# AI Context: Highlighted vs Plain @file.md — What's the Difference?

**URL:** <https://forum.cursor.com/t/ai-context-highlighted-vs-plain-file-md-whats-the-difference/99293>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [June 2, 2025, 1:40am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/ai-context-highlighted-vs-plain-file-md-whats-the-difference/99293 "2025-06-02T01:40:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![duxyz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/258eb7/32.png) [@duxyz](https://forum.cursor.com/u/duxyz)\
**Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 1:40am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/ai-context-highlighted-vs-plain-file-md-whats-the-difference/99293/1 "2025-06-02T01:40:44Z")

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Hey everyone, quick question about how file references work in project rules (.mdc) from .cursor/rules:

When I manually type `@file.md` and select the file from the dropdown, it gets highlighted in yellow. But when the AI generates the same reference (e.g. @file.md), it shows as plain text without the yellow highlight.

Check these examples:

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/original/3X/8/4/84ef5ab19932ea56e2bc276bf6eb0bf9a2f8f909.png)  
 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/original/3X/d/4/d4d53989296413d2b7294b4ed1961f278ba444cf.png)

Just to confirm: if a file reference like “@file.md” is not manually selected from the dropdown (so it’s not yellow-highlighted), will it still be included in the AI’s context when the rule triggers? Or is manual selection required for the file to actually be considered?

Also, if I reference a file from the regular `docs/` folder (e.g. docs/file.md), is it treated the same way? Does it still get included in the context, or do project rules behave differently there?

Thanks!