Training course · Cursor · Citizen Developers & Low-Code

Cursor for Citizen Developers

Work productively with the AI code editor Cursor: agent mode, rules, codebase context, Tab completion, background agents and review.

Duration
2 days (14 hrs)
Format
Online or on-site
Language
German or English
Participants
open dates or exclusive for your team
Certificate
Certificate of attendance

Overview

“Cursor for Citizen Developers” is designed for roles such as Business users with automation ideas in administration, sales, procurement or HR, Power users of Excel, Power Platform or similar low-code tools and Process owners and business analysts and shows step by step how to use Cursor productively, safely and transparently in Citizen Developers & Low-Code – from the fundamentals to advanced workflows.

Cursor is an AI code editor built on VS Code that weaves language models deeply into everyday development. Alongside context-aware Tab completion, it offers an agent mode that searches files on its own, plans changes across the whole project, runs terminal commands and fixes errors iteratively. In this two-day course you will learn to use Cursor with purpose: choosing the right interaction mode, steering context deliberately and combining AI assistance with your existing workflow of version control, automated testing and peer code review.

A key focus is making Cursor work for teams. Project rules let you capture architectural decisions, naming conventions and testing strategies so that the agent produces consistent results. You will learn to make good use of codebase indexing, targeted references to files, documentation and symbols, and MCP integrations. You will also delegate tasks to background agents, review their output as pull requests and set up a review process that takes quality, security and data protection seriously across the organisation.

Citizen developers are business users who build their own applications and automations without being professional software engineers. Until recently, low-code platforms quickly hit their limits whenever custom logic, integrations or data transformations were needed. AI coding tools push that boundary much further: a plain-language description becomes forms, workflows, scripts and small web apps, and AI explains error messages, formulas and expressions in understandable terms. Responsibility grows at the same time, because home-built solutions also process company data and need maintenance. In this course you learn to use vibe coding and AI agents to build useful solutions for your department, combine them sensibly with low-code platforms and stay within your IT governance rules.

The course is delivered live – either online in a virtual classroom or on-site in our training rooms in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart and Kaiserslautern. We can also run it exclusively for your team.

Who is this course for?

  • Business users with automation ideas in administration, sales, procurement or HR
  • Power users of Excel, Power Platform or similar low-code tools
  • Process owners and business analysts
  • Members of digitalisation and innovation teams
  • IT leads setting up a citizen development programme

Typical challenges we address

  • Recurring manual tasks that IT has no capacity to automate
  • Low-code platforms hit limits with custom logic, integrations or data preparation
  • Little know-how on testing, documenting and running solutions safely
  • Risk of shadow IT without alignment with data protection and IT security

What you will be able to do

  • You choose the right Cursor mode for each task and use it efficiently.
  • You steer codebase context precisely and get more accurate suggestions as a result.
  • You write project rules that reliably enforce your team’s conventions.
  • You use agent mode and background agents for features and refactorings with verifiable results.
  • Build your own automations, forms and small applications for your department with AI support.
  • Combine low-code platforms with generated code for logic, data preparation and integrations.
  • Document, test and run your solutions in line with your IT governance rules.

Course outline

Day 1

Module 1 Setting up Cursor and understanding its modes
  • Installation and migration of VS Code settings and extensions
  • Differences between Tab completion, inline edits, Ask mode and Agent mode
  • Choosing a model per task: balancing speed, depth and cost
  • Privacy mode and organisation-level settings
Module 2 Steering codebase context
  • How codebase indexing works and where its limits lie
  • Referencing files, folders, symbols, documentation and web sources precisely
  • Using ignore files to exclude sensitive or irrelevant content
  • Avoiding overlong chats and restarting tasks with fresh context
Module 3 Rules for consistent team results
  • Creating and versioning project rules and scoping them by file pattern
  • Expressing architecture, style and testing conventions as effective rules
  • Separating user rules from team rules
  • Refining rules iteratively based on the agent’s typical mistakes
Module 4 Agent mode in practice
  • Building features step by step with plan, implementation and tests
  • Running multi-file refactorings safely with checkpoints
  • Approving terminal commands deliberately and feeding error output back
  • Connecting MCP servers for issue trackers, databases or browser testing

Day 2

Module 5 Background agents, review and governance
  • Delegating tasks to background agents and running them in parallel
  • Reviewing results as branches or pull requests and steering follow-ups
  • Using AI-assisted code review alongside human review
  • Addressing security risks, secrets and licensing in enterprise use
Module 6 Practice lab: Citizen Developers & Low-Code
  • Automating workflows
  • Building forms and small apps
  • Explaining formulas and expressions
  • Cleaning and transforming data
  • Connecting to interfaces
  • Documenting and testing solutions
Module 7 Data protection, quality & transfer to daily work
  • Home-built solutions also process company and employee data: you learn to respect GDPR requirements, IT approval processes, secure handling of credentials and the licence terms of platforms and generated code, so that no shadow IT emerges.
  • Ground rules for safe AI use in your team
  • Checking results: facts, sources, tests and the four-eyes principle
  • Personal action plan for the next 30 days
  • Open questions, outlook and resources for further learning

Practical scenarios from your field

Automating workflows

Describe approval processes, notifications and data transfers between email, spreadsheets, forms and business applications on low-code platforms, and have AI build the matching flows, expressions and conditions.

