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Ever spend hours trying to align a button with a text box? I sure did. Stuck in a UI debugging nightmare, I took screenshot after screenshot, tweaked prompt after prompt. It hit me: if Cursor could actually see the UI like I could, this would be a breeze. Here’s how I gave it that awareness and cut my debugging time way down.
The Core Problem: Manual Feedback Loops Slowed Me Down
My biggest headache? Cursor couldn’t see my UI. Without that awareness, even simple tasks became a grind.
Take that button and text box alignment. It shouldn’t take two hours and dozens of prompts, right? But without direct access, I was stuck in the middle: inspecting elements in the browser, taking screenshots, and feeding details back to Cursor. That manual relay created a slow, clunky feedback loop that screamed for automation.
Solutions I Explored to Bridge the Gap
I knew I needed tools to give Cursor eyes on my UI. I tried a few options:
- BrowserToolsMCP: Puts AI right in the browser. But setup was a hassle: a browser extension, MCP tools, and a server. And that constant banner? Got old fast.
- Puppeteer: Automates the browser with JavaScript. It’s great for testing, but hooking it up to Cursor was tricky. Plus, no built-in way for real-time feedback.
- Custom Extensions: This is where things clicked. With DOM2Code and Frontend Context, I added a Chrome extension and VSCode plugin. Now I could click an element in the browser, type a prompt, and watch Cursor update. This precision saved me hours and cut errors.
- Stagewise: Another extension linking frontend to Cursor. It worked, but didn’t feel much different from the others.
My Winning Strategy: Automating the Feedback Loop
After some trial and error, I landed on a combo: DOM2Code plus a “strip and rebuild” method. Here’s how it works:
- Install the DOM2Code Chrome extension and VSCode plugin.
- In the browser, click the UI element that’s giving you grief.
- Type a prompt in the popover. My go-to: “Strip away all CSS and realign this button with the text box from scratch.”
- Hit enter and let Cursor do its thing. It uses the element’s DOM and box model data to iterate and adjust automatically.
This closed the loop. Cursor could now see the problem, fix it, and check the results — all without me. What used to take hours now took minutes.
What I Learned for Faster UI Work
Automating UI awareness isn’t just nice to have — it’s essential. Cutting myself out of the feedback loop gave me back hours for real coding.
I’m excited to see Cursor build this in natively. Until then, DOM2Code is my trusty sidekick. If you’re wrestling with UI debugging, grab a simple extension. You’ll feel the difference fast.
