Setup Instructions

Cursor

• Sign up for Cursor using your .edu email for free student access at https://www.cursor.com by clicking the Sign in button on the top right corner of the website and then signing up with your .edu email.
• Download Cursor by clicking the Download button on the https://www.cursor.com website
• Open the Cursor installer and follow the instructions to install Cursor

Install Python

• Windows:
  • Go to python.org/downloads/windows
  • Download and run the latest installer
  • Important: Check the box that says Add Python to PATH before clicking "Install Now"
• Mac:
  • Go to python.org/downloads/mac-osx
  • Download the latest macOS .pkg installer
  • Open the installer and follow the installation steps

Connect Python to Cursor

• Open Cursor
• Click View in the top menu, then select Command Palette...
• In the search bar that appears, type Python: Select Interpreter and press Enter
• Choose the Python version from the list, or click "Enter interpreter path" to manually locate it:
  • Windows example: C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python3x\python.exe
  • Mac example: /usr/local/bin/python3 (you can find it by running which python3 in Terminal)
• Restart Cursor to apply the new interpreter

Streamlit Apps

Follow these steps to buid and run a streamlit app in Cursor:

• In the Cursor agent chat, type in or copy and paste the AI prompt for the streamlit app you want to run and let it write the code for you.
• Make sure it writes a file called app.py.
• In the Cursor agent chat, ask it to write the requirements file for the app.
  • Make sure it write a file called requirements.txt.
• In the terminal, install the dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

• In the terminal, run the app:

streamlit run app.py

• The app should run in your web browser at http://localhost:8501

React + Node.js

For a video walkthrough on how to install React and Node.js, see this YouTube tutorial.

• Install Node.js:
  • Go to https://nodejs.org/
  • Download the **LTS** version for your operating system (recommended)
  • Run the installer and follow the prompts
  • Note: The installer may offer optional tools for building native modules. If you run into errors during this step, you can safely skip installing those optional tools — React and Node.js will work fine without them.
• Verify Node and npm:
  • Open a terminal and run:

  node -v
  npm -v

  • You should see version numbers if installation was successful
• Create a React App:
  • Create a folder for your app (e.g. my-app)
  • Open that folder in Cursor (File > Open Folder)
  • In Cursor's terminal, run:

  npx create-react-app .

  • This creates all the React files inside the current folder
  • To run the app, in the terminal run:

  npm start

  • The app will open in your browser at http://localhost:3000
• Note: Cursor usually detects Node.js automatically — no need to configure paths.

GitHub

For a video walkthrough on how to install git on a Windows machine, see this YouTube tutorial.

For a video walkthrough on how to install git on a Mac machine, see this YouTube tutorial.

• Create a GitHub Account:
  • Go to https://github.com/
  • Click Sign up and follow the instructions to create a free account.
  • Verify your email address.
• Download and Install Git:
  • Windows: Go to https://git-scm.com/download/win and download the "64-bit Git for Windows Setup." Run the installer and accept the default settings.
  • Mac: Simply open your terminal and type git. A popup will appear asking if you want to install the "Command Line Developer Tools." Click Install. (Alternatively, use brew install git if you have Homebrew).
• Integrate GitHub with Cursor:
  • Open Cursor.
  • Open the integrated terminal (Ctrl + ` or View > Terminal).
  • Set your Git identity (this attaches your name to your code changes):

  git config --global user.name "Your Name"
  git config --global user.email "your@email.com"

  • Authentication: The easiest way is to click the Accounts icon (bottom-left corner of Cursor) and select "Sign in with GitHub". This handles the security tokens for you.
  • Alternatively, you can authenticate via the terminal by trying to clone a repository:

  git clone https://github.com/your-username/your-repo.git

  • Follow the browser prompt to sign in. Once authorized, you won't have to sign in again.
  • To verify everything is working, run:

  git --version
  git config --list

  • Pro Tip: You can now use the Source Control tab (the branch icon on the left sidebar) in Cursor to stage and commit changes without typing commands!

