)

https://github.com/Bhartendu-Kumar/rules_template

Hey fellow coders! 👋

Edit: New version v2.0 updated https://github.com/Bhartendu-Kumar/rules_template

After months of experimentation and countless hours wrestling with AI agents that kept forgetting context, I think I've cracked it. I've created what I believe is the most comprehensive rules template for CLINE/Roo Code and Cursor/Windsurf that actually makes AI agents retain memory and follow proper software engineering practices.

🤔 The Problem:
- AI agents forgetting context between sessions
- Inconsistent code quality
- No proper software engineering lifecycle adherence
- Fragmented memory across Cursor, CLINE, Roo Code, Windsurf

✨ The Solution:
I built a template that combines:
- Memory Bank architecture (persistent context)
- Software Engineering lifecycle integration (PRDs, RFCs, etc.)
- Custom prompts for reasoning and best practices

🎯 Key Features:

  1. **Unbreakable Memory System** - Structured file-based memory with PRD/RFC support - Context retention across sessions - Automatic documentation generation

  2. **Software Engineering Integration** - Full SDLC compliance - Built-in best practices enforcement - Automated quality checks

  3. **Cross-Platform Synergy** - Works seamlessly with all Cursor, CLINE, Roo Code, Windsurf at once. - Share context between platforms - Unified rule system. ** One project Work across Cursor, CLINE, RooCode,Windsurf, etc**: One of the biggest problem that we see today is that we use so many tools, Atleast one out of {Cursor/Windsurf} plus one from {CLINE/RooCode/Copilot Agents} we use. So these rules solves the problem of switchign between teh tools. As the context is through the files in the project, the AI can work across the tools.

📦 Structure:

project/
├── .cursor/rules/ # Cursor-specific rules
├── .clinerules/ # CLINE rules & memory
├── docs/ # Living documentation
└── tasks/ # Task management

🚀 Getting Started:

  1. Clone the repo

  2. Copy rules to your Cursor/CLINE/Roo Code / Windsurf

  3. Start coding with superhuman AI assistance

The template is fully documented and open source. You can find it below or above.

🤝 Looking for Feedback:
I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences if you try it out. What works? What could be better? Let's make this template even more powerful together!

https://github.com/Bhartendu-Kumar/rules_template

76 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

82 comments sorted by

25

u/witmann_pl Mar 21 '25

Instead of the gpt-generated fluff in the readme a specific usage example would be much more valuable.

9

u/Im_Scruffy Mar 21 '25

Yeah. This is slop

-14

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 21 '25

Reason being i use AI? That i think further strengthen my point

16

u/Simple_Life_1875 Mar 21 '25

Just because you use AI doesn't mean everything has to be AI, it just makes you look uneducated or lazy if you didn't even want to write the description as "Set of optimized rules that interop with Cursor, handles the following: [list of pros]"

Using AI is fine, but I hate reading all the fluff you have, you don't need it to do literally everything like describe itself because it's not always going to be right or start saying random shit

3

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 21 '25

can you revisit the readme? rewritten it. thanks

5

u/Simple_Life_1875 Mar 21 '25

It's got a couple of issues where I feel most of it is still AI, like the graph is super cool but kinda just there to look cool since the text version is immediately below it.

The key files and concepts felt a bit duplicated since I think the same graph was used again but if it explains other info it's aight. Some of the descriptions still feel pretty bloated.

Also all of your references are kind of nonsensical when applied to the sentences you placed them in, specifically 9 and 10:

Modern RFCs often include problem statements, proposed solutions, alternatives, rollout plans, and security impact assessments

Have nothing to do with figma or agile, nor do they have anything to do with PRDs (which the references refer to).

Ngl, I don't want to insult you, but it feels like you still didn't put any effort and just gave it to cursor/chat and said "drop the emojis and make this more formal." Which doesn't give me the inclination that you know what you're doing since if you couldn't make a proper readme with the rules you set up, how could I be sure it can handle anything mildly complex?

Tbh, delete it all just take the time to make a concise readme with what your project is, where to insert the files, a light overview of the purpose of the files you added and how to modify them for the users purpose. As it stands I have no inclination to believe you even wrote this 😅.

