The Tasks.json file is a configuration file that VSCode/Cursor can run automatically (or manually, but I'm not using it for that). You can see in the sample below that there are a number of scripts I run in this folder (runOn: folderOpen) as soon as I open it in the IDE.

In this case it is:

1. Starting the browser-tools MCP for my AI work

2. Running laravel's server

3. Running a simple webserver on a particular folder, alongside the laravel one but on a different port

4. Running npm run dev

5. And opening my local screenshots folder to make it easier to drag screenshots into Claude Code

What could you automate for yourself?

{
    // See https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=733558
    // for the documentation about the tasks.json format
    "version": "2.0.0",
    "tasks": [
        {
            "label": "mcp-browser-tools-server",
            "type": "shell",
            "command": "npx -y @agentdeskai/browser-tools-server@latest",
            "runOptions": {
                "runOn": "folderOpen",
            }
        },
        {
            "label": "latest-export",
            "type": "shell",
            "command": "cd storage/app/exports/latest && ws --port 3000",
            "runOptions": {
                "runOn": "folderOpen",
            }
        },
        {
            "label": "artisan-serve",
            "type": "shell",
            "command": "php artisan serve",
            "runOptions": {
                "runOn": "folderOpen",
            }
        },
        {
            "label": "artisan-queue-listen",
            "type": "shell",
            "command": "php artisan queue:listen",
            "runOptions": {
                "runOn": "folderOpen",
            }
        },
        {
            "label": "npm-run-dev",
            "type": "shell",
            "command": "npm run dev",
            "runOptions": {
                "runOn": "folderOpen",
            }
        },
        {
            "label": "explorer-screenshots",
            "type": "shell",
           "command": "powershell.exe",
            "args": ["-Command", "Invoke-Item", "'C:\\Users\\blake\\Pictures\\Screenshots'"],
            "runOptions": {
                "runOn": "folderOpen",
            },
            "group": "build",
            "presentation": {
                "echo": false,
                "reveal": "never",
                "focus": false,
                "panel": "shared",
                "showReuseMessage": false,
                "clear": false
            },
            "problemMatcher": []
        }
    ]
}