Learn Gulp, Mdx and Wordpress

MDX is an authorable format that lets you seamlessly use JSX in your markdown documents. You can import components, like interactive charts or notifications, and export metadata. This makes writing long-form content with components a blast.



We will combine our knowledge of Dynamic routing to pass a dynamic parameter to a function that will query a single post from our Sanity CMS. When we fetch our blog post data this is a great place to do some processing of the content that we get back. If you didn't process your blog post markdown, it would come back as a string which doesn't look too great on the page.

To make our markdown pretty we will install and use the `MDSvex` library to use it's compile function and render our markdown.
  
We'll see that `MDSvex` gives us a Promise from `compile` because it's an async function so we'll use the Svelte `await` block to conditionally show the post body when it is ready, otherwise we'll show a loading state.

Load a Single SvelteKit Post Dynamically & Render Markdown with MDSvex

By leveraging the [dependency graph](https://nx.dev/l/r/structure/dependency-graph), [Nx](https://nx.dev) is able to understand which parts in the monorepo changed and thus trigger actions on those nodes, such as building an app, running tests or linting. This already works out of the box. However, with our portfolio application, all of our markdown articles reside in the root-level `_articles` folder. Those are not captured by the Nx dependency graph and thus Nx would not correctly detect a change to our Next.js site application whenever we change or add a new markdown article.
In this lesson, we learn how to register our `_articles` folder s.t. it appears as a dedicated node in the Nx dependency graph.

Prefer to read along as well? Here's the [accompanying article](https://blog.nrwl.io/publishing-a-next-js-app-to-vercel-with-nx-df81916548f5).

Register our Markdown Articles with the Nx Dependency Graph

**NOTE:** `workspace.json` is deprecated, you can update to `project.json` [here](https://nx.dev/deprecated/workspace-json).

One cool aspect of Next.js is its [fast refresh](https://nextjs.org/docs/basic-features/fast-refresh) support. Whenever you change some Next.js component it automatically refreshes the page without hard reloading everything. However, you might notice that whenever we change something within our MDX markdown files, fast refresh is not capturing that, hence we need to manually refresh the browser window.

In this lesson, we learn how to leverage a feature of Nx to create a "[custom Next.js development server](https://nx.dev/l/r/next/server#customserverpath)". We are going to use [chokidar](https://www.npmjs.com/package/chokidar) to watch our articles folder and then invoke a private API on the Next.js server instance to trigger a reload command.

Prefer to read along as well? Here's the [accompanying article](https://blog.nrwl.io/hot-reload-mdx-changes-in-next-js-and-nx-c05252cf450a).

Add Fast Refresh Support to our MDX Files with Nx Support for Custom Next.js Servers

Next.js is a minimalistic framework for server-rendered React applications.

Next.js is all about creating performant web applications. However, the more React components we pull into our MDX via `next-mdx-remote`, the heavier our JavaScript becomes which drains our site's performance. Also, while we might have quite a few React components to be included in our Markdown rendered content, we might not always use all of them in our articles.

In this lesson, we learn how to leverage Next.js dynamic imports to just pull the minimum necessary components into our final JavaScript bundle. Also, we look into why we might want to do deep imports into our Nx library setup to decrease the size of the bundle even more.

Prefer to read along as well? Here's the [accompanying article](https://blog.nrwl.io/component-hydration-with-mdx-in-next-js-and-nx-90f46ea0431c).

Dynamically Loading React Components with next-mdx-remote and Next.js Dynamic imports

The markdown rendering includes a lot of native HTML tags as well of course. Assume for instance we want to change the behavior of links within our rendered document. We can definitely create a custom component and include that in our MDX document, but we’d rather not want to have to use a specific `<Link>` component and rather be able to keep the native way of rendering links in Markdown, that is `[some link](https://juri.dev)`.

Turns out that with `next-mdx-remote` we are able to automatically replace all rendered `<a>` tags (or really any other tag we want) with a React Component.

Prefer to read along as well? Here's the [accompanying article](https://blog.nrwl.io/component-hydration-with-mdx-in-next-js-and-nx-90f46ea0431c).

Use React Components for Native HTML Tags with MDX and Next.js

When rendering our markdown we might want to enrich the experience with some dynamic content. Many static site generators allow to include dynamic content placeholders for like embedding a Youtube video, generating table of contents, code blocks with interactive functionality and more. One way to achieve this in the React ecosystem is by using MDX. MDX is similar to JSX but for Markdown content, and allows us to directly embed React components within it. This gives an enourmous flexibility to what we can display within a page.

