Switching from Cursor to Windsurf Without Losing Your Mind

I've migrated 12 developers from Cursor to Windsurf over the past 6 months. Four switched back because of memory issues. Here's what actually matters when deciding to migrate.

The Real Shit That Nobody Tells You

Windsurf is cheaper but hungrier:

• Windsurf costs $15/month vs Cursor's $20, which adds up if you have a team
• But it uses 3-4x more RAM than Cursor because of how Cascade indexes your entire codebase
• On my MacBook Pro with 16GB, I restart Windsurf every 4 hours or it crashes with memory errors
• Our junior dev with 8GB gave up after two days of constant freezing

The context thing is actually pretty great:

• Cursor's manual context selection drives me insane - always forgetting to add the right files
• Windsurf automatically figures out what files matter for your changes
• When it works, it's magic. When it picks the wrong files, it's frustrating as hell
• Takes about a week to learn how to guide it properly

Extension compatibility is hit-or-miss:
Most extensions work fine. GitHub Copilot doesn't - it fights with Windsurf's AI and both break. Same for Tabnine or CodeWhisperer. The Node.js debugger took me 3 hours to fix.

Real Migration Scenarios I've Seen

Sarah's team (8 developers, React/Node.js stack):

• Migrated for budget reasons - saving $40/month matters for a startup
• 6 out of 8 adapted fine within 2 weeks
• 2 couldn't deal with memory issues on older MacBooks
• Total migration time: 3 days with constant Slack questions

My enterprise client (25 developers, Java/Spring stack):

• Tried Windsurf for 3 months, switched back to Cursor
• Windsurf's indexing choked on their 200k+ line codebase
• Memory usage hit 8GB+ per developer session
• IT department banned Windsurf after performance complaints

Solo freelancer (that's me):

• Switched for the automatic context - worth the memory headaches
• Learned to work around limitations: close large projects, restart regularly
• Overall productive gain from not managing context manually

When to Switch (Be Honest About This)

Switch if you:

• Have 16GB+ RAM and can restart your IDE 2-3 times per day
• Hate manually adding context to every AI conversation
• Work on projects under 50k lines of code
• Can tolerate a week of learning new workflows
• Want to save $60/year per developer

Stay with Cursor if you:

• Have 8GB RAM or less - seriously, don't torture yourself
• Work on massive codebases (100k+ lines)
• Rely on specific VS Code extensions for core workflow
• Can't afford downtime while learning new AI interaction patterns
• Your company has already invested in Cursor training/workflows

The Migration Reality Nobody Talks About

Actually migrating takes an afternoon, getting comfortable takes weeks:

• 2-3 hours to export settings, install Windsurf, import configurations
• Another 2 hours debugging extension conflicts the first week
• 1-2 weeks of "where the fuck is that feature" frustrations
• Memory management becomes part of your daily routine

Most of your stuff transfers, some breaks:

• Basic settings and keybindings import fine via standard VS Code export
• Custom themes need manual installation
• Workspace configurations sometimes get corrupted
• Any Cursor-specific settings obviously don't work

Team migrations are coordinated chaos:

• Stagger migrations over 2-3 weeks so people can help each other
• Have someone become the "Windsurf expert" first
• Budget for Slack being full of "how do I..." questions
• Keep Cursor licenses active for the first month as backup

What to Do Before You Start (Don't Skip This)

Document everything because shit will break:

## Export your current Cursor settings
cp ~/.cursor/settings.json ~/cursor-backup-settings.json
cp -r ~/.cursor/extensions ~/cursor-extensions-backup/

Test on a throwaway project first:

• Download Windsurf and try it on a small project
• Import your settings and see what breaks
• Test your most critical extensions
• Make sure it doesn't crash your laptop with memory issues

Prepare for the memory reality:

• Configure file watching exclusions for node_modules, .git, dist folders
• Set up Activity Monitor/Task Manager to monitor Windsurf memory usage
• Learn the restart-before-it-crashes routine (I set a 4-hour timer)

The biggest failures happen when people expect it to "just work" like switching between Chrome and Firefox. It's not that simple. Plan for a rough first week and you won't be disappointed.

