Learn Cursor, Microsoft and P5

Creating powerful and context-aware tools for Cursor IDE becomes straightforward when leveraging information directly from your current project. In this lesson, you'll learn how to build a custom MCP (model context protocol) tool that intelligently requests essential details—such as the current project path and conversation summaries—from your Cursor project.

Workflow demonstrated in this lesson:

- Define MCP tool parameters to request specific project details.
- Pass project path and conversation summaries into your MCP tool.
- Automatically write or update files within your current project using these parameters.

Key benefits:

- Automate tasks with precision based on your active project's context.
- Simplify interactions by creating AI-driven CLI commands tailored to your needs.
- Open endless possibilities for integrating external APIs and advanced automation.

Through this practical demonstration, you'll gain a versatile technique for enhancing your development workflow in Cursor IDE.

[https://github.com/johnlindquist/mcp-cursor-tool-starter](https://github.com/johnlindquist/mcp-cursor-tool-starter)

John Lindquist

Build MCP Tools Using Project Context for Custom Cursor IDE Automation

Setting up custom MCP (Machine Command Protocol) servers in Cursor can involve tedious steps, such as configuring node paths or referencing additional commands. This lesson shows how to streamline this process by bundling your MCP server directly into a standalone executable.

Workflow demonstrated in this lesson:

- Use a simple MCP server project starter.
- Run a single bundling command to create an executable.
- Right-click the generated executable, copy its full path, and add that directly to your Cursor settings.

Key benefits:

- Eliminates the need for complex node path configurations.
- Simplifies the setup and integration of custom MCP servers into Cursor.
- Makes the server executable instantly accessible within your Cursor environment.

By following this streamlined approach, you can quickly and easily integrate custom MCP servers into Cursor, making your development workflow cleaner and more efficient.

[https://github.com/johnlindquist/mcp-cursor-tool-starter]()

Easy MCP Server Setup in Cursor IDE with Bundled Executables

**Note:** This course is being actively developed and more lessons will be added in the future.

Cursor is an AI-enhnaced code editor that allows you to call upon the robots to refactor or stub out functions for you with natural language. 

In this course, John will show you workflows that will save you time and effort by utilizing the features such as its mult-line editing and context.

In particular, by giving Cursor's AI the proper context, whether that's lines of code or multiple files, you'll get better output when trying to extend or refactor logic that's present.


Bite-size video tutorials for badass web developers.

egghead

Productive Developer Workflows with AI Enhanced Cursor IDE

Just about every tool in our accessibility auditing toolkit can help us identify any issues with sufficient color contrast ratio on a web page.  The react-axe library and axe browser extension both report findings on all elements with insufficient contrast ratios.  The tota11y browser extension will annotate any elements with their contrast ratios and color those that are insufficient in red.  

Additionally, we need to use our experience tools to see what some of our users out there may we seeing.  We need to test with high contrast browser extensions as well as the display settings in Windows and Mac.  If our users with visual impairments are using these tools we need to see what our application looks like using them because we may find that under a certain mode some things may suddenly be harder to read or virtually invisible.

## Resources
* https://www.scottohara.me/blog/2019/02/12/high-contrast-aria-and-images.html

Test for Insufficient Color Contrast Accessibility Issues

We should not use color alone as the only visual means of conveying information, indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguishing a visual element.  Users may not be able to see/understand the differences in color and require additional indicators.

Along with color, use additional indicators such as:
* typography
* shapes
* grids
* spaces
* and/or allocate more weight to important elements

## References:
* http://www.particletree.com/features/interfaces-and-color-blindness/
* https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2014/10/color-contrast-tips-and-tools-for-accessibility/

Use More than Color Alone to Convey Information in a Web Page

Express is a minimal and flexible Node.js web application framework that provides a robust set of features for web and mobile applications.

express

To replicate your production application its helpful when developing a local NodeJS Express application is running under SSL. 

There are some web technologies which do not play nicely with standard http and its likely to become more common e.g. Web Push Notifications.

This lesson will show you how to create a local SSL certificate for localhost and then convert it into a format that will work with Express.  It will also show you how to make sure that Chrome will trust it.

This lesson is for Windows as it uses a powershell command, as well as the Microsoft Management Console (MMC)
 

Create Local SSL Certificates for an Express App on Windows

Microsoft Windows is a group of several graphical operating system families, all of which are developed, marketed, and sold by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry.

microsoft

For a production Windows server it makes sense to run NodeJS applications as a Windows service.  This way they can be automatically restarted if the server is rebooted.

It also makes it easier to use monitoring tools like datadog to detect if there are issues with the service which is critical for production systems.

Install a Node.js Application as a Windows Service

p5.js is a JavaScript library that starts with the original goal of Processing, to make coding accessible for artists, designers, educators, and beginners, and reinterprets this for today's web.

In this lesson we look at using color and the basic drawing methods of p5js, and how they can be combined to create a simple graphic on the canvas.

Introduction to drawing with p5js

TanStack Router is the foundation for TanStack Start, which is gaining significant attention due to its innovative approach to application development.

This course focuses on getting effective TanStack Router, a modern and scalable routing solution for React applications. You will learn how to:
- set up and scaffold new applications,
- use file-based routing
- create nested routes
- manage dynamic route parameters and more.