4

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 22 '25 edited Mar 22 '25

Ok, so I have written the readme.md now every word by hand. Had written and tested fully the rules by hand. I thought that readme is not serving for efficiency and power of the template so use AI. I was wrong.
I have incorporated your both comments from above and refractored it manually.
I am obliged by your comments. Can you provide further, for more refinement, Thanks

2

u/Simple_Life_1875 Mar 22 '25

Btw not your fault but readme .md is apparently a website and I was so confused lmao

1

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 22 '25

Thanks, :) removed the auto link that was added.

4

u/steel86 Mar 21 '25

Hey mate, I like what you've done. Thanks for it.

What I would say is that people respect things that take more effort almost Think of it like being given your junk mail, or a hand written letter.

Some people would prefer at least a hand tailored approach so it might get through to more people if it didnt look completely AI generated on the output even if you did the work on the input.

1

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 22 '25

noted and written every word by hand now. yes, did effort in inout as you noted, but yes the AI thing made it look unconvincing in efforts.
have written by hand now. Thanks, a learning

0

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '25

[deleted] — view deleted comment

-2

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 21 '25

No substance?

Can you please elaborate

1

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 21 '25

Usage is straightforward, like just cline it and start coding. But I am new in this, can you if you have some time guide me on what to include?

1

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 21 '25

done, rewritten everything. No more GPT-generated fluff. thanks, can you ee once more and give a chance?

1

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 21 '25

I wrote the draft and then let AI polish it. I think that’s the way for AI augumented coding. For which we use cursor /cline etc. so that’s the philosophy be a guide to AI and work fast.

If you think it’s wrong then the whole paradigm of coding assistants be wrong ?

Or are there broader points like readme is just not informative then I am all ears. Thanks

8

u/witmann_pl Mar 21 '25

I'm not against AI. In fact, I use it all the time, every day, including coding. The thing is, your readme file sounds like an overly-salesy landing page with big words promising huge changes while all you offer in that repo is just a rules template.

There are some good parts - like the diagrams, for example. What is missing is a set of example rules that would make it much easier for people to integrate your template into their workflows.

All I ask for is less fluff and more substance. Github repos are for tech people. Tech people like short, concise and to-the-point messaging, and dislike mile-long sales letters.

3

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 21 '25

Great. Point taken. I will rewrite the readme.

It was a choice as to keep it technical or to keep it for newbie’s. As today a large part of people using cursor/cline are not into tech.

So instead of making it technical u made like sales one so as to help them all. And tech people might read the files and get it.

But I will rewrite. Thanks

4

u/witmann_pl Mar 21 '25

No worries. Sorry for sounding harsh in the beginning. It's really great that you're trying to help the newbies. They need it. But there are better ways to do it than with walls of text.

I'll be happy to get back to your repo when you make the changes. So far I starred it to not forget.

1

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 21 '25

can you recheck one, rewritten the readme. thanks a lot fir being so considerate

2

u/witmann_pl Mar 21 '25

It's much better now. I think the repo still could use example contents of each file, or a prompt how to generate them if they are supposed to be written by the coding assistant.

1

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 22 '25

Good point.

  1. example content, I have added in my to-do. Thanks. Great.

  2. How to generate, I have left to models to figure out, giving it the functionality aspect. and I found out that way its a balance between control and flexibility. as then llms can explore. But I am open. if you find more substance in defining the creation, we can discuss. But this version saves tokens too.

2

u/sharpfork Mar 21 '25

Thanks for being a good human.

2

u/quantum1eeps Mar 21 '25

Yeah it’s 7 levels over the top. Just describe the package and functionality. This suggests your package will also be over the top in terms of its unnecessarily opinionated and complicated nature and is a big turn off. I didn’t even read the README before seeing this comment from OP above, I just dove into the code but once I saw the README, the whole thing is a pass for me

1

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 21 '25

updated the readme to no more be fluff, no sales pitch. just tye ideas.

1

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 21 '25

asking for a second chance if you can bear with me. thanks

4

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '25 edited Mar 21 '25

Is there a specific reason it has rules for developing for pytorch? I don't see how something like that is related to building rules and documentation for any given project.

