Cursor launches Origin code hosting service to compete with GitHub

Cursor today introduced Origin, a cloud service that software teams can use to store their code.

The launch marks the company’s first major product update since its $60 billion sale to SpaceX Corp. in June.

Cursor develops one of the industry’s most popular desktop-based vibe coding tools. The program uses artificial intelligence agents to automate programming tasks. Cursor can help developers craft code, modernize existing software and familiarize themselves with application modules written by colleagues.

Origin is accessible via a new tab in the Cursor desktop client’s interface. Developers can also interact with it via a dedicated command line interface tool. It speeds up tasks such as creating and copying code repositories.

The new service is based on Git, a code repository management tool developed by Linux creator Linus Torvalds. One of the software’s main selling points is a feature called branching. The capability enables members of a development team to create separate copies of a code repository, edit each replica separately and then combine the changes. Managing code changes without branching can be a highly error-prone task.

Git also underpins GitHub, the most popular code hosting platform on the market. Cursor offers an integration that enables developers to copy projects from GitHub to Origin with a few clicks. When an upstream project in GitHub receives an update, the integration syncs the changes to Origin. It also syncs files in the opposite direction.

Developers can use Cursor’s built-in agents to edit code in Origin repositories. The vibe coding platform supports two types of agents. The first variety is hosted on the user’s desktop, while the other runs in a cloud-based sandbox. The main difference between the two is that cloud agents can work on long-horizon coding tasks even when a developer’s workstation is turned off.

Those developers with more advanced requirements can connect Origin to external services. The platform is launching with a prepackaged connector for Vercel Inc.’s application hosting platform. According to Cursor, the integration enables developers to quickly create a test environment in which new application updates can be checked for bugs. There are also connectors for development tools from startups Depot Technologies Inc. and Buildkite Inc.

Cursor will add more integrations in the near future. Additionally, the company plans to release unspecified “agent-native features.”

Many programming agents run in isolated cloud-based virtual machines. Developers equip those virtual machines with assets such as code repositories that are relevant to the work of the agents they host. Cursor might be planning to release features that will ease the creation of such sandboxes. Another possibility is that SpaceX will integrate Origin with Grok Build, a vibe coding tool it introduced in March.