BuildGist

How to hand off a task from Claude Code to Cursor

Kayvan Zahiri ·

To hand a task from Claude Code to Cursor, write down the task and what already changed, open Cursor in the same folder, and start a new chat with that note, or choose Continue on the BuildGist card so the new chat starts with the task's context.

What has to travel

Cursor, opened in the same folder, can read the files Claude Code changed, including files nobody has committed. Cursor was not in that chat. The reason the files changed is not in front of it unless you put it there.

Two things have to travel with you:

You can carry the task by hand, or choose Continue and let BuildGist pass your words about the task into the new chat. The same handoff into Codex is how to switch from Claude Code to Codex. If Claude Code stopped because you hit a usage limit, start with Claude Code hit a usage limit and come back here for the Cursor steps.

See the files before you leave

In the project folder, these commands only show the working tree. You do not need to commit. 

git status
git diff --stat
git diff

git status includes files you had already changed before Claude Code's run. Commit or stash your own edits first if you want the list to be only the agent's. Files the agent created show up as untracked until they are added.

git diff is what is not staged yet. git diff HEAD is everything since the last commit, staged or not. If Claude Code made commits during the run, read those too:

git log --oneline -5
git show

git show takes the commit id from that log. A longer read of the same commands is in what did Claude Code change?

Write a short note

Use your own task. This one follows the Google sign-in example on the BuildGist home page. The caption there says it is from a real Claude Code run, shortened and edited. The "not done" line is that example's high concern, the missing ownership check, not a second feature.

Task: Add login with Google.
Done so far: the sign-in button, where Google sends you back, and the browser's signed-in
status. See the diff.
Not done: deleting a note does not check that the note belongs to the signed-in user.
Next step: add that check.
Leave the rest of the app alone.

Open Cursor on that same folder and start a new chat. Paste the note as the first message. Ask Cursor to say the task and the next step back before it edits anything.

A Cursor chat that already has messages is the wrong destination. Context you hand over goes with the next new chat, not into the chat you have been typing in. Start a new chat, then paste, or choose Continue and type in the empty chat.

The note goes stale

You have to remember to write the note at the moment you switch. The next time you switch, an old note still describes the older task. The note is written for Cursor, so you still read the diff yourself to see what changed.

Continue on the card

BuildGist works with Claude Code, Cursor and Codex. A project can use any of them, or all three. When you start a new chat in Cursor in the same project, a BuildGist card at the bottom right of your screen offers the earlier agent's task. The home page shows that card for a switch into Codex. For this handoff the card is titled Continue in Cursor, with the project name when BuildGist has one.

Choose Continue and the new chat starts with that task's context. Choose Start fresh to skip it. Nothing is handed over unless you choose Continue. If two recent tasks could be the one you mean, the card asks which task, one entry per task, and Start fresh is still there.

The context is your own words: the task you asked for, and constraints you typed. The chat transcript stays in Claude Code. The diff stays in the folder, and Cursor reads the files there. When the last run's files are still as that run left them, and no commit has moved HEAD since, the context can also say how many files that run changed, whether a test failed, and up to three paths to look at. It does not include line-by-line diffs.

Cursor's handling of that context is best effort. If the new chat does not have the task, paste the note from above and go on. The card that appears when you bring Cursor to the front needs BuildGist for Mac to be open, so it can see that Cursor is the app in front. Setup for that app is in Getting started.

By default the card offers a task whose last activity in this project was within 12 hours. A task you left longer than that is not on the card. The note still works. After you choose Continue, later prompts in this repository join that task until you choose Start fresh or the task goes idle. A second task typed in the same repository at the same time can join it too. Choose Start fresh when you mean a different task.

When you choose Continue, Cursor receives the task's context under your own account with Cursor. Privacy lists what is sent.

When Cursor writes code, read sign-in, deletion, payments, dependencies and configuration in the new diff before you accept it. How that context is kept when the task later moves among all three agents is in how to keep context across Claude Code, Cursor and Codex.

What you need

Codex needs you to approve BuildGist once, in Codex. BuildGist shows the steps. Setup is in Getting started.

To explain a run, your computer sends BuildGist what that run needs, and BuildGist passes it to Anthropic. BuildGist does not keep this material. It does not send your whole repository, files the run did not change, or files named like secrets, such as .env files and keys. It keeps the explanation and short cited excerpts of changed code, at most 12 lines each. Secret masking is best-effort. Privacy has the full list.

Every account gets 7 days of BuildGist Pro free, with no card. The 7 days start at your first explanation or Continue handoff. Nobody is charged when the trial ends. After that, BuildGist Pro is $12 per month, plus any applicable tax shown at checkout. See pricing.

Try BuildGist

Apple silicon, macOS 12 or later. United States, 18 or older.

Related

Questions: kayvanandre@gmail.com.