Next up: Before you dive into the migration process, let's address the questions everyone asks during their first week with Windsurf.

This is what works after watching 12 developers migrate. Some crashed and burned, others figured it out. Here's what I learned from the train wrecks.

Phase 1: Download and Cross Your Fingers (30 minutes, if you're lucky)

Download Windsurf (usually the easy part)

Go to windsurf.com and grab the installer. It's about 200MB so it downloads fast on decent internet.

Mac users: You'll get a security warning because Windsurf isn't from the App Store. Right-click, open, ignore the scary dialog.

Windows users: Windows Defender might freak out. Add an exclusion or tell it to shut up.

Linux users: AppImage works fine, but you know what you're doing already.

First launch takes forever (like 90 seconds) while it downloads AI models. Don't panic, it's not broken.

The Import Process (where things start going wrong)

When Windsurf opens, it'll ask to import from Cursor. Do this unless your Cursor setup is completely fucked up.

The import looks at:

## Mac
~/.cursor/settings.json
~/.cursor/extensions/
~/.cursor/keybindings.json

## Windows  
%APPDATA%\Cursor\User\settings.json
%APPDATA%\Cursor\User\extensions/

What actually transfers:

• Basic editor settings (font, colors, etc.) - usually works
• Keybindings - mostly works, some break
• Extensions list - imports but half won't work
• Themes - 50/50 chance of looking like shit

What breaks:

• Custom CSS modifications (obviously)
• Cursor-specific settings (duh)
• Some workspace configurations get corrupted
• Extension settings sometimes reset to defaults

Authentication Hell

Create a Windsurf account - it's free but you'll hit limits fast. The free tier gives you 25 AI requests per month, which lasts about 3 hours of actual coding.

If you're using custom API keys in Cursor (OpenAI, Anthropic), you'll need to set them up again in Windsurf. The settings are in different places because why make anything consistent.

Phase 2: Fixing the Shit That Broke (1-3 hours of debugging)

Extensions: The Bloodbath

Open the Extensions panel (Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + X) and prepare for disappointment.

Will definitely break:

• GitHub Copilot - conflicts with Windsurf AI, both crash
• Any AI assistant extension (Tabnine, CodeWhisperer, etc.)
• Cursor-specific themes and tools
• Anything that messes with editor core functionality

Usually survives:

• ESLint and Prettier
• Language servers (TypeScript, Python, Go)
• GitLens (if you're into that)
• Basic debuggers

The pain points:

• Windsurf doesn't have access to the full VS Code marketplace
• Some extensions install but don't actually work
• Error messages are useless ("Extension failed to activate")
• You'll spend 2 hours reinstalling shit one by one

I had to reinstall my Thunder Client extension 3 times before it worked. The REST Client extension just never worked at all.

Settings Migration Reality Check

Press Cmd/Ctrl + , to open settings and start fixing things:

Font settings: Usually transfer but sometimes get reset to defaults. I had to reconfigure my Fira Code ligatures.

Keybindings: Most work, some don't. Custom shortcuts for Cursor features obviously break. Spent 20 minutes figuring out why Cmd+K wasn't opening the command palette.

Workspace layouts: Panel positions and sizes get fucked up. You'll spend time dragging things back where you want them.

Git Integration (prepare for authentication hell)

Your Git credentials don't transfer. You'll need to re-authenticate with:

• GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket
• SSH keys (if Windsurf can't find them)
• Any credential managers you use

I spent 45 minutes debugging why my SSH key wasn't working - turns out Windsurf was looking in the wrong directory.

Phase 3: Learning Windsurf's Weird AI Thing (1-2 weeks of confusion)

Cascade vs Cursor Chat: Completely Different Shit

Cursor's chat is reactive - you ask, it answers. Windsurf's Cascade is proactive and it's fucking weird at first.

Cascade Chat: Like Cursor chat but it automatically includes relevant files. No more manually adding context (thank god).

Cascade Flow: The weird one. It suggests changes across multiple files without you asking. Either love it or hate it - no middle ground.

Reality check: Took me 2 weeks to stop reflexively adding files to context. The automatic context is usually right, but when it's wrong, it's really wrong.