In this lesson we’re going to generate a new Nx library to host our “mdx elements” and learn how to leverage the `MDXRemote` component to embed these React components into our markdown rendering flow.

Embed React Components in our Markdown with MDX in a Next.js App

Once we have separated the front-matter from the rest of the markdown document, we can proceed to convert it to HTML, for then finally render it with our Next.js page component. In this lesson we use `next-mdx-remote` to parse the markdown string into HTML and we learn how to leverage the `MDXRemote` component to include it into our page component.

Prefer to read along as well? Here's the [accompanying article](https://blog.nrwl.io/read-and-render-md-files-with-next-js-and-nx-89a85c1d9b44).

Render Markdown With next-mdx-remote in our Next.js Page Component

Many markdown documents have a metadata section at the very beginning, which contains information such as the title, author and creation date. This section is the so-called "front matter". 

In order to render our markdown-based blog articles on our portfolio site we want to parse them and separate them into the front-matter and main article part. `gray-matter` is a library that helps us with that.

Prefer to read along as well? Here's the [accompanying article](https://blog.nrwl.io/read-and-render-md-files-with-next-js-and-nx-89a85c1d9b44).

Parse a Markdown Document With gray-matter

In a plain normal Next.js application you would place your markdown processing logic somewhere within a folder insider your Next application. We could do the very same in an Nx monorepo, however, we get much more benefits by moving it into a dedicated library in the `libs` folder.

[Nx workspace libraries](https://nx.dev/l/a/structure/grouping-libraries#example-workspace) allow you to nicely encapsulate your functionality as well as to easily share it with other apps that might potentially live in our workspace. In this lesson, we learn how to generate a new library with Nx generators and how to import the library into our Next.js application.

Prefer to read along as well? Here's the [accompanying article](https://blog.nrwl.io/read-and-render-md-files-with-next-js-and-nx-89a85c1d9b44).

Generate an Nx Library to Implement our Markdown Rendering for our Next.js App

WordPress is a free and open-source content management system written in PHP and paired with a MySQL or MariaDB database. Features include a plugin architecture and a template system, referred to within WordPress as Themes.

wordpress

We'll look at the minimum requirements to create your own theme. With two files, style.css and index.php, you have all you need to get started. We'll look at how to pass information about the theme to WordPress and how to set-up a direct link to the admin panel.

Create a Stand-Alone Theme in WordPress

WordPress has been around for a long time and powers a huge number of sites.

Just because WordPress isn't brand new doesn't mean it can't get the job done!

Running WordPress as a Headless CMS gives you the benefit of a great content creation experience on the back end with the powerful Gutenberg editor while allowing you to use a modern JavaScript framework on the front-end.

In this course, Kevin Cunningham will guide you through setting up WordPress as a headless CMS from scratch, as well as migrating from an existing WP site. You'll get practice with different WordPress content types, implement a GraphQL endpoint for querying data, and backup & deploy your site. All the while, you'll deepen your understanding of how headless WordPress approaches the relationship between content & rendering.

Using WordPress as a headless CMS turns it into a datasource ready to work with Gatsby, Next.js, or whatever else you want to build with. Your and your clients will be able to take advantage of WordPress's content editing experience, without having to settle for a cookie-cutter theme on the frontend.

With WordPress being decoupled from the rendered site, the database isn't hit for every request. This means faster performance and more security against WordPress exploits. You don't even have to host the editor at the same domain as the published site.

### While watching, consider...

- What are the tradeoffs of using a CMS for a site?
- Would headless WordPress work for me or my clients in this scenario?

WordPress as a Headless Content Management System (CMS) and GraphQL API

There are two approaches to dealing with an extensive media library when using a Headless WordPress solution. The first is that during the build step, the assets are queried and downloaded to a static folder that's served using a CDN. The second approach is that you use a third-party solution like Cloudinary to host your images.

In this lesson, we will use the [Cloudinary WordPress plugin](https://wordpress.org/plugins/cloudinary-image-management-and-manipulation-in-the-cloud-cdn/) to migrate all images from our existing posts to Cloudinary. This approach provides the benefit of managing the assets directly on the WordPress interface and using Cloudinary to serve them.

