Training course · Cursor · Legacy Modernisation

Cursor for Legacy Modernisation

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

This course connects Cursor with the everyday processes of Legacy Modernisation. Participants work on realistic scenarios and leave with prompts, workflows and checklists they can use straight away.

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.

Many business-critical systems still run on mainframe COBOL, ageing Java EE applications or .NET Framework solutions whose original developers moved on long ago. AI coding assistants and agents make these codebases far more approachable: they explain programme logic, reconstruct business rules, generate characterisation tests and support stepwise migration to modern languages, frameworks and cloud platforms. Successful modernisation is still engineering work, though, because automated translation without understanding simply produces new legacy code. In this course you learn to apply AI along proven patterns such as strangler fig, branch by abstraction and anti-corruption layers, lock down existing behaviour with tests before every change and base modernisation decisions on a solid analysis of what you already have.

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?

  • Developers maintaining COBOL, PL/I or RPG systems
  • Java and .NET teams with ageing monoliths and outdated frameworks
  • Software and enterprise architects in modernisation programmes
  • IT managers and project leads responsible for migrations
  • Application modernisation and cloud migration consultants

Typical challenges we address

  • Business rules are buried undocumented in code and the original developers’ knowledge is gone
  • Missing automated tests make every change risky
  • Outdated frameworks, unpatched libraries and proprietary runtimes
  • Big-bang migrations fail on scope, data migration and parallel operation

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.
  • Use AI agents to understand legacy systems, document business rules and make dependencies visible.
  • Protect existing behaviour with generated characterisation tests before migrating or refactoring code.
  • Plan and steer incremental modernisation using proven patterns instead of risky big-bang cutovers.

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: Legacy Modernisation
  • Extracting business rules
  • Mapping dependencies
  • Generating characterisation tests
  • Framework upgrades
  • Translating and refactoring code
  • Designing a strangler fig architecture
Module 7 Data protection, quality & transfer to daily work
  • Legacy systems often process customer, financial or insurance data: you learn to sanitise code and test data before using AI, clarify licensing and copyright questions around translated code and address the requirements of the GDPR, DORA and sector regulators for changes to critical systems.
  • 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

Extracting business rules

Analyse COBOL paragraphs, copybooks or Java service classes, document the embedded calculation and decision logic as readable business rules and validate them together with domain experts.

Mapping dependencies

Reconstruct call graphs, JCL job chains, database access and interfaces from source code and visualise them as diagrams to find sensible seams for stepwise replacement.

Generating characterisation tests

Capture current behaviour with golden master and approval tests, derive anonymised test data from production patterns and build a safety net before any migration begins.

Framework upgrades

Plan migrations from Java EE to Jakarta EE or Spring Boot and from .NET Framework to modern .NET, identify API breaks and apply consistent changes across many files.

Translating and refactoring code

Turn COBOL modules into idiomatic Java or C# rather than translating line by line, map data types such as packed decimals correctly and verify the result against the original with comparison tests.

Designing a strangler fig architecture

Design facades, routing layers and anti-corruption layers through which new services take over legacy functions step by step, including data synchronisation and fallback options. Each stage remains independently deployable.

Possible hands-on projects

Copybook to schema converter

A tool that reads COBOL copybooks and generates JSON schemas, Java records or SQL tables, correctly mapping decimal and REDEFINES fields.

Legacy knowledge portal

A small web app that makes analysed programmes, business rules and dependencies searchable and answers questions about the legacy system with source references.

Comparison test harness

A test harness that sends identical inputs to the old and new system, compares outputs field by field and logs discrepancies clearly.

Prerequisites

You program regularly in at least one language and are familiar with Git and an IDE such as VS Code. You have programming experience in at least one language of the legacy or target platform, such as COBOL, Java or C#, plus a basic grasp of software architecture.

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

Legacy systems often process customer, financial or insurance data: you learn to sanitise code and test data before using AI, clarify licensing and copyright questions around translated code and address the requirements of the GDPR, DORA and sector regulators for changes to critical systems.

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
  • Wed, 9 December 2026 – Thu, 10 December 2026 Online Request
  • Thu, 7 January 2027 – Fri, 8 January 2027 Online Request
  • Mon, 18 January 2027 – Tue, 19 January 2027 Augsburg Request
  • Thu, 28 January 2027 – Fri, 29 January 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.

Can AI automatically translate a COBOL system into Java?

AI translates individual modules far faster than manual work, but a pure one-to-one translation often yields code that is hard to maintain. A better approach is to understand and test the business rules first and design the target architecture deliberately. In the course you combine AI-assisted translation with comparison tests and refactoring.

How do we handle very large codebases?

Large legacy systems do not fit entirely into a model’s context. What works is systematic inventory, per-module summaries, dependency graphs and targeted retrieval of relevant code. Agents then work module by module with a clearly defined brief. You learn to build this structure and turn the results into input for architecture decisions.

How much does “Cursor for Legacy Modernisation” 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.

More courses for Legacy Modernisation

More Cursor courses

All 32 Cursor courses

Cursor · MunichCursor · SalzburgCursor · BerlinCursor · AugsburgCursor · HanoverCursor · BremenCursor · StuttgartCursor · KaiserslauternCursor · Online