The course covers advanced features like route loaders, caching strategies, and lifecycle hooks, which are crucial for enhancing application performance and user experience.

By understanding TanStack Router, you can build more efficient, type-safe, and maintainable applications, leveraging its integration with data fetching libraries like TanStack Query.

This knowledge is essential for developers looking to improve their routing skills and stay ahead in the field.

Tomasz Ducin

Up and Running with Tanstack Router and React

Learn TanStack Router for React: set up apps, use file-based routing, manage routes, and boost app performance.


In this lesson, we explore how TanStack Router integrates with the [native browser history API](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/History) to manage navigation.

As we navigate through different routes, the URL changes are stored in the browser's history, allowing users to use the forward and backward buttons to traverse their navigation history.

This functionality also **enables permalinks**, meaning users can copy and paste URLs to access specific routes directly.

Additionally, we learn how to programmatically interact with the history object to move forward or backward through the navigation stack, enhancing the user experience by providing full control over navigation actions.

This compatibility with the native history API ensures that TanStack Router applications behave similarly to traditional websites, offering a seamless and intuitive user experience.

Browse History in Tanstack Router

Browse history in TanStack React Router using the native history API for seamless navigation

In this lesson, we explore how to hook into TanStack Router's lifecycle hooks to execute custom logic during route changes.

The hooks we'll look into are: `onEnter`, `onStay`, and `onLeave`, which are triggered when entering, staying within, or leaving a route, respectively.

All hooks receive a detailed match parameter, providing information about the route's path, ID, and tons of other details.

This allows for the implementation of features like animations or logging when navigating between routes.

We also learn how to use these hooks to track and manage state changes as users interact with the application, making it easier to implement complex behaviors based on route transitions.

Hook into Route Lifecycle Hooks in Tanstack Router

Hook into TanStack React Router's lifecycle hooks for custom route logic and animations.

In this lesson, we learn how to handle not found errors in TanStack Router by using the `notFoundComponent` at both nested and global levels.

To trigger the display of a `notFoundComponent`, we must throw a specific error using the `notFound` function within a loader or other lifecycle method of a route. This approach allows us to provide custom error messages for specific routes or globally across the application.

We explore how to define a notFoundComponent within a specific route's configuration and how to set a `defaultNotFoundComponent` at the router global level, which applies to all routes unless overridden locally. This flexibility ensures that users receive meaningful feedback when encountering non-existent routes.

Provide NotFoundComponent at Nested Route or Global Level in Tanstack Router

Handle notFound errors in TanStack Router with notFoundComponent at nested or global levels.



In this lesson, we learn how to access dynamic route parameters using the `useParams` hook in TanStack Router.

When used with a specific `Route` object, `useParams` provides type-safe access to route parameters, ensuring that TypeScript knows the exact types of these parameters.

This approach eliminates the possibility of undefined/optional values, making it safer for accessing parameters like `employeeId`.

However, when using `useParams` globally without specifying a route, it requires an options object with `{ strict: false }`, which reduces type safety.

In this case, the hook can access parameters from any route in the application, but it does not guarantee their existence or type. This flexibility allows components to be reused across different routes, but it requires careful handling of potential errors.



Access Dynamic Route Parameters with useParams in Tanstack Router

Access dynamic route parameters with useParams in TanStack React Router for type-safe routing.

In this lesson, we learn how to reorganize file-based routes in TanStack Router to accommodate nested routing structures.

We explore how to create additional nested routes by converting files into directories, allowing for further nesting.

For example, to create a nested route like `/employees/$employeeId/edit`, we can create a **directory** (!) named `$employeeId` and place an `index.tsx` file inside it to define the route component for this nested route.

This approach provides flexibility in organizing files while maintaining the convention that file names and locations align with route paths. We also see how to adapt existing components and loaders to work with these reorganized routes, enabling features like edit forms or delete actions (or whatever) within nested routes.


Reorganize File-Based Routes in Tanstack Router

Reorganize file-based routes in TanStack Router for flexible nested routing.



In this lesson, we learn how to parametrize the loader for a nested route in TanStack Router.

We focus on a nested route like `/employees/$employeeId`, where the `$employeeId` is a **dynamic parameter**.

To fetch data for this route, we use a `loader` function that accesses the `$employeeId` parameter. This is achieved by using the params object available in the `loader` function, which contains the dynamic segments of the URL. We then use this parameter to call a function like `getEmployeeById`, which fetches specific employee details from an API.

We highlights that TanStack Router **automatically infers types** for these parameters, ensuring type safety for nested routes.

Parametrize Route Loader for Nested Route in Tanstack Router

Parametrize nested route loaders in TanStack Router using path parameters

In this lesson, we learn how to create nested routes and outlets in TanStack Router using file-based routing.

We start by creating a new `employees` directory and files to represent nested routes, such as `/employees/$employeeId`. The `$` symbol is used to denote dynamic parameters.

We then use the `<Link>` component from TanStack Router to create links to these nested routes, passing necessary parameters.

To render the nested content, we use the `<Outlet>` component (nested), which automatically renders child routes. This approach allows us to dynamically display stuff under a nested route.

All the time, the TanStack Router generator automatically updates the route tree based on file changes - our routing configuration remains consistent 🔥



Create Nested Route and Nested Outlets in Tanstack Router

Create nested routes and outlets in TanStack Router using file-based routing

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