What we will cover
- Cursor: install it, open the folder, and make one change you actually review
- GitHub: commit that change and push it so the work lives off your laptop
- Vercel: connect the repo and deploy a URL you can send someone
- Which brain to rent: OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, Grok. Pick the job and stay
- Care package: unzip, edit the page, ship it, walk out with a live URL
Why this matters
Chat without a repo is a diary. A repo without deploy is a draft. This stack is how one person ships tools, pages, and systems that clients can click.
Model · Cursor → GitHub → Vercel
- Cursor is where you set up and edit the real files
- GitHub is where that work gets saved and pushed
- Vercel is where the same repo becomes a URL
Teaching beats
- Name the loop: set up Cursor, ship to GitHub, deploy on Vercel
- Cursor: install it, open the folder, review every diff
- GitHub: commit, push, the work leaves the laptop
- Vercel: connect the repo, get a URL, secrets stay in env
- Workspace: five ignored folders so the business sits next to the code
- Which brain to rent: OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, Grok. Pick the job and stay
- Rule: do not switch models to debug. The model is almost never the bug.
- Demo the care package: edit, commit, deploy, show the live URL
- The slower door: claude-first.html for anyone not ready to install
- Point to the later deep dives: GitHub vault, Vercel env, Cursor cheat code
What this drop is (and is not)
This is the overview you record today so people can start. GitHub, Vercel, and Cursor each get a deep dive later in this chapter. Do not try to teach branching strategy, env architecture, or IDE settings here.
Read the-stack.html in the care package
The slides now carry the same talking points as this doc. Open start-here.html in the zip after the recording. the-stack.html is the longer written version they keep. Claude is the common writing brain. Cursor is the one that ships and compounds.
Nobody gets to say they are not technical
claude-first.html in the zip is the slower door: three prompts in a browser tab, then a handoff prompt into Cursor, plus the exact signals that mean they have outgrown the tab. Point the nervous ones there on the call, then hold them to the same live URL.
The workspace folder is the sleeper
The zip ships marketing, sales, fulfillment, finance, and operations folders that .gitignore already blocks. That is the whole business in five words, in the same editor they build in, with none of it reaching the internet. Show it for 60 seconds. It is why they keep the folder open next week.
The three tools in plain English
| Tool | What it is | What you do with it |
|---|
| GitHub | A vault for files with history | Save work, collaborate, never lose a version |
| Cursor | An editor that can read and edit your repo | Turn a brief into a real file change |
| Vercel | A host that turns a repo into a URL | Preview, production, and secret storage |
Claude vs Cursor
| Claude | Cursor |
|---|
| Start | Open a tab. No install. | Install Cursor, Git, and Bun. First hour is slower. |
| Strength | Writing, taste, long threads, briefs. | Editing real files. Speed after setup. |
| Output | Text you copy. | A diff in your repo. |
| Memory | The chat or a Project. Scrolls fade. | The repo. Commits stay. |
| Live URL | No. | Yes, once GitHub and Vercel are connected. |
| Risk | Binge drafts and never ship. | Accept a bad diff without reading it. |
| Growth | Stays a thinking partner. | Same tool from one page to a full system. |
LLM jobs (not a leaderboard)
| Job | Reach for | Why |
|---|
| Daily build in Cursor | OpenAI | Default for code, edits, and IDE work. GPT-5 family. Stay here unless the job changes. |
| Long writing, taste, docs | Claude | Holds the thread. Better prose. Strong on briefs and reviews. |
| Huge context or cheap bulk | Gemini | Biggest window. Use when you need a lot of files in one pass. |
| Current pulse, punchy copy | Grok | Fast and current. Use when you want an edge, not a polished brief. |
| Chat without files | Any chat model | Thinking only. It cannot ship. Graduate to Cursor the moment you need a file changed. |
LLM numbers operators actually need
| Idea | Working number | What it means |
|---|
| Token | About 750 words per 1,000 tokens | The unit the model reads and writes. You pay and wait in tokens. |
| Context window | Hundreds of thousands to about 1 to 2 million tokens | How much it can hold at once. Bigger is not automatically smarter. |
| Chat vs agent | Talk vs edit files | Chat answers. Cursor edits. Vercel publishes. |
| Debug rule | Do not switch models | Bad brief, missing file, or wrong install. Fix the job, not the brand of brain. |
Record-today talk track
0:00 Title. This is the stack I actually use.
1:00 Cover. Core goal: set up Cursor, ship to GitHub, deploy on Vercel.
2:00 Why it matters. Chat is a diary. A repo without a URL is a draft.
3:00 The stack. Three jobs on the same files.
4:00 Cursor. Open a folder. Job, file, definition of done. Review the diff.
6:00 Git and Bun. Paste the install prompt. Both must print a version.
7:00 GitHub. Repo, commit, push. Git is local. GitHub is the vault.
8:30 .gitignore is the fence. Secrets and workspace never leave the laptop.
9:30 Vercel. Import the repo. Preview vs production. If it is not deployed, it is a story.
11:00 Env. .env.example is names. .env.local is keys. Same names in Vercel.
12:00 Workspace. Five ignored folders. Cursor can read them. The internet cannot.
13:30 Claude vs Cursor. Claude thinks. Cursor ships. Point at claude-first.html.
15:00 Model jobs. OpenAI daily, Claude writing, Gemini bulk, Grok pulse. Stay.
16:00 Do not switch models to debug.
16:30 Demo: unzip → install prompt → headline → GitHub → Vercel → live URL.
19:00 Install: they do the same. File one note in workspace/.
Install Git and Bun (paste this first)
Read AGENTS.md. Install Git and Bun on this computer.
1. Tell me my operating system in one line.
2. Run these in the terminal and show me the output:
git --version
bun --version
3. If a command is missing, show the install command for my OS, wait for me to say go, then run it.
4. After any install, open a new terminal and run both version commands again.
5. Stop when both print a version number. Do not edit any project files.
First Cursor prompt (paste this)
Read AGENTS.md and start-here.html. Then change the headline and subhead on index.html to my business. Do not add new pages. Show me the diff and wait.
Anti-patterns
- Watching this and staying in ChatGPT
- Blind-accepting a 40-file Cursor diff
- Pasting API keys into chat, Discord, or the repo
- Switching models because the first edit failed
Install
Open the care package in Cursor, push to GitHub, deploy on Vercel, send the live URL, and file one note in workspace/.
Download care package
Walk-away
You have a GitHub repo, a Cursor habit, and a live Vercel URL.