Here's something that hasn't changed since 2024: the AI editor is only as good as what you ask it.
What has changed is that both Cursor and Copilot are completely different products now. Cursor v3.0 shipped Background Agents, Cloud Agents, and a redesigned Composer 2.0. Copilot got agent mode across VS Code and JetBrains, a full coding agent that turns GitHub Issues into pull requests, and MCP support baked in. Both now support Model Context Protocol, which means your editor can reach directly into your Linear board, your Postgres database, your Sentry errors, your Figma designs.
The prompts that worked in 2024 still work. But there are new patterns that weren't possible before — and some old advice that's been quietly superseded by how agents actually behave now.
This is the updated list for 2026.
Before the prompts: the one thing that changes everything