## Next steps for you to try:

- Add additional data via WordPress Plugins
- Build a frontend for your data with Gatsby or Next.js

Manage Media Assets in a Headless WordPress Site using the Cloudinary WordPress Plugin 

One of the strengths of WordPress is the commenting system. In previous lessons, we have seen how to get the comments alongside the posts.

In this lesson, will use Application Passwords, a WordPress plugin that allows authentication via non-interactive systems (in our case, using REST API) to provide authentication when posting a comment.

Using the auth functionality provided by our API client, we'll `POST` to Posts comments, resulting in a comment associated directly to the HTML of the post.

There are different strategies for publishing comments. The first one is approving and triggering a build using WebHooks. The alternative is using a third-party system, something like DISQUS. But the benefit of keeping the comment directly associated with the HTML is that it becomes indexable and searchable.

Add Comments to a Headless WordPress Post using Application Passwords

It is critical for development that your local environment accurately reflects your remote site. In this lesson, you will learn how to import plugins, configuration, and content from a remote to a local WordPress instance.

There are a few steps to do this:

- Create a fresh install of a WordPress Instance
- Copy the `wp-content` folder over to your local site
- Activate all the necessary plugins that allow the instance to function properly
- Export and import custom post types
- Upload the generate content XML file to the local site

Replicate a Remote WordPress Site Locally by Importing Content and Logic

Not all the data in a WordPress instance needs to be backed up since it is part of the core install and can be re-downloaded at any time. 

The two types of data that you should be concerned with backing up are the actual content of the site as well as the custom logic that you add to WordPress. All the custom logic lives in the `wp-content` folder, the only part of the file system that needs backing up.

Backup Your Content and Custom App Logic in a WordPress Instance

One of the benefits of Headless CMS is that you can build the frontend (almost) however you would like. For instance, you don't have to create a WordPress site. You can use any new cutting edge technology like React or Vue.

In this lesson, we'll add fake data to our WordPress instance with the Faker Press Plugin. We can easily add new users, posts, custom posts, and comments.

Having fake data provides additional information about how to structure our data in a Headless solution.

Add Fake Data to a WordPress Instance with the Faker Press Plugin

The benefit of GraphQL is to have all the data you need in one request, with nothing more or less.

If you had a REST API, you would typically receive the entire object back in your response. This leads to over fetching and can result in performance issues. With GraphQL, you only receive the data you explicitly request.

In this lesson, we will build a GraphQL query that queries only the essential data needed on the front end to display a post.

Build a GraphQL Query with Exactly the Data you need for a Posts Page

The same problem occurs as the [previous lesson](https://egghead.io/lessons/egghead-adding-custom-post-type-to-graphql?pl=headless-wordpress-4a14) with the blocks that Gutenberg exposes in our API with the GraphQL endpoint. 

In this lesson, we will show how to expose the Gutenberg Block data to the GraphQL layer by adding the `wp-graphql-gutenberg` plugin. There are a couple of things to note about the plugin. Whenever you use a new block type in your editor, you will have to update the blocks registry in the plugin so that it properly exposes the data in GraphQL. Also, when you query for block data you will need to be explicit in the attributes that you request. This behavior is different from REST where REST will serve you all the data available.

Expose Gutenberg Blocks to the Headless WordPress GraphQL Endpoint

The data that is added to the REST API through Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) is also not present automatically in our GraphQL endpoint.

You'll be used to the problem and workflow to fix the issue now.  

In this lesson, we will add the `wp-graphql-acf` plugin which allows us to expose ACF data to our GraphQL endpoint. There's even a UI to flip the switch here.

Expose WordPress Advanced Custom Field (ACF) Plugin Data to the GraphQL Endpoint

In this lesson, we will expose a Custom Post Type to the graphQL layer. This would normally be done in the Custom Post Type Plugin UI but if you browse the options you'll notice that there is no setting for GraphQL. This means we will need to write a custom function that exposes our user-created post type.

We will use `add_filter` in our `headless.php` file to expose the chairs post type. The filter we'll use is `register_post_type_args`. There are three fields that need to explicitly declared: `show_in_graphql`, `graphql_single_name`, `graphql_plural_name`.

Add a Custom Post Type to the GraphQL Headless WordPress API Endpoint

GraphQL is a popular solution for many web applications because of the flexibility it offers the client by giving you exactly the data you need.

And there's a WordPress Plugin for it! We'll find and install the plugin in the Plugin Directory.