Building forms and small apps

Generate data entry forms, checklists or booking apps from a description, complete with validation, mandatory fields and simple data storage, and refine them step by step based on colleagues’ feedback.

Explaining formulas and expressions

Have complex Excel formulas, Power Fx or flow expressions explained in plain terms, track down errors and reliably write new calculations from a business description.

Cleaning and transforming data

Merge exports from different systems, remove duplicates, standardise formats and generate Python scripts or Power Query steps that make the preparation repeatable. Monthly preparation then takes minutes, not hours.

Connecting to interfaces

Use AI to understand how a REST interface works, configure connectors and set up simple API calls that bring data from business systems into your own solutions.

Documenting and testing solutions

Produce user guides, short technical documentation and test cases for home-built applications so colleagues and IT can understand, take over and keep running the solution.

Possible hands-on projects

Leave and cover planner

A small web app where team members enter absences, assign cover and give the team lead a monthly overview. Overlaps are flagged automatically.

Incoming invoice checker

A script that reads incoming PDF invoices, checks mandatory details and transfers the data into a structured spreadsheet for approval.

Request tracker

A simple ticketing tool for internal requests with a form, status history, assignments and automatic email notifications. Everyone keeps track of open and completed requests.

Prerequisites

You program regularly in at least one language and are familiar with Git and an IDE such as VS Code. You are confident with office applications and spreadsheets; no programming skills are required, though experience with a low-code platform helps.

Technical requirements

Your own laptop with Cursor, Git and your usual development environment installed; a Cursor account with access to agent features is recommended.

Data protection & compliance

Home-built solutions also process company and employee data: you learn to respect GDPR requirements, IT approval processes, secure handling of credentials and the licence terms of platforms and generated code, so that no shadow IT emerges.

Suggested dates

All dates are suggestions – your preferred date is always possible.

  • Mon, 23 November 2026 – Tue, 24 November 2026 Online Request
  • Mon, 30 November 2026 – Tue, 1 December 2026 Kaiserslautern Request
  • Thu, 10 December 2026 – Fri, 11 December 2026 Online Request
  • Thu, 14 January 2027 – Fri, 15 January 2027 Augsburg Request
  • Tue, 26 January 2027 – Wed, 27 January 2027 Online Request
  • Thu, 4 February 2027 – Fri, 5 February 2027 Salzburg Request

Frequently asked questions

Do I need prior VS Code experience to use Cursor?

It helps, but it is not essential. Cursor is built on VS Code, so navigation, shortcuts and extensions feel familiar and existing settings can be imported. If you currently work with JetBrains IDEs or other editors, a short introduction during the course gets you up to speed quickly so you can concentrate on the AI features.

How do I prevent confidential code from reaching third parties?

Cursor offers a privacy mode and organisation settings that restrict how code is stored by the provider. You can also use ignore files to exclude sensitive areas from indexing and context. In the course we discuss how to align these options with internal policies, data protection requirements and sound handling of secrets.

What do rules add compared with well-written prompts?

A prompt applies to one request only, whereas rules persist and apply to the whole team. They capture architectural decisions, preferred libraries, testing strategies and style guidelines, so nobody has to repeat that information and the agent produces code that fits your codebase. Rules are versioned with the project and evolve together with it.

Do I need programming skills to work with AI as a citizen developer?

No. You describe what your solution should do and the AI generates forms, flows, formulas or scripts. What matters is stating your requirements clearly and checking results systematically. In the course you learn the essential concepts such as data, logic, interfaces and testing so you can steer precisely and narrow down errors yourself.

How do we avoid shadow IT?

With clear rules rather than bans: approved platforms and tools, defined data classes, a simple register of home-built solutions and a route for handing over to IT once an application becomes business-critical. In the course you learn to apply such rules, and IT leads gain ideas for setting up a citizen development programme.

How much does “Cursor for Citizen Developers” cost?

The course costs a flat €949 plus VAT per participant – whether online or on-site. This includes 2 training day(s) with a live trainer, course materials, a lab environment and a certificate of attendance.

Can I suggest my own date?

Yes. Our suggested dates are just a guide. In the request form you can always describe your preferred date or period in free text – we check availability and confirm within one working day.

Is the course online or on-site?

Both are possible: live online in a virtual classroom or on-site in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart or Kaiserslautern. We can also run the course exclusively for your team.

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