Memory Usage: The Elephant in the Room

Windsurf uses way more RAM than Cursor. Here's what to expect:

• Small project (< 1k files): 2-3GB RAM usage
• Medium project (1k-10k files): 4-6GB RAM usage
• Large project (10k+ files): 8GB+ and your laptop fans spin up

Essential memory management:
Create a .codeiumignore file in every project root:

node_modules/
dist/
build/
.next/
coverage/
*.log
.git/objects/
**/__pycache__/
**/*.min.js
**/*.map
vendor/
target/

Set up file watcher exclusions in your workspace settings:

{
  "files.watcherExclude": {
    "**/node_modules/**": true,
    "**/dist/**": true,
    "**/build/**": true,
    "**/.git/objects/**": true,
    "**/target/**": true,
    "**/vendor/**": true
  }
}

I set a calendar reminder to restart Windsurf every 4 hours or it starts swapping to disk and everything becomes unusable.

Phase 4: Making It Not Suck (ongoing maintenance)

Performance Optimization (or: how I learned to stop worrying and restart regularly)

Monitor memory usage religiously:

• Mac: Activity Monitor → Memory tab
• Windows: Task Manager → Performance tab
• Linux: htop or top

When Windsurf hits 6GB+ usage, restart it before it crashes.

Indexing takes forever on large projects:
Opening a big React/Node project? Go get coffee. Windsurf needs 10-15 minutes to index everything before Cascade works properly.

Close projects you're not using:
Unlike VS Code, Windsurf keeps indexing background projects. Close workspace completely when switching projects.

Team Migration Strategy (learned the hard way)

Don't migrate everyone at once - I tried this and it was chaos.

Stagger over 2-3 weeks:

1. Migrate one patient person first (ideally someone who likes debugging)
2. They become the team Windsurf expert
3. Migrate 2-3 people per week after that
4. Keep Cursor licenses active for a month as backup

Communication overhead:
Budget for Slack being full of "how do I..." questions. The first week is constant interruptions.

When Everything Goes Wrong (it will)

Common Disasters I've Seen

"Import failed halfway through"
Delete Windsurf settings and start over:

## Mac
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\\ Support/Windsurf
## Windows
rmdir /s \"%APPDATA%\\Windsurf\"

"Extensions keep crashing"
Disable all extensions, enable one by one to find the culprit. Usually an AI assistant extension fighting with Windsurf.

"Memory usage keeps climbing"
Add more aggressive .codeiumignore patterns. If that doesn't help, your project is too big for Windsurf.

"Cascade suggestions are garbage"
It needs time to learn your codebase. Give it a week of normal usage. If it's still bad, your project structure is probably too weird.

"Git authentication broken"
Clear Windsurf's stored credentials and re-authenticate:

• Mac: Keychain Access → Clear Windsurf entries
• Windows: Credential Manager → Clear saved passwords
• Linux: Clear ~/.gitconfig credential entries

Nuclear Option

When everything is fucked and you can't figure out why: delete Windsurf completely and start fresh. I've done this 3 times during testing.

## Mac - nuclear reset
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\\ Support/Windsurf
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/Windsurf
rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.windsurf.*

## Then reinstall from scratch

The Brutal Truth About Migration Time

Marketing says: "15 minutes to migrate"
Reality: "3-5 hours to get working, 2 weeks to get comfortable"

Day 1: Import works, half your shit is broken, spend afternoon debugging
Week 1: Daily frustrations with missing features and different workflows
Week 2: Starting to appreciate automatic context, memory usage still annoying
Month 1: Either fully adapted or planning to switch back

Most developers who switch back do it in the first 2 weeks. If you make it past that, you'll probably stick with Windsurf.

Bottom line: Budget a week of reduced productivity while you adapt. Don't migrate right before a big deadline.

Need the hard facts? Here's how Cursor and Windsurf actually compare in practice, not just on paper.

Congrats, you've migrated. Now for the real work: making Windsurf actually work better than Cursor instead of just being a memory-hungry disappointment.

