{"id":"https://openalex.org/W4416026021","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2511.04427","title":"Speed at the Cost of Quality: How Cursor AI Increases Short-Term Velocity and Long-Term Complexity in Open-Source Projects","display_name":"Speed at the Cost of Quality: How Cursor AI Increases Short-Term Velocity and Long-Term Complexity in Open-Source Projects","publication_year":2025,"publication_date":"2025-11-06","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W4416026021","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2511.04427"},"language":null,"primary_location":{"id":"pmh:oai:arXiv.org:2511.04427","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"http://arxiv.org/abs/2511.04427","pdf_url":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2511.04427","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":"2331-8422","issn":["2331-8422"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"text"},"type":"preprint","indexed_in":["arxiv","datacite"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"green","oa_url":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2511.04427","any_repository_has_fulltext":true},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5021279939","display_name":"Hao He","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8311-6559"},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"He, Hao","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5052644156","display_name":"Courtney Miller","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5297-4523"},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Miller, Courtney","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":null,"display_name":"Agarwal, Shyam","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Agarwal, Shyam","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5067467896","display_name":"Christian K\u00e4stner","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4450-4572"},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"K\u00e4stner, Christian","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5050821883","display_name":"Bogdan Vasilescu","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4418-5783"},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Vasilescu, Bogdan","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":0,"institutions_distinct_count":0,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":null,"has_fulltext":true,"cited_by_count":3,"citation_normalized_percentile":null,"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":null,"issue":null,"first_page":null,"last_page":null},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10260","display_name":"Software Engineering Research","score":0.5325000286102295,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10260","display_name":"Software Engineering Research","score":0.5325000286102295,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11986","display_name":"Scientific Computing and Data Management","score":0.0608999989926815,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1802","display_name":"Information Systems and Management"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/18","display_name":"Decision Sciences"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10430","display_name":"Software Engineering Techniques and Practices","score":0.0544000007212162,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/cursor","display_name":"Cursor (databases)","score":0.583299994468689},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/software","display_name":"Software","score":0.574999988079071},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/bottleneck","display_name":"Bottleneck","score":0.5184000134468079},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/coding","display_name":"Coding (social sciences)","score":0.49079999327659607},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/source-code","display_name":"Source code","score":0.44020000100135803},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/source-lines-of-code","display_name":"Source lines of code","score":0.43389999866485596},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/static-program-analysis","display_name":"Static program analysis","score":0.3919000029563904},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/software-quality","display_name":"Software quality","score":0.3714999854564667},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/quality-assurance","display_name":"Quality assurance","score":0.34139999747276306}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.6635000109672546},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2776990265","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2998101","display_name":"Cursor (databases)","level":2,"score":0.583299994468689},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777904410","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7397","display_name":"Software","level":2,"score":0.574999988079071},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2780513914","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18210350","display_name":"Bottleneck","level":2,"score":0.5184000134468079},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C179518139","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5140297","display_name":"Coding (social sciences)","level":2,"score":0.49079999327659607},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C43126263","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q128751","display_name":"Source code","level":2,"score":0.44020000100135803},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C199519371","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q942695","display_name":"Source lines of code","level":3,"score":0.43389999866485596},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C137287247","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1329550","display_name":"Static program analysis","level":4,"score":0.3919000029563904},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C117447612","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1412670","display_name":"Software quality","level":4,"score":0.3714999854564667},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C115903868","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q80993","display_name":"Software engineering","level":1,"score":0.36489999294281006},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C106436119","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q836575","display_name":"Quality assurance","level":3,"score":0.34139999747276306},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C97686452","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7604153","display_name":"Static analysis","level":2,"score":0.3400999903678894},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2776760102","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5139990","display_name":"Code (set theory)","level":3,"score":0.33799999952316284},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C529173508","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q638608","display_name":"Software development","level":3,"score":0.3206000030040741},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C9652623","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q190109","display_name":"Field (mathematics)","level":2,"score":0.31869998574256897},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C188329197","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6554613","display_name":"Software quality analyst","level":5,"score":0.30820000171661377},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C52572940","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q617228","display_name":"Winner's curse","level":3,"score":0.30720001459121704},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779530757","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1207505","display_name":"Quality (philosophy)","level":2,"score":0.30649998784065247},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C120936955","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2155640","display_name":"Empirical research","level":2,"score":0.3046000003814697},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C96250715","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q965330","display_name":"Estimation","level":2,"score":0.2937999963760376},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C107457646","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q207434","display_name":"Human\u2013computer interaction","level":1,"score":0.2922999858856201},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777561058","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2652119","display_name":"Program comprehension","level":4,"score":0.28929999470710754},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C204983608","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2111958","display_name":"Productivity","level":2,"score":0.2651999890804291},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C150292731","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1342704","display_name":"Code review","level":5,"score":0.2635999917984009}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":2,"locations":[{"id":"pmh:oai:arXiv.org:2511.04427","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"http://arxiv.org/abs/2511.04427","pdf_url":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2511.04427","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":"2331-8422","issn":["2331-8422"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"text"},{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2511.04427","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2511.04427","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":"2331-8422","issn":["2331-8422"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":null,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"Preprint"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"pmh:oai:arXiv.org:2511.04427","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"http://arxiv.org/abs/2511.04427","pdf_url":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2511.04427","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":"2331-8422","issn":["2331-8422"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"text"},"sustainable_development_goals":[],"awards":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/G4272949404","display_name":"Collaborative Proposal: SaTC: Frontiers: Enabling a Secure and Trustworthy Software Supply Chain","funder_award_id":"2206859","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320306076","funder_display_name":"National Science Foundation"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/G8264063244","display_name":"Collaborative Research: DASS: Accountable Open Source Infrastructure","funder_award_id":"2317168","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320306076","funder_display_name":"National Science Foundation"}],"funders":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320306076","display_name":"National Science Foundation","ror":"https://ror.org/021nxhr62"}],"has_content":{"pdf":true,"grobid_xml":false},"content_urls":{"pdf":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W4416026021.pdf"},"referenced_works_count":0,"referenced_works":[],"related_works":[],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Large":[0],"language":[1],"models":[2],"(LLMs)":[3],"have":[4],"demonstrated":[5],"the":[6,10,50,99,174],"promise":[7],"to":[8,104,168],"revolutionize":[9],"field":[11],"of":[12,53,87,101,176],"software":[13,25,67],"engineering.":[14],"Among":[15],"other":[16],"things,":[17],"LLM":[18,58],"agents":[19],"are":[20,144],"rapidly":[21],"gaining":[22],"momentum":[23],"in":[24,33,112,123,137,173],"development,":[26],"with":[27,82,117],"practitioners":[28],"reporting":[29],"a":[30,55,74,83,105,118,157,170],"multifold":[31],"increase":[32,111,122],"productivity":[34],"after":[35],"adoption.":[36],"Yet,":[37],"empirical":[38],"evidence":[39],"is":[40,71],"lacking":[41],"around":[42],"these":[43],"claims.":[44],"In":[45],"this":[46],"paper,":[47],"we":[48],"estimate":[49],"causal":[51],"effect":[52],"adopting":[54],"widely":[56],"popular":[57],"agent":[59],"assistant,":[60],"namely":[61],"Cursor,":[62],"on":[63],"development":[64,114],"velocity":[65,149],"and":[66,120,127,141,164,181],"quality.":[68],"The":[69],"estimation":[70,133],"enabled":[72],"by":[73],"state-of-the-art":[75],"difference-in-differences":[76],"design":[77,175],"comparing":[78],"Cursor-adopting":[79],"GitHub":[80,89],"projects":[81,90],"matched":[84],"control":[85],"group":[86],"similar":[88],"that":[91,98,135],"do":[92],"not":[93],"use":[94],"Cursor.":[95],"We":[96],"find":[97],"adoption":[100],"Cursor":[102,162],"leads":[103],"statistically":[106],"significant,":[107],"large,":[108],"but":[109],"transient":[110],"project-level":[113],"velocity,":[115],"along":[116],"substantial":[119],"persistent":[121],"static":[124,138],"analysis":[125,139],"warnings":[126,140],"code":[128,142],"complexity.":[129],"Further":[130],"panel":[131],"generalized-method-of-moments":[132],"reveals":[134],"increases":[136],"complexity":[143],"major":[145,158],"factors":[146],"driving":[147],"long-term":[148],"slowdown.":[150],"Our":[151],"study":[152],"identifies":[153],"quality":[154],"assurance":[155],"as":[156],"bottleneck":[159],"for":[160,166],"early":[161],"adopters":[163],"calls":[165],"it":[167],"be":[169],"first-class":[171],"citizen":[172],"agentic":[177],"AI":[178],"coding":[179],"tools":[180],"AI-driven":[182],"workflows.":[183]},"counts_by_year":[{"year":2026,"cited_by_count":3}],"updated_date":"2026-07-31T08:31:51.225901","created_date":"2025-11-08T00:00:00"}
