Training course · Cursor · C/C++ & Embedded

Cursor for C/C++ and Embedded 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 C/C++ and Embedded Developers” is designed for roles such as Embedded software engineers working with microcontrollers and RTOS-based systems, C++ developers in systems software, automotive and industrial automation and Firmware and device driver developers and shows step by step how to use Cursor productively, safely and transparently in C/C++ & Embedded – 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.

In embedded and systems development, determinism, memory safety and tight resource budgets matter more than almost anywhere else. AI coding assistants and agents help you read datasheets and register maps, write drivers and hardware abstraction layers, clear compiler warnings and static analysis findings, and build unit tests with mocks for hardware access. The domain also demands particular care: undefined behaviour, race conditions in interrupt handlers or MISRA violations creep in quickly when generated code is accepted uncritically. In this course you learn to integrate AI into your cross-compilation workflow with CMake, debuggers and hardware-in-the-loop tests while meeting the quality and safety expectations of functionally safe products.

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?

  • Embedded software engineers working with microcontrollers and RTOS-based systems
  • C++ developers in systems software, automotive and industrial automation
  • Firmware and device driver developers
  • Embedded Linux and Yocto developers
  • Test and verification engineers for embedded systems

Typical challenges we address

  • Memory errors, undefined behaviour and concurrency bugs are hard to find and costly in the field
  • Legacy C codebases full of global state and macros with little test coverage
  • Significant effort to comply with and evidence coding standards such as MISRA C/C++ or AUTOSAR C++
  • Hardware knowledge locked in datasheets and in the heads of a few experts

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.
  • Apply AI agents to driver development, refactoring and debugging in C and C++ in a targeted, verifiable way.
  • Raise test coverage of low-level software with generated unit tests and mocks that run on the host.
  • Combine AI support with coding standards, static analysis and the evidence requirements of safety-related development.

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: C/C++ & Embedded
  • Drivers from datasheets
  • Making sense of static analysis
  • Unit tests with hardware mocks
  • Crash and memory analysis
  • Introducing modern C++
  • Build and toolchain upkeep
Module 7 Data protection, quality & transfer to daily work
  • Firmware is often core intellectual property and may be subject to export control or security requirements: you learn how to protect source code, assess licensing risks in generated code and reconcile AI use with the Cyber Resilience Act, IEC 62443 and functional safety under ISO 26262 or IEC 61508.
  • 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

Drivers from datasheets

Have register descriptions and timing diagrams structured from datasheets, then derive headers with bitfield definitions, initialisation routines and a lean hardware abstraction layer for SPI, I²C or UART peripherals.

Making sense of static analysis

Explain and prioritise findings from clang-tidy, cppcheck or MISRA checkers, propose compliant corrections and prepare justified deviations for your deviation records. Recurring patterns can then be fixed across the codebase.

Unit tests with hardware mocks

Extract testable interfaces from low-level code, generate mocks for register and HAL access and create unit tests with GoogleTest, Unity or CppUTest that run on the host.

Crash and memory analysis

Interpret HardFault registers, stack traces, core dumps and sanitiser output, narrow down likely causes such as stack overflows or use-after-free and suggest targeted debugging steps.

Introducing modern C++

Gradually replace raw pointers, manual memory management and macros with RAII, constexpr, smart pointers and type-safe abstractions without degrading real-time behaviour or the memory budget.

Build and toolchain upkeep

Structure CMake projects for cross-compilation, create toolchain files, linker scripts and CI jobs for firmware builds and analyse build failures in the context of the target platform.

Possible hands-on projects

Register header generator

A script that converts register tables from an SVD or CSV file into type-safe C headers with masks, offsets and accessor functions.

Serial protocol monitor

A desktop tool that reads from a serial port, decodes a custom binary protocol and displays frames with timestamps and filters.

MISRA report dashboard

A small web view that aggregates static analysis results, groups rule violations by module and tracks progress across builds. New violations are highlighted.

Prerequisites

You program regularly in at least one language and are familiar with Git and an IDE such as VS Code. You are proficient in C or C++ and experienced with build systems, debugging and low-level or systems programming.

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

Firmware is often core intellectual property and may be subject to export control or security requirements: you learn how to protect source code, assess licensing risks in generated code and reconcile AI use with the Cyber Resilience Act, IEC 62443 and functional safety under ISO 26262 or IEC 61508.

Suggested dates

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

  • Tue, 24 November 2026 – Wed, 25 November 2026 Online Request
  • Wed, 2 December 2026 – Thu, 3 December 2026 Munich Request
  • Thu, 10 December 2026 – Fri, 11 December 2026 Online Request
  • Wed, 20 January 2027 – Thu, 21 January 2027 Online Request
  • Mon, 25 January 2027 – Tue, 26 January 2027 Berlin Request
  • Tue, 2 February 2027 – Wed, 3 February 2027 Online 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.

Is AI-generated code acceptable in safety-critical embedded systems?

Standards such as ISO 26262 or IEC 61508 do not prohibit AI tools, but they require traceable processes, reviews, testing and, where relevant, tool qualification. Generated code is therefore treated like any other code: reviewed, tested and verified against coding standards. In the course you develop working practices that support this evidence rather than bypass it.

Can an AI agent work with my target hardware?

Agents can trigger builds, flash devices, read serial output and run tests on the host or a hardware-in-the-loop rig, provided you expose the right command-line tools. We show you how to set up such loops in a controlled way, with clear permissions and without the agent accessing production devices unsupervised.

How much does “Cursor for C/C++ and Embedded 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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