Memory Management: Embrace the Reality

Windsurf is a memory hog. It uses 3-4x more RAM than Cursor because Cascade indexes your entire codebase. This isn't fixable - it's how it works. You adapt or you suffer.

Essential Memory Survival Kit

Create .codeiumignore files everywhere:
Every single project needs this file in the root. No exceptions.

## This is not optional - your laptop will crash without this
node_modules/
dist/
build/
.next/
.nuxt/
coverage/
.git/objects/
**/__pycache__/
**/*.pyc
**/*.min.js
**/*.bundle.js
**/*.map
**/docs/api/
**/test-results/
**/target/debug/
**/target/release/
vendor/

I learned this the hard way when Windsurf indexed my entire node_modules folder and used 12GB of RAM on a Next.js project.

Workspace settings to prevent death by RAM:

{
  "files.watcherExclude": {
    "**/node_modules/**": true,
    "**/dist/**": true,
    "**/build/**": true,
    "**/.git/objects/**": true,
    "**/coverage/**": true,
    "**/vendor/**": true
  },
  "search.exclude": {
    "**/node_modules": true,
    "**/dist": true,
    "**/build": true
  }
}

The Restart Religion

You will restart Windsurf regularly or it will crash:

• Every 4 hours during active coding (I set a timer)
• Every 2 hours on large projects (50k+ lines)
• Immediately when it hits 6GB of memory usage

Check memory usage constantly:

• Mac: Activity Monitor → Memory tab → sort by Memory
• Windows: Task Manager → More details → Processes tab
• Linux: htop and watch the Windsurf process

I've trained myself to restart before grabbing coffee. It's just part of the workflow now.

Multi-Project Strategy (or: How to Not Kill Your Laptop)

Never open your entire monorepo. Windsurf will try to index everything and your laptop will become a space heater.

Split big projects into focused workspaces:

## Create separate workspace files
my-project/
├── frontend.code-workspace     # Just React stuff
├── backend.code-workspace      # Just API stuff  
├── mobile.code-workspace       # Just React Native

Each workspace file should be minimal:

{
  "folders": [
    { "path": "./src" },
    { "path": "./public" }
  ]
}

This reduced my memory usage from 8GB to 3GB on a large React/Node project.

Learning Cascade (The Weird AI Thing)

Cascade works completely differently than Cursor's chat. Stop trying to use it like Cursor - you'll just get frustrated.

Prompting That Actually Works

Cascade needs specific context, not vague requests:

Bad prompts (Cursor style):

• "Fix this bug"
• "Make it work"
• "Add authentication"

Good prompts (Cascade style):

• "Add error handling to the user login API endpoint"
• "Update the UserProfile component to handle null avatar URLs"
• "Fix the memory leak in the data processing worker"

Use @filename when Cascade picks the wrong files:

@components/LoginForm.tsx the validation isn't working for empty passwords

Conversation Management Reality

Cascade conversations become enormous because they include file context automatically. Eventually you hit token limits and everything breaks.

Conversation hygiene:

• Start fresh conversations for new problems (don't try to cram everything into one chat)
• Name your conversations so you can find them later ("Login bug March 2025" not "Chat 47")
• End conversations when you solve the problem - don't let them run forever

Performance Hacks for Big Codebases

If your project is over 50k lines, Windsurf will struggle. Here's damage control:

Disable the Hungry Features

Turn off aggressive indexing:

{
  "codeium.enableCodebaseIndexing": false,
  "codeium.enableRepoMapGeneration": false,
  "files.exclude": {
    "**/node_modules": true,
    "**/.git": true,
    "**/dist": true,
    "**/build": true,
    "**/coverage": true,
    "**/*.log": true
  }
}

Work in smaller chunks:

• Don't open the entire codebase at once
• Use @folder mentions to limit Cascade's scope
• Break big changes into multiple smaller conversations

Docker/Remote Development Hell

If you're using containers, memory allocation becomes even more critical:

Docker setup that might work:

services:
  windsurf:
    mem_limit: 8g        # Minimum - more if you can
    shm_size: 1g         # Prevents mysterious crashes

Remote development reality:

• Use a machine with 32GB+ RAM if possible
• Keep persistent SSH connections so indexing doesn't restart
• Accept that large codebases may just not work