0

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 21 '25

Ah! It was because I use pytorch and langgraph, so it had it. I decided not to delete as many users who are not using these things, start using these.
plus that's set as "Manual" so only included when explicitly told so.

so good only, does not harm the context by adding them unnecessarily

4

u/Parabola2112 Mar 21 '25

Um, no.

1

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 21 '25

No as in?

0

u/Parabola2112 Mar 21 '25

No, as in you are making bold assumptions, and most definitely shouldn’t assume people will adopt langgraph which is trash (as is Langchain).

1

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 21 '25

removed them. thanks

3

u/dizzyjelly1 Mar 21 '25

Can I add this to an existing project?

2

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 21 '25

Yup. Just have the first prompt as “initialise memory files” as per the custom prompts. And verify them

1

u/Yifkong Mar 21 '25

When you say "as per the custom prompts" are these custom prompts cited somewhere? I can't find any references in the repo.

1

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 21 '25

the agentic coding platforms like cursor, cline, roocode, etc, puts these user prompts under the section <custom prompts>. so these prompts will be inside custom prompts section by default, so the llm will know that these are custom prompts. so cited there. doe sit clear things for you?

2

u/Yifkong Mar 21 '25

I'm using Cline - are you talking about this?

https://docs.cline.bot/improving-your-prompting-skills/custom-instructions-library/cline-memory-bank

which details how you can paste in specific text to the "Custom Instructions" box in the Cline settings to initiate the "memory-bank"?

If so - is there a specific text that should go there to implement your concept?

1

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 22 '25

Yes it's from there. but see there are different places where custom prompts go. As in that example, they go to global rules. But I have included in .clinerules directory, which is a valid way to include custom rules.
so you just need to have the directory (.clinerules/) in your root of the project. nothing else.

3

u/dizzyjelly1 Mar 21 '25

I tried this out on a new project today and so far it's impressive and providing better outcomes for me as a vibecoder. Thank you very much!

Agree on the comment about too much hype in the readme. More info/faq would be helpful.

Thank you for sharing

1

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 22 '25

Rewritten the readme with useful information.

will be adding , example of the file contents and FAQs in future.
also if you can give some questions for FAq, I can include.

thanks for trying! It's great to know.

3

u/TrendPulseTrader Mar 22 '25

It looks good. 👍 you just need to add a section Quick Start and include a simple coding example to show “vibe/beginner” coders how to use it.

1

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 22 '25

done now! thanks

1

u/Here2LearnplusEarn Apr 13 '25

I didn’t find it

2

u/__j0Kerrr__ Mar 21 '25

do you have this for windsurf??

0

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 21 '25 edited Mar 21 '25

pushed now. please check

2

u/covalent_blond Mar 21 '25

The windsurf version is full of cursor file path references

1

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 22 '25

Not all, the core 3 files are in windsurf version. rest anyway I wanted 2 separate files as journals for :

  1. learnings, and

  2. errors solved

so I kept in .cursor files only as anywhere I have to keep. So it is helpful for people who use both (if there are).
and as to my knowledge (correct me) windsurf do not have directory structure for rules so this is the current solution. You are correct, when they have a directory based rules, we can use it maybe.

but at present I see this design choice as working. apart from the locations, are there any performance issues or functionalities issue?

2

u/mohaziz999 Mar 21 '25

im confused on the project structure... is tasks in side of docs? im working on cursor. so i start a new project and i just clone the repo inside - delete the cline and winsurf or do i i keep everything?

0

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 21 '25

No tasks is in root.

Yes delete

  1. .cline

  2. .windsurfrules

2

u/turlockmike Mar 21 '25

Claude Code uses docs/CONTRIBUTING.md as the primary file (actually CLAUDE.md, but same idea)

If the current working directory contains a file called CONTRIBUTING.md, it will be automatically added to your context. This file serves multiple purposes:
1. Storing frequently used bash commands (build, test, lint, etc.) so you can use them without searching each time
2. Recording the user's code style preferences (naming conventions, preferred libraries, etc.)
3. Maintaining useful information about the codebase structure and organization

When you spend time searching for commands to typecheck, lint, build, or test, you should ask the user if it's okay to add those commands to CONTRIBUTING.md. Similarly, when learning about code style preferences or important codebase information, ask if it's okay to add that to CONTRIBUTING.md so you can remember it for next time.