You'll notice that the custom post types and the fields from ACF aren't exposed by GraphQL. These will need to be added manually.

Create and Test a GraphQL Endpoint for WordPress with wp-graphql

Hey Everyone 👋,

John Lindquist here with the second issue of AI Dev Essentials! It's been another busy week in the AI tooling world. The biggest splash was probably GPT-4.1 hitting the streets, but there's plenty more action around MCP, Vercel's v0, Google's developer tools, and interesting community discussions. I've spent some time with GPT-4.1 already (specifically in Cursor), and while it shows promise, it didn't quite convince me to switch from Gemini 2.5 Pro yet. It stumbled on a few basic requests where Gemini usually shines on the first attempt.

---

### New egghead.io Lesson This Week:

* **[Create a Custom MCP that Calls Cursor Tools](https://egghead.io/create-a-custom-mcp-that-calls-cursor-tools~r77sw):** Learn how to build custom MCP server tools that allow Cursor's AI Agent to access your local project context. This lesson shows how to use Zod schemas and the crucial `.describe()` method to explicitly request information (like Git status or version) from the Cursor environment *before* your tool runs, enabling powerful, context-aware automation.

---

Here are the highlights that caught my eye this past week.

## Model Mania: GPT-4.1 Arrives, Plus Grok & Llama Updates

* **GPT-4.1 Lands:** OpenAI announced GPT-4.1, and it quickly became available via the [API](https://openai.com/live/) and showed up in [Cursor](https://x.com/cursor_ai/status/1911835651810738406). Cursor is offering it free for now to let users get a feel for it, though they don't recommend it as a default just yet. Curious to hear initial impressions from folks testing it out for coding tasks.

* **Grok 3 in Cursor:** Following other model additions, [Cursor also enabled Grok 3 models](https://x.com/amanrsanger/status/1910434915419906141), with the mini version available for free users. Aman Sanger noted it seems to "think upfront more than other models."

* **Community Hack: Llama 4.0 via Groq in Cursor:** Levi Dan shared a [detailed (and slightly hacky) guide](https://x.com/lxvi_brg/status/1908865544721154455) on how to wire up Groq's fast Llama 4.0 API into Cursor by using the OpenAI API key slot and intercepting requests. A clever workaround for the adventurous!

## Tooling & Platform Pulse

Lots of movement across different platforms and tools this week:

* **Vercel Ecosystem:**

  * Guillermo Rauch teased [v0 coming to VS Code](https://x.com/rauchg/status/1911524154458984515), hinting at tighter integration for the UI generation tool.

  * v0 also [added AI integrations](https://x.com/v0/status/1911912183149256943) with models from xai (Grok), FAL, Groq, and DeepInfra, including automatic API key setup and pay-as-you-go billing via Vercel Marketplace. They're offering a $10 credit for the Grok free tier.

  * Vercel shared insights on the [grep.app migration from CRA to Next.js](http://grep.app/), showcasing performance improvements. ([Source](https://x.com/rauchg/status/1911920410020757881)) I'm personally excited about this one – I rely heavily on examples when working with AI, and for me, a good example is often worth ten prompts. Tools like `grep.app` that make code discovery easier are invaluable.

* **Google's Growing Stack:**

  * Project IDX has officially become [Firebase Studio](https://x.com/_davideast/status/1909990728593453455), positioning itself as a cloud-based, agentic dev environment for full-stack AI apps, deeply integrated with Firebase. I've tried spinning up a few sites with it, and the speed is impressive. However, for more complex tasks like designing from images or intricate interactions, I still find myself leaning towards v0 for now.

  * Google quietly released the [Agent Development Kit (ADK)](https://x.com/omarsar0/status/1910004370864742757), a Python library (`pip install google-adk`) for building multi-agent systems with features like state management, tool usage, and orchestration. I haven't had a chance to dive into this yet, but it's right at the top of my list. Building robust agent systems is a huge area of interest, so this is probably the announcement I'm most excited about exploring this week.

  * Ramón Medrano Llamas shared his experience [moving back to VS Code from Cursor](https://x.com/rmedranollamas/status/1909516749612999149), highlighting the effectiveness of GitHub Copilot combined with the Gemini Code Assist extension (using Gemini 2.5 Pro in Agent Mode). I gave the Gemini Code Assist extension a try myself, but as someone deeply embedded in the Cursor workflow with established keyboard shortcuts and patterns, I struggled to find a flow I liked and didn't stick with it for long. It's interesting to see different perspectives, though!

