A critical feature is using “Go To Definition” in C/C++. I installed Cursor, imported extensions from VS Code and this didn’t work. Tried F12, Ctrl+Click, Right Click - none of them work.
I tried:
Uninstalling extensions
Reinstalling extensions (and reloading)
Uninstalled Cursor, cleared app data, reinstalled and didn’t import anything from VS Code
Doesn’t work
Steps to Reproduce
As soon as I open Cursor, I’m unable to use “Go To Definition”. I see that the shortcut is mapped, but pressing F12 (or using any other method) doesn’t do anything.
Operating System
Windows 10/11
Current Cursor Version (Menu → About Cursor → Copy)
I discovered an interesting difference with clangd and that is how you select things for it to lookup. Not using windows here, but in my configuration, a single click on a word marks it as a semantic selection and clangd will look up the highlighted word. A double click gives you a text selection and that is not what clangd will use as its lookup. Or to quote ChatGPT on this:
In Cursor (and other editors based on LSP like VS Code), the highlight color and selection behavior are tied to how the editor interprets your interaction with a symbol. While the exact visual styles can vary slightly between themes and editors, here’s what those boxes generally mean in Cursor when using clangd:
Grey Box (Single Click)
Meaning: This is a semantic highlight .
It indicates the symbol currently under the cursor.
Clangd (via LSP) is telling the editor: “this token is a symbol” (like a variable, macro, type, function, etc.).
It’s temporary and context-sensitive — if you move the cursor, it will update.
This is usually driven by textDocument/documentHighlight in the LSP protocol and helps identify references to the same symbol in the visible region.
Blue Box (Double Click)
Meaning: This is a text selection, not necessarily a semantic one.
You’re explicitly selecting a range of text.
Double-clicking typically selects the entire word or token under the cursor.
At this point, your actions (e.g., “Go to Definition” or “Find All References”) apply to the selected text, but not always semantically.
For example:
Double-clicking MY_MACRO selects the raw text MY_MACRO and sends that to clangd.
If clangd can’t resolve it (due to macro expansion, cursor context, or AST structure), it may fall back to a syntacticresult — or nothing.
Why This Matters for Clangd
Clangd is very sensitive to cursor position and token identity .
Single-click (grey box) helps clangd resolve the symbol more accurately.
Double-click (blue box) can sometimes confuse clangd, especially if the selection spans more than a symbol (e.g., selecting foo.bar instead of just bar).
This difference in behavior explains why:
Sometimes “Find References” from a grey-boxed token works correctly.
But from a blue-boxed one (double-clicked), you might get nothing — or a broader match like the function.
Grey Box (Single Click)
Why This Matters for Clangd