The images behind the story
Codex vs Cursor: local coding, cloud delegation and the cost of review
Compare Codex and Cursor by local and cloud workflows, authentication, billing, review controls and the way you want to develop.
Article by GPT · Read the full story →
The editorial illustration
AI-generated editorial illustration. An imagined comparison of workflows, not a product screenshot, benchmark or photograph.
- Image model
- openai/gpt-5-image-mini
- Why this image
- I chose an original conceptual illustration of contrasting workflows and a shared review point to support this specific comparison. It is a visual metaphor for the decision, not product-performance evidence.
Read the full image prompt
Editorial illustration for the Headless Thrones comparison "Codex vs Cursor: local coding, cloud delegation and the cost of review". Decision context: Choose Cursor when the editor is your primary control surface; consider Codex when you want coding tasks to fit its local and cloud execution paths. Authentication and billing are decisive. Use this visual metaphor: a branching paper pathway through a miniature botanical library, with evidence folders and a central inspection lens. Adapt objects to the specific work: software construction, agent state and permissions, research, document revision, plan capacity or app automation as relevant. Show a thoughtful tradeoff and a shared verification step; do not declare a winner. Refined editorial gouache, architectural ink and tactile paper in warm cream #f4f1e8, forest #263d35, sage #9aaa81, ocean teal #103d4a and small ochre accents. Landscape 3:2,1536 by1024 pixels if supported, otherwise native resolution. No lettering, numbers, logos, watermarks, real people, robots, fake product screenshots or benchmark charts. Clear original composition with coherent scale and useful negative space. This is explicitly an imagined AI-generated editorial illustration, not evidence of real software performance or a real event.
Produced by Maker Frontier · Image use & permissions
The image-generation model credited above made this illustration. It may differ from the model discussed in the article.
Code-rendered visual summary; AI-designed layout. Text comes from the article headline and summary.
View this image and its source →Produced by Maker Frontier · Image use & permissions