  * AI features are rolling out more broadly in [Chrome](https://x.com/iam_chonchol/status/1909942954686636224), including text grabbing from YouTube videos and Google Lens integration.

* **Cloudflare Corner:**

  * Big news for edge compute: [Cloudflare Containers are coming to Open Beta in June](https://x.com/CherryJimbo/status/1910682562499850405), enabling running containerized apps (Next.js, Go, PHP confirmed) directly on the edge. This is huge news, in my opinion. Think about all the WordPress sites and other applications that rely on containerization. Opening this up on the edge unlocks incredible possibilities, including for AI applications. I'm super hyped to see what people build with this come June.

  * A new tool, [MCPify.ai](http://mcpify.ai/), launched for building MCP servers conversationally, built entirely on Cloudflare Workers and Durable Objects. ([Source](https://x.com/pbteja1998/status/1911723180445610149))

  * Securing MCP servers is getting easier, with examples shared using [WorkOS AuthKit](https://x.com/WorkOS/status/1910722639036874943) and [Auth0](https://x.com/dschenkelman/status/1910693265566728319).

* **IDE Updates:**

  * JetBrains shared the public [WebStorm roadmap for March-April](https://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/WEB-72310). ([Source](https://x.com/WebStormIDE/status/1909291367504748937))

> **✨ Workshop Spotlight: Conquer the Complexity of Cursor (Europe Friendly Time!) ✨**
>
> Missed the last workshop or found the timing tricky? This one's for you! Master practical AI development workflows in Cursor in a session scheduled for **12:00 PM UTC** to better accommodate European attendees.
>
> This hands-on workshop covers Agents, Ask, Custom Modes, multi-file analysis, effective prompting, Cursor rules, and strategies for handling AI failures. Unlock Cursor's potential and streamline your development process.
>
> * **When:** \[Check website for upcoming dates - This session is Europe-friendly at 12:00 PM UTC\]
>
> * **Where:** Zoom (Live Q&A included)
>
> * **Investment:** $149
>
> ➡️ [**Read More about the Workshop**](https://egghead.io/workshop/cursor)
> ➡️ [**Register Now ($149)**](https://buy.stripe.com/7sI7tT81dfpC06s28c)
>
> *(Team training also available)*

## Community Buzz & Resources

* **MCP Explained:** Kent C. Dodds wrote a piece explaining [why he's excited about Model Context Protocol (MCP)](https://www.epicai.pro/the-game-changing-potential-of-model-context-protocol) and its potential. ([Source](https://x.com/kentcdodds/status/1911840456432034112))

* **Prompting Guide:** Ian Nuttall surfaced [v7 of Google's Prompt Engineering Guide](https://x.com/iannuttall/status/1911086164196606314), a deep dive into techniques and best practices. Definitely worth a look.

* **Discussion Starter:** Eric Zakariasson asked the community about their [favorite CLIs and MCP servers to use with the Cursor agent](https://x.com/ericzakariasson/status/1910808935961088346). What are you all using?

* **Gemini 2.5 Pro Praise:** The positive buzz around Gemini 2.5 Pro continues to grow in the community. It's getting rave reviews and even achieving 'S-tier' status on social platforms like Reddit for its coding capabilities. ([Source](https://x.com/suchenzang/status/1911251230317490416))

That’s a wrap for this week! There's always so much happening, it's hard to keep up, but hopefully, this helps surface some of the more interesting bits for developers working with AI.

If you have any feedback or questions, feel free to respond to this email. Always happy to talk shop about the latest AI tools.

John Lindquist

[egghead.io](https://egghead.io)

John Lindquist

AI Dev Essentials #2: GPT-4.1 Arrives, MCP Deep Dive & Google's Agent Dev Kit

AI Dev Essentials #2: GPT-4.1 & Gemini updates, MCP tools, Vercel v0, Google ADK, Cloudflare Containers news. Latest AI dev tooling highlights.

In this quick walkthrough, you’ll learn how to drop Nx into an existing npm or pnpm workspace and immediately benefit from project graph visualization, caching, and smart task orchestration, all without rewriting your setup.

You’ll start with a standard React monorepo containing a Vite app, a UI package, and utility functions. Then, using a single command (`nx init`), you’ll initialize Nx and see how it auto-detects your existing scripts, builds a dependency graph, and enables advanced features like affected commands and local caching.

