Epic: Feature Comparison - Cursor CLI vs ForgeCode

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Epic: Cursor CLI vs ForgeCode Feature Comparison

Track features that Cursor CLI (Agent) has and their status in ForgeCode. Use this issue to identify gaps and prioritize development.

Docs: https://cursor.com/docs/cli/overview

Legend

• = ForgeCode already has this feature
• = ForgeCode does NOT have this feature yet
• [~] = Partial implementation

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Core CLI Features

Feature	Cursor CLI	ForgeCode	Status	Notes
Interactive TUI	Yes (agent)	Yes	[x]
Non-interactive mode	Yes (agent -p)	Yes (forge -p)	[x]
Initial prompt	Yes (agent "prompt")	Yes (forge -p "prompt")	[x]
Session resume	Yes (agent resume, --continue)	Yes (--conversation-id)	[x]
Session list	Yes (agent ls)	Yes (conversation list [--porcelain])	[x]
Session fork	Yes	Yes (conversation clone)	[x]	conversation clone <id> creates new conversation with new ID. Task tool session_id allows subagent resume.
Named sessions	Yes	Yes (conversation rename)	[x]	conversation rename <id> <name>
Model selection	Yes (--model)	Yes (via config)	[x]
Output formats	Yes (text, json, stream-json)	Partial (--porcelain, conversation dump --html)	[~]	--porcelain on most subcommands, JSON/HTML export via conversation dump. No stream-json event streaming.
Force/auto-apply mode	Yes (--force, --yolo)	No	[ ]	Auto-apply changes without review. ForgeCode has Policy::Confirm for interactive approval.
Shell mode	Yes (built-in)	Yes (shell tool)	[x]	Built-in shell/command execution tool
Reasoning effort control	Yes (/max-mode)	Yes (forge config set reasoning-effort)	[x]	Effort enum: none/minimal/low/medium/high/xhigh/max. max_tokens, exclude, enabled. crates/forge_config/src/reasoning.rs
Auto-update	Yes (agent update)	Yes (forge update)	[x]

Modes

Feature	Cursor CLI	ForgeCode	Status	Notes
Agent mode (full access)	Yes (default)	Yes	[x]
Plan mode	Yes (--plan, /plan)	Yes (PlanCreate tool)	[x]	PlanCreate creates structured plans before execution. crates/forge_services/src/tool_services/plan_create.rs
Ask mode (read-only)	Yes (--mode=ask, /ask)	No	[ ]	Read-only exploration without tools
Max mode (extended thinking)	Yes (/max-mode)	Yes (reasoning effort + max_tokens)	[x]	Effort::max + max_tokens in ReasoningConfig

Agent & Cloud Features

Feature	Cursor CLI	ForgeCode	Status	Notes
Cloud Agent handoff	Yes (& prefix)	No	[ ]	Push conversation to cloud
Cloud Agent web/mobile	Yes (cursor.com/agents)	No	[ ]	Pick up tasks from web/mobile
Background agents	Yes	No	[ ]
Subagents	Yes	Yes (task tool)	[x]	task tool with agent_id + session_id for resume.
Custom agents	Yes (Skills)	Yes (.forge/agents/)	[x]

Sandbox & Security

Feature	Cursor CLI	ForgeCode	Status	Notes
Sandbox controls	Yes (/sandbox, --sandbox)	Yes (--sandbox <name> git worktree)	[x]	Creates git worktree. crates/forge_main/src/sandbox.rs
Network access control	Yes (sandbox settings)	No	[ ]
Sudo password prompting	Yes	No	[ ]	Secure IPC channel for elevated commands
Approval agents	Yes	No	[ ]
Security agents	Yes	No	[ ]
Permission rules	Yes	Yes (Policy system)	[x]	Policy enum (Allow/Deny/Confirm) with All/Any/Not operators, Local/User scope. crates/forge_domain/src/policies/policy.rs