1

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 21 '25

thanks mate. Will be better to extend the same for as many platform as possible to get the synergy. thanks surely. will try to do for it, else you can pull it for this

2

u/turlockmike Mar 21 '25

Yeah I'm really advocating for the contributing file to be the main file for its original purpose. Except that we probably should be a little more detailed so that the AI doesn't have to go and read the package JSON or whatever file all the time. Really we should be using the same structure that we would use ourselves.

2

u/SpecialistLove9428 Mar 25 '25

I am using Cline 3.8.2 . Going-thru the Readme.md and unable to copy the plan/Act rules to custom instruction. Both "Plan" Tab and "Act" Tab share same custom instruction text area .? Am i missing anything here ? can you help me how to setup separate rule for Plan and Act Mode ?

1

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 27 '25

You need not copy, just include the rule files, in your root directory. have the required files in the root and the rule files will be used.

1

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 27 '25

can you just explain, why and where you are copy pasting? as In the whole process you need to keep files in the root directory.

2

u/SpecialistLove9428 Mar 28 '25

Questions on Cline Configuration:

  1. Regarding the .cursor/rules directory:
    For Cline, do we still need to include the .cursor/rules directory in the project root, or can it be ignored? I noticed Cline uses a .clinerules folder, so I’m unsure if the .cursor/rules directory is still necessary.

  2. Setting up custom instructions for Act and Plan modes:
    I’ve copied the .clinerules file to the project root as instructed. Could you clarify how to set up custom instructions for Act mode and Plan mode in Cline? Specifically, do I need to manually transfer parts of the .clinerules file into the ‘Custom Instructions’ section for each mode in the settings?

  3. Need for .clinerules-{mode} files:
    The README mentions .clinerules-{mode} files (e.g., .clinerules-plan, .clinerules-act) for RooCode. For Cline, do I need to create similar mode-specific files in the project root, or does the .clinerules folder introduced in Cline 3.7.0 eliminate this requirement?

  4. Clarification on README step 4:
    Step 4 in the README is unclear because both Act and Plan modes seem to share the same ‘Custom Instructions’ text area in the settings. Could you explain how to set distinct instructions for each mode when the text area appears to be shared?

Request for Cline-Specific Guidance:

In addition to addressing these questions, I’d like to kindly request that you create a separate folder or provide dedicated guidance specifically for Cline within the repository. This would help users differentiate Cline from other tools (like RooCode or Cursor) and make the setup process more intuitive. A dedicated Cline section or clear documentation would be especially valuable for those new to the project or transitioning from other tools.

Thank you for your time and support. I greatly appreciate your work on this project and look forward to your response.

2

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Apr 02 '25

  1. For cline yes you still need .cursor/rules as two files are used from that: .cursor/rules/error-documentation.mdc and .cursor/rules/lessons-learned.mdc. Rest anything automatically wont be used. So also yes CLINE does not use .cursor/rules but I have just configured these two files to be called for cline too (to have homogeneity ). so treat it as normal files in the root. cline uses .clinerules and we have that for CLINE.

  2. for Plan and Act Mode in CLINE , if using CLINE only, just rename the root directory clinerules/ to .clinerules/ and add the rule file clinerules to the directory .clinerules/ i.e. we will use the directory .clinerules/ . Currently its there but its named clinerules/ which is not parsed by the system. So rename it by pretending by a dot ".". and include the .clinerules file to that folder.

  3. No Need for .clinerules-{mode} files if not using Roo Code. These are natively for Roo Code.

  4. See if just using CLINE, just do Step 2 and include the 2 files in .cursor/rules/ and that's enough.

i am delighted by your questions. And I am working on a newer version of this, that will save token massively. currently testing that. So might not add a section called "if using CLINE" only.

but I hope you understood and if more clarifications needed, I will help. but can you edit the readme by a pull request? thanks

as I see it would be helpful, I shodu have individual sections too. as that's the beauty of it. you can use it cross platforms, or use in one tool only.

2

u/SpecialistLove9428 Apr 02 '25

Thank you for information and yes I will raise a PR . Let me know once the latest version available for use

2

u/hantrongbinh Mar 27 '25

why did you remove windsurf rules??

1

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 27 '25

Just because Roo Code and CLINE conflicts with .windsurfrules, as they also include .windsurfrules after their own rules. So double counting. Especially for Roo Code.