We're also going to explore optional enhancements using Nx plugins for Vite and React. You’ll see how they help Nx infer tasks directly from your Vite config files, improve DX with the Nx Console VS Code extension, and leverage Nx plugin generators to scaffold code with a consistent structure.

What you’ll learn
- How to initialize Nx in an existing npm or pnpm monorepo
- How Nx understands your workspace structure and scripts
- How local caching and affected builds speed up development
- How optional Nx plugins improve DX without adding bloat
- How to scaffold new packages

Juri Strumpflohner

Using Nx on an existing React and NPM workspace based monorepo

Applying Nx to an existing React monorepo to enable caching, task orchestration, and project graph analysis without changing your current setup.

Typing repetitive or complex instructions for Cursor's AI agent can slow down your workflow. This lesson teaches you how to create custom slash commands (e.g., `/s term`, `/l`, `/c`) using Cursor's "Rules" feature. Learn how to map these simple shortcuts to specific AI actions, instructing the agent to use precise tools like `codebase_search`, `edit_file`, or `run_terminal_cmd` based on your command and the current conversation context.

**Workflow demonstrated in this lesson:**

*   List available AI tools (built-in and MCP) to get their exact names.
*   Navigate to Cursor Settings -> Rules.
*   Define custom rules under a heading (e.g., `## Slash Commands`).
*   Create rules mapping a slash command pattern (like `/s <term>`) to a detailed instruction specifying which tool to use and how (e.g., "Use the codebase_search tool to search for <term/>").
*   Define rules that leverage conversation context (e.g., for summarizing notes or creating commit messages).
*   Save the rules (potentially in `.cursor/rules/project.mdc` for team sharing).
*   Invoke the custom slash commands (e.g., `/s handle`, `/l`, `/c`) in the chat/agent window.
*   Observe the AI understanding the shortcut and executing the intended tool call.

**Key benefits:**

*   Creates efficient, reusable shortcuts for common AI interactions.
*   Reduces the need for typing lengthy, detailed prompts repeatedly.
*   Allows mapping simple commands to specific Cursor tool invocations.
*   Enables commands that leverage the ongoing conversation context.
*   Improves workflow speed and consistency when working with the AI agent.

Speed Up Your Agents with Cursor Slash Commands

Hey Everyone 👋,

John Lindquist here. Since I've been diving deep into AI tooling and workflows over the past year, I'm starting this weekly newsletter to share updates on what interests me and could be helpful to the community. The goal is to help everyone stay up-to-date with the latest in essentials tools for AI devs.

I'll focus on relevant community news, model evaluations for coding, notable tools like Cursor and Windsurf, and practical workflows (including tools I build myself 😇). This week kicks off Cloudflare Developer Week with major announcements around agent/MCP services that many of us will likely use soon (I'll dig in and share my thoughts next issue). There are also lots of hints about new coding models possibly coming to Cursor (though my preference remains Gemini 2.5). Personally, I'm hoping for a Gemini Flash 2.5 variant. So let's hop into the latest! For my detailed, up-to-date workflows, check out the workshop info below.

Recent egghead.io lessons about AI tooling:

* **[Swarm Intelligence: Massively Parallelize Your AI Agents in Cursor](https://egghead.io/swarm-intelligence-massively-parallelize-your-ai-agents-in-cursor~g7u2g):** A workflow using `file-forge`, AI scripting, and a custom `git worktree` tool (`wt`) to launch parallel Cursor agents on different branches.
* **[Build a Better Edit Tool in Cursor with Custom Agent Modes](https://egghead.io/build-a-better-edit-tool-in-cursor-with-custom-agent-modes~21rr0):** Create a focused 'edit mode' in Cursor for precise AI refactors without conversational overhead, overcoming Command-K limitations.
* **[Visually Clone Websites with Gemini 2.5 Canvas for Cursor](https://egghead.io/visually-clone-websites-with-gemini-2-5-canvas-for-cursor~s5ugk):** Use Gemini 2.5 Pro's Canvas feature within Cursor to analyze and replicate website structures.

