Chat history not loading after VS Code Settings Sync, possible state inconsistency

Support Bug Reports
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1

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

I am seeing an issue with historical chat loading after enabling VS Code Settings Sync, and I would like to confirm whether this is expected behavior or a known limitation.

Symptoms

  • Chat titles appear in the Cursor chat sidebar.

  • Clicking an older chat does not load any chat content.

  • New chats work normally.

  • This began immediately after enabling VS Code Settings Sync which triggered a re-authention in Cursor.

What I have confirmed

  • New and historical chat content exists as plain-text transcript files under:
    C:\Users.cursor\projects\agent-transcripts\

  • Image assets for older chats exist under the current workspace storage location:
    C:\Users\AppData\Roaming\Cursor\User\workspaceStorage\images

  • New images generated in chats are being saved under the legacy project assets path:
    C:\Users.cursor\projects\assets

  • These new image files are named using an encoded absolute path that references the current workspaceStorage location, for example:
    c__Users__AppData_Roaming_Cursor_User_workspaceStorage_7244fd071cc555533a1614903e6_images_image-61aa103a-d890-4772-1111-ad2ab8525cdc.png

Steps to Reproduce

Switch synch on in VS Code

Operating System

Windows 11

Version Information

Cursor 2.4.27

Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

3

Hey, thanks for the report

Good news: transcript files exist in .cursor/projects/agent-transcripts, so the data isn’t deleted (unlike mass data loss after updates).

Bad news: UI can’t read them - looks like storage path mismatch after re-authentication.

Need diagnostic info:

  1. Click on any old chat that won’t load

  2. Help > Toggle Developer Tools > Console tab

  3. Screenshot of red errors - that’ll show why UI can’t read transcript files

  4. Check size of this file: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Cursor\User\globalStorage\state.vscdb

    • If 2-10 MB = problem (should be 50+ MB for lots of chats)
    • If normal size = storage path issue

Similar cases:

Send console errors screenshot - we’ll see if we can recover access to transcript files.

4

Hi Dean,

Thanks for getting back to me!

  1. Attached is the console log taken from the project being first opened to a couple of clicks on chats that wont load chat text.
  2. See snip below showing C:\Users<username>\AppData\Roaming\Cursor\User\globalStorage\ directory:
5

I see you wrote about attachments, but they didn’t come through. I can only see the text of your post.

Can you paste these directly in your reply:

  • Console errors (as text or a screenshot): the red lines that show up when you click on the chat
  • The exact size of the state.vscdb file in bytes or MB

This will help us figure out where exactly the UI is losing the connection to the transcript files.

6

Apologies, here is the info with attachment included.

  1. Attached is the console log taken from the project being first opened to a couple of clicks on chats that wont load chat text.
  2. See snip below showing C:\Users<username>\AppData\Roaming\Cursor\User\globalStorage\ directory:

(Attachment vscode-app-1770013167020.log is missing)

7

… I’ve included a screenshot of the directory so you can see the files, sizes and the corrupted file

8

I see that the attachment didn’t go through the forum - it seems the file didn’t upload.

Try this:

  1. Console errors - copy the text directly into your reply:

    • Help > Toggle Developer Tools > Console
    • Highlight the red error lines
    • Right-click > Copy > Paste in your reply (as plain text)

  2. Size of state.vscdb - just write the number in MB/KB:

    • C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Cursor\User\globalStorage\state.vscdb
    • Right-click on the file > Properties > check Size

  3. Screenshot of the directory - if the forum doesn’t allow uploads:

    • Try imgur.com or paste.pics
    • Share the link here

Or you can just copy the error text from the console - that might be enough to understand what happened with the connection to the transcript files.

9

Here is the missing detail:

Console (click on 2 chats that show in list but cant see chat text)

image
image1003×1093 16.5 KB

Directory

image
image1065×497 24.4 KB

:

10

The full console log from initial open of cursor was quite long with many errors and too large for this portal. I will have to send it another way if you need it.

11

I see the same bug from Can't load or click on chats - the error handleDeselectingComposer + corrupted database.

Good news: the data is not lost, the transcript files in .cursor/projects/agent-transcripts are intact. The database just got corrupted.

Try to restore access:

  1. Close Cursor completely (check in Task Manager)
  2. Open %APPDATA%\Cursor\User\globalStorage
  3. I see in the screenshot state.vscdb.corrupted.1769921712534
  4. Rename the current state.vscdb and state.vscdb.backup to something like state.vscdb.old
  5. Rename state.vscdb.corrupted.1769921712534 back to state.vscdb
  6. Launch Cursor

This should restore access to the chats. If it doesn’t work, show me the exact size of state.vscdb (right-click - Properties - Size), and we’ll try another option.

About Settings Sync: it’s a trigger, but not the cause. The corrupted file appeared due to a crash while writing to the database.

Let me know how it goes.

12

Awesome, the chats now load in. There a are a few recent chats that don’t but that’s not an issue for me as they were small tasks. There are still many errors and warnings in the Cursor console.

  1. Do you think my Cursor setup could be potentially unstable and/or susceptible to having problems with future updates? I have had issues for quite a while with Cursor updates failing.
  2. Do you have any suggestions on how to get a fresh install while preserving all my settings?