Why We Built ShipKit
We kept running into the same problem.
Start a new project, open Cursor or Claude Code, and the AI is genuinely helpful for about three days. Then it starts drifting. It forgets the conventions you agreed on. It pulls in packages you are not using. It writes code that works but does not fit the project at all.
The problem is not the model. It is context. AI assistants have no persistent memory of your decisions unless you tell them explicitly, every session, what the rules are. This is a fundamental constraint of how AI agent systems are built.
The Status Quo is Copy-Paste
Most developers deal with this by keeping a notes doc somewhere. A scratchpad of "things to tell the AI" that grows into a mess. Or they rely on in-context memory and just re-explain conventions whenever something drifts.
Neither scales. Neither works on a team.
Rules Files Are the Answer
Both Cursor (.cursorrules) and Claude Code (CLAUDE.md) support persistent instruction files that load automatically at the start of every session. This is the right primitive. A place to codify your stack decisions, naming conventions, and AI behavior rules so you never have to repeat yourself.
If you're using Cursor with Next.js specifically, How to Set Up Cursor Rules for Next.js Projects walks through the practical setup.
The problem is writing them from scratch is tedious. You have to think through every edge case, every convention, every "never do this." Most developers end up with something too short to matter or so long it becomes noise.
What ShipKit Gives You
ShipKit is four production-grade rules files built from real projects, one per major stack:
- Universal for any project type
- Next.js + TypeScript
- React + Node/Express
- Python + FastAPI
Each one covers architecture patterns, naming conventions, testing expectations, and explicit rules about what the AI should and should not do. Plus an Architecture Guide that walks you through adapting them to your specific project in under 30 minutes.
Load the right file into your project, read through it once, tweak anything that does not fit, and you are done. The AI stays on track from that point forward.
One-time purchase. No subscription. Works immediately.