---

## Cloudflare Developer Week: Agent & Platform Updates

Cloudflare announced several updates relevant to AI application development:

* **Durable Objects Free Tier:** Lowers the barrier for experimenting with stateful serverless and the Agents SDK. ([Rita Kozlov](https://x.com/ritakozlov_/status/1909231625855983939))
* **MCP Enhancements:** BYO Auth (incl. [Auth0](https://x.com/auth0/status/1909307220816228354)) and Hibernation for MCP servers aim to improve agent security and efficiency. Exercise caution with MCP, but these are steps toward production viability.
* **Workflows GA & autoRAG:** Orchestration tool is now GA; a new autoRAG product indicates more integrated AI solutions.
* **Outerbase Acquisition:** Expect Durable Objects usability improvements following this acquisition. ([Rita Kozlov](https://x.com/ritakozlov_/status/1909232149246492887))
* **OpenNext Adapter Beta:** v1.0-beta for deploying Next.js apps on Cloudflare Pages adds caching, PPR, middleware support. ([CloudflareDev](https://x.com/CloudflareDev/status/1909598450871652398))

**Summary:** Cloudflare is actively enhancing its platform for AI/agent development, particularly reducing friction with Durable Objects and MCP.

## Llama 4 & Nemotron-Ultra Released

Meta's Llama 4 models began rolling out, with initial reports of variable quality across implementations. Meta attributes this to implementation stabilization, denying training on test sets ([Ahmad Al-Dahle](https://x.com/Ahmad_Al_Dahle/status/1909302532306092107)). Nvidia subsequently released **Llama-Nemotron-Ultra** (253B parameters), derived from Llama-405B via pruning and reasoning-focused post-training. Open weights and data are available ([Oleksii Kuchaiev](https://x.com/kuchaev/status/1909444566379573646)).

**Summary:** More powerful open models are available. Llama 4's initial rollout highlights the importance of stable implementations. Nemotron-Ultra adds a high-end specialized option.

---

## Quasar Alpha: Stealth Model on OpenRouter

OpenRouter provides early access to "Quasar Alpha," a model with limited public details but notable claims: 1M token context, benchmarks reportedly surpassing Claude 3.7 Sonnet, and >4x faster speeds. Reports suggest strong coding performance comparable to O3 Mini/DeepSeek R1 but significantly faster ([Matthew Berman's Thread](https://x.com/TheMattBerman/status/1908286423976886371)). The originating lab remains anonymous; speculation includes GPT-5, Claude 4, or Gemini 3.

**Summary:** The combination of large context, speed, and reported coding strength warrants attention for agentic workflows and large codebase analysis, despite benchmark caveats. Worth testing via OpenRouter if accessible.

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**✨ Workshop Spotlight: Conquer the Complexity of Cursor ✨**

Master practical AI development workflows in Cursor. This hands-on workshop covers Agents, Ask, Custom Modes, multi-file analysis, effective prompting, Cursor rules, and strategies for handling AI failures.

* **When:** **This Thursday!** April 10, 2025, 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM (PDT)
* **Where:** Zoom (Live Q&A included)
* **Investment:** $149

Unlock Cursor's potential and streamline your development process.

➡️ [**Read More about the Workshop**](https://egghead.io/workshop/cursor)
➡️ [**Register Now ($149)**](https://buy.stripe.com/dR67tT4P17Xa8CYfZ1)

*(Team training also available)*

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## Quick Links

* **Nightwhisper Buzz:** Highly-rated coding model "Nightwhisper" (rumored Gemini 2.5 variant?) left LMSys Arena; release may be imminent. ([ʟᴇɢɪᴛ Tweet](https://x.com/legit_api/status/1908264443827351913), [AiBattle Tweet](https://x.com/AiBattle_/status/1907519430961025476))
* **AI SDK Speech-to-Text:** Vercel AI SDK added a `transcribe` function. ([AI SDK Tweet](https://x.com/aisdk/status/1909603418639155460))
* **Gemini 2.5 Pro Updates:** Supports YouTube URLs as input in AI Studio (transcribe, summarize, analyze); reported improvements reducing stop issues/displaying thinking tokens. ([Jean Gatt Tweet](https://x.com/jean__gatt/status/1909256747518226829), [Eric Zakariasson Tweet](https://x.com/ericzakariasson/status/1908619515023548880))
* **Baby Cursor Project:** Cursor's Ryo Lu is building a rapid prototyping environment for IDE ideas. ([Ryo Lu Tweet](https://x.com/ryolu_/status/1908328050154233863))
* **(Rumor) Qwen3 Soon?:** Hints suggest Alibaba's Qwen3 model release is near. ([Elaina Tweet](https://x.com/Elaina43114880/status/1909572798944841859))

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If you have any feedback or any questions, feel free to respond to this email. Always happy to talk shop about the latest AI tools.

