How I Solved Slow DeepSeek R1 Integration in Cursor IDE: A Step-by-Step Guide
June 19, 2025Why My Claude 3.5 Sonnet Wasn’t Showing in Cursor IDE and How I Fixed It in Minutes
June 19, 2025
I was really excited to try the new Gemini 2.5 Flash (05-20) update. Its improved performance sounded awesome! But when I fired up Cursor, I hit a wall: it was still using the older 04-17 version. After a bit of digging, I found a simple workaround to get the latest features running right away.
The Core Problem: Gemini 2.5 Flash (05-20) Wasn’t Available in Cursor
I opened up Cursor, my go-to IDE, and realized it hadn’t updated to the 05-20 release. That was odd because Google AI Studio was already showing off the new version.
Without the update, I couldn’t use the enhanced features. I was missing out on better multi-file edits and having to rely less on other models like Claude Sonnet. Honestly, it was frustrating. Early tests had shown this update could save me a bunch of time on small coding tasks.
The Solution: Using an API Key to Access the New Model
After some trial and error, I found a straightforward workaround: using the Gemini API directly. Here’s exactly what I did:
- First, I signed up for a Gemini API key via Google AI for Developers. Setting it up only took a few minutes.
- Then, I added the key to my coding workflow. For example, in a terminal or script, I used simple commands to call the model. Check out this snippet:
curl -X POST \Remember to swap “YOUR_API_KEY” with your actual key to try it yourself.
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{"contents":[{"parts":[{"text":"Your prompt here"}]}]}' \
'https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/models/gemini-1.5-flash:generateContent?key=YOUR_API_KEY' - Finally, I kept an eye on the responses to confirm it was the 05-20 version. I looked for new features like quicker processing and more accurate edits.
This little hack let me jump straight into using Gemini Flash 05-20. No more waiting for Cursor’s official update!
What to Expect Moving Forward
From what I’ve seen, the Cursor team is probably testing the update thoroughly. That makes sense because model changes can sometimes break existing prompts or integrations.
I did learn one thing: when switching versions, I had to adjust my prompts a little to avoid inconsistencies. So if you try the API method, keep that in mind.
Patience is key, but this API workaround is a solid temporary fix. I’m pretty sure the full integration will arrive soon, making it super easy to use this powerful tool in my everyday coding.
