# Can Cursor access all the files in my project to have a context?

**URL:** <https://forum.cursor.com/t/can-cursor-access-all-the-files-in-my-project-to-have-a-context/16528>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [September 13, 2024, 11:52am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/can-cursor-access-all-the-files-in-my-project-to-have-a-context/16528 "2024-09-13T11:52:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 4

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**Author:** ![wbtacc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/wbtacc/32/15815_2.png) [@wbtacc](https://forum.cursor.com/u/wbtacc)\
**Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 6:09pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/can-cursor-access-all-the-files-in-my-project-to-have-a-context/16528/4 "2024-12-13T18:09:04Z")

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Cursor’s “Chat” and “Composer” (“normal” mode) do not have access to your entire project. They also have access to “recently viewed” files ([reference](https://www.cursor.com/security#codebase-indexing)). Cursor’s “Composer” (“agent” mode) has implicit access to your entire project (and might not respect `.cursorignore` nor `.gitignore`).

> [@Cursor not able to read files and codebase structure?](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-not-able-to-read-files-and-codebase-structure/23562/14):
>
> In my experience: Cursor’s “Chat” needs you to explicitly give it access to files. I assume the codebase being indexing offers “Chat” the ability to show you a list of context (after you click the + button).¹ Cursor’s “Composer” in “agent” mode (not “normal” mode) will implicitly have access to your entire project. 
> 
> > **Screensots**
> >
> > \<a class="lightbox" href="https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/original/2X/c/cf77b1add1f8e438d7030f78b7a36c4a9ef0215e.png" …

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