Cursor Tip: Using o3-mini and Claude 3.5 Sonnet Together

Here's a useful tip for Cursor users: When using Agent mode in Composer, you can optimize your workflow by combining two different models:

1. Set the model to o3-mini initially to create your plan and discuss any clarifying questions before plan creation
2. Once you're satisfied with the plan, switch to claude-3.5-sonnet for execution

This approach leverages the strengths of both models. Interestingly, Cursor's own developers have found that Claude 3.5 Sonnet remains the best choice for actual coding tasks, which aligns with my personal experience as well.

Important Note About Images

One caveat: if you need to work with images, you'll need to use Claude 3.5 Sonnet initially, as o3-mini doesn't support image processing. Once you've extracted what you need from the images, you can start a new Agent Composer context with o3-mini to create your plan, then switch back to Sonnet for execution.

Recent Update from Cursor

This tip is particularly relevant given Cursor's recent announcement:

o3-mini is out to all Cursor users!

We're launching it for free for the time being, to let people get a feel for the model.

The Cursor devs still prefer Sonnet for most tasks, which surprised us.

— Cursor (@cursor_ai) January 31, 2025

It's interesting to see that even the Cursor team themselves were surprised by Sonnet's continued dominance in coding tasks. This reinforces the idea that newer doesn't always mean better for every use case - it's about using the right tool for the right job.

As always feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn or follow me on X @groffdev.