AI coding app quick start

Cursor quick start

Check Cursor MCP config first, then keep a stable local memory of approvals.

Prerequisite

Install Guard

If you haven't installed Guard yet, run the install script first. This installs hol-guard via pipx and configures it for Cursor in one step.

Terminal

set -o pipefail; curl -fsSL https://hol.org/guard/install.sh | bash -s -- --harness cursor --mode install --verify

Already have Guard installed? Skip to the harness command below. Full install guide.

Harness command

Attach to Cursor

Terminal

hol-guard install cursor

Guard stays local by default — no account required to protect your first session. Connect Guard Cloud later to sync security records across your devices.

What Guard checks

~/.cursor/mcp.json
project .cursor/mcp.json
local MCP server declarations before launch

What install changes

Uses wrapper mode first for low-risk rollout.
Does not require account sign-in to remember local approvals.

Verification

Confirm the setup before your first protected session.

Run the setup command

Start with the Guard command matched to this AI coding app and its setup mode.

Command

hol-guard install cursor

Run the next verification commands

Confirm Guard sees the expected config paths before your first protected session.

Command

hol-guard doctor cursor

Check your first security record

After Guard records a local decision, open the receipt list to confirm what was scanned.

Command

hol-guard receipts

Safe demo & test protection

Use --dry-run for demos and CI. Guard scans and reports without blocking, so you can show what it catches without interrupting a live session.

Sync to Guard Cloud

Connect Guard Cloud to carry your security records, team memory, and approval history across every machine and teammate — no rebuilding approvals when you switch devices.

Review Guard Cloud plans →

Troubleshooting

Something not working?

Guard does not intercept launches
Run hol-guard doctor cursor and check that the wrapper path matches your installed binary.
No security record after the first run
Check that ~/.hol-guard/ is writable. Guard writes every decision there by default.
Cloud sync not reflecting local decisions
Run hol-guard sync --status to see if Guard Cloud can reach the server. Local protection keeps running even when sync is unavailable.

Approval surface

Guard local approval center (browser, localhost) — Cursor's built-in tool approval surface is not replaced, by design.

Run command

hol-guard run cursor

Uninstall / revert

Guard leaves no background services. Your approval history stays on disk in ~/.hol-guard/ unless you delete that folder.

Uninstall command

hol-guard uninstall cursor

Current phase notes

Does not override Cursor's built-in tool confirmation dialogs — Guard adds artifact-level trust before tool use.
MCP Extension API integration is future work. Wrapper mode is the current enforcement path.

AI coding app quick start

Cursor quick start

Check Cursor MCP config first, then keep a stable local memory of approvals.

Install Guard Back to install

Prerequisite

Install Guard

If you haven't installed Guard yet, run the install script first. This installs hol-guard via pipx and configures it for Cursor in one step.

Terminal

set -o pipefail; curl -fsSL https://hol.org/guard/install.sh | bash -s -- --harness cursor --mode install --verify

Already have Guard installed? Skip to the harness command below. Full install guide.

Harness command

Attach to Cursor

Terminal

hol-guard install cursor

Guard stays local by default — no account required to protect your first session. Connect Guard Cloud later to sync security records across your devices.

What Guard checks

~/.cursor/mcp.json
project .cursor/mcp.json
local MCP server declarations before launch

What install changes

Uses wrapper mode first for low-risk rollout.
Does not require account sign-in to remember local approvals.

Verification

Confirm the setup before your first protected session.

Run the setup command

Start with the Guard command matched to this AI coding app and its setup mode.

Command

hol-guard install cursor

Run the next verification commands

Confirm Guard sees the expected config paths before your first protected session.

Command

hol-guard doctor cursor

Check your first security record

After Guard records a local decision, open the receipt list to confirm what was scanned.

Command

hol-guard receipts

Safe demo & test protection

Use --dry-run for demos and CI. Guard scans and reports without blocking, so you can show what it catches without interrupting a live session.

Sync to Guard Cloud

Connect Guard Cloud to carry your security records, team memory, and approval history across every machine and teammate — no rebuilding approvals when you switch devices.

Review Guard Cloud plans →

Troubleshooting

Something not working?

Guard does not intercept launches
Run hol-guard doctor cursor and check that the wrapper path matches your installed binary.
No security record after the first run
Check that ~/.hol-guard/ is writable. Guard writes every decision there by default.
Cloud sync not reflecting local decisions
Run hol-guard sync --status to see if Guard Cloud can reach the server. Local protection keeps running even when sync is unavailable.

Approval surface

Guard local approval center (browser, localhost) — Cursor's built-in tool approval surface is not replaced, by design.

Run command

hol-guard run cursor

Uninstall / revert

Guard leaves no background services. Your approval history stays on disk in ~/.hol-guard/ unless you delete that folder.

Uninstall command

hol-guard uninstall cursor

Current phase notes

Does not override Cursor's built-in tool confirmation dialogs — Guard adds artifact-level trust before tool use.
MCP Extension API integration is future work. Wrapper mode is the current enforcement path.