Protocol & Integration

Feature	Cursor CLI	ForgeCode	Status	Notes
ACP (Agent Client Protocol)	Yes (agent acp)	No	[ ]	Key protocol - See also #2968
MCP support	Yes	Yes	[x]	McpServerConfig::{Stdio, Http} transports. crates/forge_domain/src/mcp.rs
MCP server mode	No	Yes	[x]	crates/forge_infra/src/mcp_server.rs. ForgeCode advantage
MCP OAuth	No	Yes (mcp login/mcp logout)	[x]	OAuth device/code/PKCE, refresh, custom headers. ForgeCode advantage
Hooks	Yes (user-configurable)	Yes (internal EventHandle/Hook)	[~]	on_start, on_end, on_request, on_response, on_toolcall_start, on_toolcall_end. Built-in: CompactionHandler, DoomLoopDetector, TitleGenerationHandler. crates/forge_domain/src/hook.rs. Not user-configurable yet.
Plugins	Yes	Yes (skills + shell plugin)	[~]
Skills	Yes	Yes	[x]	Skills in .forge/skills/, skill_fetch tool.
Rules	Yes	Yes (AGENTS.md)	[x]
Bugbot (automated bug reports)	Yes	No	[ ]
Automations	Yes	No	[ ]

IDE & Platform

Feature	Cursor CLI	ForgeCode	Status	Notes
Cursor IDE integration	Yes (native)	No	[ ]
VS Code extension	Yes (via Cursor IDE)	Yes (forge vscode install-extension)	[x]
JetBrains integration	Yes (via ACP)	No	[ ]
Neovim integration	Yes (avante.nvim via ACP)	No	[ ]
Zed integration	Yes (via ACP)	No	[ ]
Desktop app	Yes (Cursor IDE)	No	[ ]
Web interface	Yes (cursor.com/agents)	No	[ ]
Mobile access	Yes	No	[ ]
Deep links	Yes	No	[ ]

SDK & Automation

Feature	Cursor CLI	ForgeCode	Status	Notes
Headless/CI mode	Yes (-p, --force)	Yes (forge -p + forge data)	[x]
Image analysis	Yes (file paths in prompts)	Yes (InputModality::Image)	[x]	fs_read reads images when model supports it. max_image_size_bytes configurable. crates/forge_domain/src/model.rs, crates/forge_domain/src/image.rs
Batch processing	Yes (scripts)	Yes (forge data)	[x]	JSONL schema-constrained batches with --concurrency.
TypeScript SDK	Yes	No	[ ]
Python SDK	Yes	No	[ ]
Structured output	No	Yes (forge data --schema)	[x]	JSONL schema-constrained output. ForgeCode advantage

Cloud & Infrastructure

Feature	Cursor CLI	ForgeCode	Status	Notes
Self-hosted pool	Yes	No	[ ]
Google Cloud Run	Yes	No	[ ]
My Machines (remote)	Yes	No	[ ]

Headless/CI Features

Feature	Cursor CLI	ForgeCode	Status	Notes
Streaming JSON output	Yes (--output-format stream-json)	No	[ ]	ForgeCode has --porcelain for machine-readable output, but no streaming event format.
File modification in scripts	Yes (--force)	No	[ ]
Real-time progress tracking	Yes (event types)	No	[ ]

Memory & Context

Feature	Cursor CLI	ForgeCode	Status	Notes
AGENTS.md / Rules	Yes	Yes (AGENTS.md)	[x]
Auto memory	Yes	Yes (TitleGenerationHandler)	[x]	Auto-generates conversation title. crates/forge_app/src/hooks/title_generation.rs
Context compaction	No	Yes (conversation compact <id>)	[x]	Compact + Compactor engine, CompactionStrategy, CompactionHandler hook. ForgeCode advantage
Checkpointing (file rewind)	No	Yes (fs_undo tool + forge_snaps)	[x]	ForgeCode advantage

Cursor Review (Closed Beta)

