Both are VS Code-based AI coding agents that work with the open SKILL.md standard, but they load skills differently. Cursor has a native .cursor/skills/ loader; Cline reads markdown rules from .clinerules/. Here's how installing a skill differs.
| Cursor | Cline | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | AI editor (VS Code fork) | Open-source VS Code agent |
| Skill mechanism | .cursor/skills/ (native loader) | .clinerules/ (markdown rules) |
| Reads SKILL.md frontmatter | Yes | No — body used as a rule |
| Install a skill | Drop into .cursor/skills/<slug>/ | Adapt into .clinerules/<slug>.md |
| Runs bundled scripts | Yes (agent mode) | Yes (command execution) |
A portable SKILL.md works on both — Cursor loads it natively, Cline takes the markdown body as a rule. See skills for Cursor and skills for Cline, then browse the catalog (every skill follows the open standard, so it travels between them).