Extension Compatibility Nightmare

About 30% of my extensions broke when I migrated from Cursor. Here's what to expect:

What Usually Works

• Language servers (TypeScript, Python, Go)
• GitLens and git tools
• ESLint/Prettier formatters
• Basic debuggers

What Always Breaks

• GitHub Copilot (conflicts with Windsurf AI)
• Tabnine (same conflict)
• Any other AI coding assistant
• Cursor-specific themes and tools

What Sometimes Works

• Thunder Client (took 3 reinstalls)
• REST Client (never worked for me)
• Custom themes (prepare to reinstall)

Monitor extension memory usage:

## Mac/Linux - see total Windsurf memory usage
ps aux | grep -i windsurf | awk '{sum+=$6} END {print sum/1024 " MB"}'

Some extensions that were fine in Cursor become memory hogs in Windsurf.

Team Migration Reality

If you're migrating a team, prepare for chaos.

Don't Migrate Everyone At Once (Learned This The Hard Way)

Don't migrate everyone at once - I tried this with 8 developers and it was a disaster.

What works:

1. One patient person migrates first (preferably someone who likes debugging)
2. They become the team Windsurf expert
3. Migrate 2-3 people per week after that
4. Keep Cursor licenses for a month as backup

Communication overhead:

• Slack will be full of "how do I..." questions
• Budget 2 hours per day answering Windsurf questions in the first week
• Someone needs to document the team-specific workarounds

Credit Management (Don't Make This a Metric)

People ration AI usage when they see credit counters. This kills productivity.

Team credit strategy:

• Set limits high enough that developers don't worry about them
• Share techniques for efficient Cascade usage
• Don't track individual credit consumption as a performance metric

Memory Monitoring Setup

You need active monitoring or you'll get mystery crashes:

Simple memory monitor script:

#!/bin/bash
## Save as windsurf-monitor.sh
while true; do
  memory=$(ps -o rss= -p $(pgrep Windsurf) | awk '{sum+=$1} END {print sum/1024}')
  if (( $(echo "$memory > 4000" | bc -l) )); then
    # Mac notification
    osascript -e "display notification \"Windsurf using ${memory}MB - restart recommended\" with title \"Memory Alert\""
  fi
  sleep 300  # Check every 5 minutes
done

Run this at startup. It'll save you from mysterious crashes.

Enterprise/Corporate Network Hell

Corporate networks break Windsurf because they block AI service endpoints.

Required endpoints to whitelist:

*.windsurf.com
*.codeium.com
api.openai.com
api.anthropic.com

Proxy setup:

export HTTP_PROXY=http://proxy.company.com:8080
export HTTPS_PROXY=http://proxy.company.com:8080

Using your own API keys (if your company has enterprise AI):

1. Get OpenAI API key
2. Add to Windsurf settings: "codeium.openai.apiKey": "sk-..."
3. Configure rate limits

This often works better than Windsurf's shared infrastructure.

The Brutal First Month Timeline

Week 1: "Why did I do this to myself?"

• Set up memory monitoring and restart reminders
• Create .codeiumignore files for all projects
• Fight with broken extensions
• Restart Windsurf 5+ times per day while learning memory management

Week 2: "Starting to see the benefits"

• Optimize workspace configurations
• Establish regular restart routine
• Begin appreciating automatic context selection
• Still cursing the memory usage

Week 3: "This might actually be better"

• Master Cascade conversation patterns
• Stop reflexively adding files to context manually
• Memory management becomes automatic
• Extension ecosystem stabilized

Week 4: "I wouldn't switch back"

• Productivity gains from automatic context outweigh memory headaches
• Restart routine is just part of the workflow
• Team migration issues resolved

The reality: If you make it through the first month, you'll probably stick with Windsurf. If the memory management drives you crazy in the first two weeks, switch back to Cursor.

Bottom line: Windsurf can be better than Cursor, but only if you're willing to manage its quirks actively. It's not a drop-in replacement - it's a different tool with different tradeoffs.

When things go wrong (and they will), here's how to fix the most common disasters that trip up every migration.