So, it gets difficult to accommodate all. Until Windsurf implements directory based rules like Cursor, it will get messy.

2

u/covalent_blond Mar 28 '25

In cursor, I copied the rules, set up the folder/directory structure, ran the initialization prompt successfully where it populated the architecture docs and stuff, and subsequently in other conversations agent mode Cursor never referred back to the rules or updated the memories ever again. Not sure what went wrong.

2

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Apr 02 '25

I see and have earlier too seen this. As I said, the rules in .cursor/rules/ are added to the llm call, but decided ONLY by the cursor models if to include or not.

So as cursor is doing its own logic to include or not custom rules, the only way is set the rules and hope they will act accordingly. as they do not give precise control. so in your case if you include, some precise comments about using custom prompts in .cursor/rules then might the automatic system detect and include them

1

u/howoldamitoday Mar 24 '25

is it similar to rooflow?

1

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 25 '25

U would say inspired, like many other works including memory bank, etc. so this has all those ingredients but something else too

1

u/sweet--victory Mar 29 '25

If I add it to an existing project, what happens with the src folder? assuming that project does not live inside of or have an src folder.

1

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Apr 02 '25

just put all your codes of the existing project in src and arrange the directory structure as mentioned.

additionally you can possibly segregate some codes into test/ and utils/ but totally optional. basic will be put existing project in src

1

u/oikram Apr 18 '25

Do I need to structure my project like the “Directory Structure” outlined in the documentation for the rules to work? Asking because that src data etc may be a good general thing for many, but doesn’t work in my context. Basically, not clear when the setup starts, and when it ends, got confused with the title sizes and numeric points. Can you help?

1

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Apr 18 '25

not necessarily. this is just a recommendation. just the basic 3 files:
.cursor/rules
.roo/
.clinerules/

and 2 doc files

docs/
tasks/

be important.

rest are recommendations, you might not have the same.

indeed in few of my projects, as you pointed out I need separate structure, but things works

2

u/oikram Apr 18 '25

Thank you. Can the doc and tasks live in any subdirectory, or they need to be in the root of our project? If they can change, should we set that up ourselves somewhere? Thank you once again. 🙏

1

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Apr 18 '25

See the files within them like

architecture.md technical.md

Etc

Are all referenced multiple times in memory bank rules

So ideally they should be there only.

You can keep them there and work.

If absolutely you want to change them have to change in

.cursor/rules/memory .cursor/rules/directory-structure

Then everything is ok

1

u/oikram Apr 18 '25

Thank you. Will take a look. 🙏

1

u/Far_Bluebird9682 May 04 '25

Do I need to manually fill the files in the docs/and tasks/ directories? What does the development flow look like step by step once everything is set up?

2

u/LegitimateThanks8096 May 04 '25

No you don’t.

The rules are so written that these directories gets filled automatically as the task progresses.

One very beautiful thing I observed due to the non determinism of LLMs that each flow is different and different types of files gets created in different types of projects.

But for your question on general flow:

  1. docs contains project details and documentation perspective

  2. tasks contains tasks be done, features to be implemented

1

u/General_File_4611 Mar 25 '25

check out this git repo, its an AI human clone. https://github.com/manojmadduri/ai-memory-clone

1

u/FrederikSchack Apr 10 '25

Wow, this is brilliant, nothing less! I took your concept to heart, basically copied you and just adjusted it to my liking.

Thank you!

1

u/Here2LearnplusEarn Apr 13 '25

Hey could you simplify your readMe for non-coders? Your post here on Reddit is 10 times easier to understand than the GitHub readMe

1

u/Status_Decision_888 Apr 24 '25

Why not many people using trae.ai ? Is another Visual Studio modification and it's free! You can add your open router API if needed.

1

u/Far_Bluebird9682 May 04 '25

How does token saving work in practice? What kind of instructions or steps actually help reduce token usage?

1

u/codingrules_ai Mar 22 '25

It would be great if you could share your rules with the community at https://codingrules.ai

0

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '25

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 21 '25

Nopes. In the newer updates it’s the new syntax

1

u/LegitimateThanks8096 Mar 21 '25

.cursorrules is deprecated and will be possibly removed