Bugbot Effort Levels

What changed

Cursor added effort level controls for Bugbot on May 18 2026. Teams admins and Individual plan users can now choose Default, High, or Custom modes for PR reviews. Custom mode accepts natural language instructions but requires usage-based billing to activate.

The update applies only to PR review workflows inside the Cursor platform. No changes were announced for other AI features such as inline chat or composer.

Why it matters

Granular effort settings let builders match review depth to project risk without rewriting prompts each time. This shifts Cursor from a fixed AI reviewer toward a configurable service that competes with lighter open-source alternatives.

The move bets that users will accept usage billing once they see measurable differences in bug detection rates. It pressures competitors who still offer only one-size-fits-all PR checks.

How to use it

Open the Cursor dashboard and navigate to the Bugbot section under workspace settings. Enable usage-based billing first, then select Custom and enter instructions such as focus on security or limit suggestions to performance issues. Changes take effect on the next PR review.

Individual users follow the same path inside their personal account settings. Test on a single repository before rolling out to a team.

Watch for

Track whether Custom instructions reduce false positives on large codebases. The bet breaks if token costs exceed the value of extra reviews. Expect Cursor to add effort presets for other tools such as test generation next.