John Lindquist

[egghead.io](https://egghead.io)

AI Dev Essentials #1: Cloudflare agent updates, Llama 4/Nemotron/Quasar models, Cursor workshop

Cursor's AI Agent has the abilitly to invoke MCP tools, but they lack direct access to your project. This lesson shows how to build custom MCP (Model Context Protocol) server tools that bridge this gap. Learn to define tool parameters using Zod schemas and the crucial `.describe()` method to explicitly request necessary context from the Cursor environment *before* your tool runs. See how the AI gathers this information (like Git status or version via terminal commands, or web search results) and passes it to your tool, enabling powerful, context-aware automation.

**Workflow demonstrated in this lesson:**

*   Scaffold a basic MCP server using a Cloudflare template (`pnpm create cloudflare`).
*   Run the MCP server locally and configure it in Cursor settings.
*   Define MCP tools (e.g., `status`) within the server code (`index.ts`).
*   Specify required context for tools using Zod schema parameters and `.describe()` (e.g., requesting "The status of the git repository").
*   Interact with the Cursor Agent using natural language (e.g., "Please check the status").
*   Observe the Agent's thought process: identifying the need for specific context based on the `.describe()` text.
*   See the Agent automatically using its *own* tools (like `run_terminal_cmd` or `web_search`) to gather the requested context *before* calling your MCP tool.
*   Watch the Agent call your MCP tool, passing the gathered local context (Git status, version, etc.) as arguments.
*   Receive the final response from the Agent, incorporating the information provided by your local MCP tool.

**Key benefits:**

*   Allows Cursor's AI to access and reason about information from your local machine (Git status, versions, file contents, etc.).
*   Enables the creation of AI tools that directly interact with or report on your local development environment.
*   Demonstrates the power of using `.describe()` in Zod schemas to guide the AI in gathering necessary context automatically.
*   Unlocks advanced automation possibilities by combining AI reasoning with local machine access.

Create a Custom MCP that Calls Cursor Tools

Vimium's Vomnibar is a "command palette"-like search tool for your open tabs, browser history, and bookmarks. We can search through and jump to any tab open across browser windows. We can also do a generalized search with results that also include browser history and bookmarks which can either be opened in the current tab or a new tab. If you're anything like me, you open tons of tabs and visit hundreds of webpages over the course of a week. The vomnibar puts all of that at your fingertips.

Josh Branchaud

Open Tabs, Browser History, and Bookmarks with the Vomnibar

Vimium's Vomnibar is a "command palette"-like search tool for your open tabs, browser history, and bookmarks.

Another aspect of Vimium's configurability is customizable key mappings. We can add new mappings and override existing ones. If there is a certain Vimium feature you want to make easier to trigger, adjust the key mapping to suit your needs.

Configure Custom Vimium Key Mappings

Another aspect of Vimium's configurability is customizable key mappings. We can add new mappings and override existing ones.

Many aspects of Vimium can be configured in order to bend the tool to your specific needs and use cases. We look at how to configure what sites turn off Vimium, the default search engine, link hint characters, and other basic settings. We also see how both insert mode and searching a visual selection work. Custom keymappings and custom search engines are covered in subsequent lessons.

Configure Basic Aspects of Vimium

Many aspects of Vimium can be configured in order to bend the tool to your specific needs and use cases.

Vimium's "marks" feature lets you mark positions in the current tab and across tabs. These are positional markers that you can jump back to. For instance, as you browse a huge page of documentation or a massive forum discussion, you can leave a series of "dog ears" to sections or conversations that you'll later want to revisit. Each tab supports its own set of lower-case letter marks. Upper-case letter marks are shared across tabs allowing you to seamlessly move between a specific set of tabs regardless of how they are arranged.

Set Marks on a Vimium Webpage You Want to Jump Back To

Vimium's "marks" feature lets you mark positions in the current tab and across tabs. These are positional markers that you can jump back to.

Vimium's `yy` shortcut makes quick work of grabbing the URL for the current page. I find this useful for linking to an article in my notes or sharing a web page with my team in Slack/Discord. We'll get a glimpse at a couple other features like `gi` (for "go to input") and `o` to open the URL on the clipboard.

Grab and Open URLs with Vimium

Vimium's `yy` shortcut makes quick work of grabbing the URL for the current page.

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