Feature	Cursor CLI	ForgeCode	Status	Notes
PR inbox	Yes	No	[ ]
PR page	Yes	No	[ ]
Merge queue	Yes	No	[ ]
Review CLI	Yes	No	[ ]

ForgeCode-Specific Features (not in Cursor CLI)

Feature	ForgeCode	Notes
Multi-provider support	43 providers vs Cursor-only
Semantic code search	workspace query - embedding-based workspace search
Doom-loop detection	DoomLoopDetector hook
Interactive fuzzy picker	forge select {model, agent, provider, reasoning-effort, command, conversation, file}
Full shell plugin	ZSH theme, plugin, keyboard bindings, dispatcher, actions
Plan tool	PlanCreate for structured planning
Structured data pipeline	forge data - JSONL schema-constrained batches
AI commit messages	forge commit with --preview and --max-diff
NL to shell	forge suggest <nl>
Conversation lifecycle	conversation {list, new, dump, compact, retry, resume, show, info, stats, clone, rename, delete}
Config migration	forge config migrate
Diagnostics	forge doctor, forge zsh doctor, forge logs
Theme customization	forge.theme.zsh + forge zsh rprompt
Cost tracking	Usage + conversation stats
Permissions policy	Policy enum with Allow/Deny/Confirm and All/Any/Not operators
MCP server mode	Forge exposes itself as MCP server
MCP OAuth	Device/code/PKCE login/logout
Web fetch	Built-in Fetch tool with robots.txt respect
6 auth methods	ApiKey, OAuthDevice, OAuthCode, GoogleAdc, AwsProfile, CodexDevice

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Summary

ForgeCode already has: ~35 features
ForgeCode is missing: ~22 features
Partial implementation: ~3 features

Top Priority Missing Features (by impact)

1. ACP (Agent Client Protocol) - Critical for IDE/editor integration. See also [Feature]: Support ACP (Agent Client Protocol) #2968
2. Streaming JSON output (stream-json event types) - Critical for CI/CD and automation
3. Ask/read-only mode - Important for safe exploration
4. Cloud Agent handoff - Important for remote/async work
5. Force/auto-apply mode (--force) - Important for CI/CD
6. TypeScript SDK - Important for ecosystem
7. Python SDK - Important for ecosystem
8. Desktop app - Important for UX
9. JetBrains/Neovim/Zed integration (via ACP) - Important for developer reach
10. Network access control - Important for security

ForgeCode Unique Advantages (not in Cursor CLI)

• 43 provider support (vs Cursor Cursor-only)
• MCP server mode + MCP OAuth
• Semantic code search (workspace indexing via embeddings)
• Doom-loop detection (automatic stuck-pattern breaker)
• Interactive fuzzy picker (forge select)
• Full shell plugin (ZSH theme, plugin, keyboard bindings, dispatcher, actions)
• Plan tool (PlanCreate)
• forge data (JSONL schema-constrained data processing pipeline)
• forge commit (AI-generated commit messages)
• forge suggest (NL to shell command)
• Conversation lifecycle (full CRUD + compact + retry + dump)
• Config migration (forge config migrate)
• Diagnostics (forge doctor, forge zsh doctor, forge logs)
• Theme customization (forge.theme.zsh)
• Cost tracking (Usage + conversation stats)
• Permissions policy system
• Context compaction (auto + manual)
• Checkpointing (fs_undo + forge_snaps)
• Web fetch (built-in Fetch tool)
• 6 auth methods

Cross-references

• Related: Epic Epic: Feature Comparison - Claude Code vs ForgeCode #3500 (Claude Code comparison)
• Related: Epic Epic: Feature Comparison - Codex CLI vs ForgeCode #3501 (Codex CLI comparison)
• Related: Epic Epic: Feature Comparison - OpenCode vs ForgeCode #3502 (OpenCode comparison)
• Related: Issue [Feature]: Support ACP (Agent Client Protocol) #2968 (ACP support request)

Co-Authored-By: ForgeCode noreply@forgecode.dev