ElevenLabs

• Go to elevenlabs.io
• Create a free account
• Verify your email address
• Get your API key from the dashboard (needed for assignments)

Gemini

Please follow these steps to generate your Gemini API key (it takes less than 2 minutes):

1. Access Google AI Studio: Go to aistudio.google.com and sign in with your Google/Gmail account.
2. Create the key:
   • In the left sidebar, click Get API key.
   • Click the blue Create API key button.
   • Note: If your school account restricts Cloud projects, choose Create API key in new project.
3. Copy and secure your key:
   • When the key is generated, copy it immediately.
   • Important: Treat this key like a password. Do not share it or post it publicly (for example, on GitHub).

LaTeX (optional for final projects)

You may write your final project report in LaTeX instead of a word processor. LaTeX is a document preparation system: you write plain-text .tex files and a distribution (compiler plus packages) turns them into a PDF. Overview: latex-project.org/get.

Windows

• MiKTeX (widely used on Windows):
  • Go to miktex.org/download
  • Download the installer for Windows (64-bit is typical)
  • Run the installer and follow the prompts; the default options are fine for most users
  • The first time you build a document, MiKTeX may ask to install missing packages automatically—allow that when prompted
• TeX Live (alternative full distribution): tug.org/texlive/windows.html — download the installer and run it (install can take a while and uses several gigabytes of disk space)

Mac

• MacTeX (full distribution, large download, ~4 GB):
  • Go to tug.org/mactex
  • Download the macOS .pkg file
  • Open the package and complete the installation wizard
  • After install, you can use the TeXShop app (included) or any editor you prefer
• BasicTeX (smaller install; add packages as needed):
  • Download from tug.org/mactex/morepackages.html
  • Install the .pkg, then in Terminal install extra packages with sudo tlmgr install <package-name> when a build error says a package is missing

Editors: You can edit .tex files in Cursor or VS Code (with a LaTeX extension such as LaTeX Workshop), or use a dedicated editor like TeXstudio. Online option: Overleaf runs LaTeX in the browser with no local install—useful if you prefer not to install a distribution.

Running LaTeX in Cursor

Cursor is based on VS Code. The usual way to build .tex files inside Cursor is the LaTeX Workshop extension, which runs tools such as pdflatex or latexmk for you. Cursor must be able to find those executables—either because their folder is on your PATH, or because you tell LaTeX Workshop where that folder is.

1. Install the extension: In Cursor, open the Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X on Windows / Cmd+Shift+X on Mac), search for LaTeX Workshop (by James Yu), and install it.
2. Find the folder that contains the LaTeX programs: You want the bin directory that holds pdflatex (and often latexmk). Typical locations:
   • Windows (MiKTeX): often C:\Program Files\MiKTeX\miktex\bin\x64\ or %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\MiKTeX\miktex\bin\x64\ (paste %LOCALAPPDATA% into the File Explorer address bar to open that folder).
   • Windows (TeX Live): often something like C:\texlive\2024\bin\windows\ (the year may differ).
   • Mac (MacTeX / BasicTeX): usually /Library/TeX/texbin (this is a single folder that already points at the right binaries).
   If you are unsure, use File Explorer or Finder to search for pdflatex.exe (Windows) or open Terminal and run which pdflatex (Mac)—the folder containing that file is the one you need.
3. Check that Cursor’s terminal sees LaTeX: Open the integrated terminal in Cursor and run:

   pdflatex --version

   If you see version information, you are done—LaTeX Workshop can usually build without extra configuration. If you get “command not found,” add the bin folder to your system or user PATH, then fully quit Cursor and open it again so it picks up the new PATH.
4. If you prefer not to change the system PATH: Tell LaTeX Workshop to prepend that bin folder when it runs builds. In Cursor, open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P), run Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON), and add the block below inside the outer { } (add a comma after the previous setting if required so the JSON stays valid). Replace the path with your actual bin folder from step 2 if it differs.

Windows (prepend MiKTeX x64 bin; keep the rest of PATH). You can use forward slashes in the path—Windows accepts them and they are easier to paste into JSON:

"latex-workshop.latex.env": {
  "PATH": "C:/Program Files/MiKTeX/miktex/bin/x64;%PATH%"
}

Mac (prepend MacTeX’s texbin):

"latex-workshop.latex.env": {
  "PATH": "/Library/TeX/texbin:${env:PATH}"
}

Save the file, reopen your .tex document, and use LaTeX Workshop’s build command (or the green “Build LaTeX project” actions in the editor). If the build still fails, open the LaTeX Workshop output/log panel and read the error: it usually means the path is wrong or a LaTeX package is missing from your distribution.