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Rule Reference

SEC380lintai-ai-securitypreviewmarkdownwarn

Cursor rule: missing `description`

Cursor rule frontmatter should include `description`

Provider
lintai-ai-security
Surface
markdown
Scope
per_file
Tier
preview
Severity
warn
Confidence
high
Detection
structural
Remediation
message_only

Activation Model

Preset Membership

This rule is part of the builtin activation graph through these preset memberships.

previewmembership
skillsmembership

Lifecycle

Preview Lifecycle Contract

State

preview_blocked

Promotion blocker

Missing `description` on Cursor rules is deterministic, but the first release stays guidance-only while ecosystem usefulness is measured.

Promotion requirements

Needs corpus-backed precision review, external usefulness evidence, and completed stable checklist metadata.

Canonical note

Structural preview rule; deterministic today, but the preview contract may still evolve.

Nearby Signals

Related Rules

SEC101HTML comment: dangerous instructionsHidden HTML comment contains dangerous agent instructionsmarkdownpreview
SEC102Markdown: remote execution instructionMarkdown contains remote download-and-execute instruction outside code blocksmarkdownpreview
SEC103HTML comment: remote execution instructionHidden HTML comment contains remote download-and-execute instructionmarkdownpreview
SEC104Markdown: base64 executable payloadMarkdown contains a base64-decoded executable payload outside code blocksmarkdownpreview
SEC105Markdown: parent-directory file accessMarkdown instructions reference parent-directory traversal for file accessmarkdownpreview
SEC313Shell example: remote content piped to shellFenced shell example pipes remote content directly into a shellmarkdownpreview

SEC380 / CURSOR-DESCRIPTION ​

SEC380 flags Cursor rule markdown when frontmatter is present but does not include a non-empty description.

Why It Matters ​

Shared .mdc rule packs are much easier to review, route, and maintain when each rule explains its purpose. Without description, reviewers have to infer intent from the body alone, which makes broad or global rules harder to audit.

Trigger Shape ​

The rule triggers only when all of these are true:

  • the file is a detected Cursor rule surface
  • frontmatter parses as a mapping
  • description is missing or empty

Clean Cases ​

These stay clean:

  • rules with a non-empty description
  • non-Cursor markdown
  • fixture-like examples under test or fixture paths

Example Trigger ​

md
---
alwaysApply: true
---

Safer Example ​

md
---
description: Project-wide coding conventions
alwaysApply: true
---

How To Fix ​

Add a short description that explains when the rule applies or what behavior it enforces. Keep it concise so shared rule packs remain easy to review.