Windsurf Cascade: Context-First Prompt Patterns

Cascade Thinks in Flows

Windsurf Cascade works best when you front-load context once, then issue narrow follow-ups. Re-pasting the entire spec every message burns tokens and confuses priorities.

Context Stack Prompt

"Context: monorepo, Turbo, Next.js web + Node API. Goal: add CSV export to reports page. Non-goals: redesign UI. Constraints: use existing ReportService; must stream large files."

Then follow with atomic tasks: "Add API route", "Wire button", "Add test".

Diff-Only Follow-Ups

"Show only files you changed since last step and why. Do not repeat prior explanation."

Reuse Over Rebuild

"Search for existing export utilities before creating new ones. Prefer extending lib/export.ts."

Trade-off Ask

When multiple approaches exist: "Give two options with pros/cons (performance, complexity). Recommend one for our scale (~50k rows)."