Assign each Cursor project its own colour theme

The problem

That moment you realise you just prompted in the wrong Cursor project. Rare. Still annoying.

When you’re working across several projects at once — a client integration, your own internal tooling, a personal project — the windows start to blur. You fire off a prompt, watch it do something unexpected, and spend a moment genuinely confused before realising you were in the wrong context entirely.

The fix

Create a separate Cursor profile for each project, then assign each profile a distinct colour theme. The editor background tells you where you are before you type anything.

Steps:

1. Go to Settings → Profile → create a new profile for the project
2. Switch to that profile, then go to Settings → Themes → Color Theme
3. Pick a theme that visually identifies that project

I use dark themes for client work and lighter ones for internal tools. Once you’ve done this across your active projects, the visual context registers before your conscious mind needs to check.

Total setup time: about 30 seconds per project.

Why it works

When you’re context-switching frequently, you’re relying on working memory to track which project you’re in. A distinct visual environment offloads that tracking to your peripheral vision — the colour registers before you’ve typed a single character.

Small thing. But when you’re switching between a client integration and your own internal tooling all day, not confusing yourself mid-prompt adds up.

Author Ivars Bariss Founder, IB Solutions