Qwen3-Coder is Actually Amazing: We Confirmed this with NetMind API at Cursor Agent Mode

In this article, we are going to show you how Qwen3-Coder actually performs on a coding task. To do so, we wired Qwen3‑Coder into Cursor’s Agent mode via the NetMind API and let it solo‑build a playable 2D game in the spirit of Super Mario. Spoiler: it finished in seconds!

Alibaba’s Qwen team released Qwen3‑Coder on 22 July 2025 as the coding‑focused sibling of the broader Qwen 3 model family. It is positioned as an “agentic” LLM—able not just to emit snippets but to plan, call tools, and iterate on entire tasks. Alibaba described it as its most advanced coding tool to date, claiming parity with leading proprietary models like GPT‑4 and Claude.

In this article, we are going to show you how this model actually performs on a coding task. To do so, we wired Qwen3‑Coder into Cursor’s Agent mode via the NetMind API and let it solo‑build a playable 2D game in the spirit of Super Mario. Spoiler: it finished in seconds!

Wiring Qwen3‑Coder into Cursor

NetMind exposes Qwen3‑Coder on an OpenAI‑compatible endpoint. This means all you need to do is to overwrite the OpenAI Base URL in Cursor through chat settings and put in your own NetMind API key. Detailed steps are:

  1. Go to Chat Settings in Cursor
  2. Go to Models from your left
  3. Scroll down to find API Keys, unfold it, and type in your own API key and our NetMind Base URL (https://api.netmind.ai/inference-api/openai/v1)
  4. Click Add Custom Model and input the model name: Qwen/Qwen3-Coder-480B-A35B-Instruct
  5. Now it's done: You can select Qwen3-Coder as your agent now!

Cursor IDE showing how to connect Qwen3-Coder via the NetMind API, with steps to add the Qwen3 model and configure your Qwen3 API key.

Create a 2D game like Super Mario

Our prompt was simple: “Create a 2‑D game in the style of Super Mario.” As soon as we hit Run, Qwen3‑Coder responded with a structured roadmap rather than a single wall of code. First, it asked to list our working directory for existing art or audio assets (though we hadn’t supplied any). Next, it recommended installing Pygame—a go‑to Python library for lightweight game development—and added the package to requirements.txt. With the environment ready, the agent generated a clean project skeleton and a README.md that walks you through running the game step by step.

User prompt 'Create a 2D game like Super Mario' entered in Cursor using Qwen3-Coder through the NetMind API in agent mode.

Code generated by Qwen3-Coder using Qwen3 API in Cursor to build a 2D platformer game with Pygame, showing setup and constants.


Now, you’re probably wondering what the finished game looks like—and whether it’s buggy. We ran the build and were pleasantly surprised: it plays smoothly, without any noticeable bugs, and the look‑and‑feel is unmistakably Mario style - we can collect coins and step on those little monsters!

Screenshots of a 2D Super Mario-style game built by Qwen3-Coder via the Qwen3 API, showing gameplay and a win screen in Cursor.

With all coins collected and monsters steped on, I won the game!

Ready to test‑drive it yourself?

Hooking Qwen3‑Coder into Cursor takes us all of one minute, and the hit to your wallet is minimal. NetMind prices the model at $2 per million tokens—dramatically lower than flagship GPT‑4 series and Claude series.

Just drop the NetMind endpoint and your API key into Cursor, pick Qwen3‑Coder from the model list, and start shipping ideas at top speed.

NetMind’s catalog is refreshed continuously. The latest models always land in our library, ready for you to use. Whether you’re prototyping a game, refactoring a legacy codebase, or just exploring what agentic LLMs can do, NetMind lets you iterate faster—and now cheaper—than ever.