docs: add README with installation and usage instructions

Made-with: Cursor
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cottongin
2026-03-10 02:57:31 -04:00
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# cursor-flasher
A macOS daemon that flashes a pulsing border around Cursor IDE windows when the AI agent is waiting for your input. Optionally plays a system sound.
## Prerequisites
- macOS
- Python 3.10+
- **Accessibility permission** granted to your terminal (System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility)
## Installation
```bash
git clone <repo-url> && cd cursor-flasher
pip install -e ".[dev]"
```
## Usage
```bash
# Start the daemon (backgrounds automatically)
cursor-flasher start
# Start in foreground (useful for debugging)
cursor-flasher start --foreground
# Check if the daemon is running
cursor-flasher status
# Stop the daemon
cursor-flasher stop
```
## How It Works
1. Polls Cursor's macOS accessibility tree every 500ms
2. Detects agent state by looking for specific UI elements (Stop/Accept/Reject buttons)
3. When the agent finishes and is waiting for input, shows a pulsing amber border around **only the window(s) that need attention**
4. Plays a system sound (default: "Glass")
5. Dismisses automatically when the agent starts working again, or after a timeout
## Configuration
Create `~/.cursor-flasher/config.yaml` to customize:
```yaml
pulse:
color: "#FF9500" # Border color (hex)
width: 4 # Border thickness (px)
speed: 1.5 # Pulse cycle duration (seconds)
opacity_min: 0.3 # Minimum pulse opacity
opacity_max: 1.0 # Maximum pulse opacity
sound:
enabled: true # Play sound on trigger
name: "Glass" # macOS system sound name
volume: 0.5 # Volume (0.0 - 1.0)
detection:
poll_interval: 0.5 # Seconds between accessibility tree polls
cooldown: 3.0 # Seconds before re-triggering after dismissal
timeout:
auto_dismiss: 300 # Auto-hide overlay after N seconds
```
All values are optional — defaults are used for anything not specified.
## Troubleshooting
**"Cursor is not running" / no detection:**
Make sure Cursor is open. The daemon looks for the process by bundle ID.
**No overlay appears:**
Grant Accessibility permission to your terminal app: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility. You may need to restart the terminal after granting.
**Overlay appears on wrong windows:**
Detection is per-window — only windows with active approval prompts (Accept, Reject, Run, etc.) should flash. If you see false positives, the detection patterns may need tuning for your Cursor version. Check `scripts/dump_a11y_tree.py` to inspect the accessibility tree.
## Development
```bash
# Run tests
pytest tests/ -v
# Dump Cursor's accessibility tree (for debugging detection)
python scripts/dump_a11y_tree.py --depth 8
# Manual overlay test (flashes all windows for 10 seconds)
python scripts/test_overlay.py
# Manual overlay test (only windows needing attention)
python scripts/test_overlay.py --per-window
```