Chat-text links don't open rendered view; only tool-call card / Command Palette work

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1

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

There is no working way to open a rendered canvas from a normal click, and the failure mode differs depending on where the link/file is clicked:

  • File path link inside a chat message’s text (e.g. a markdown link an agent writes as part of its response body): clicking it does absolutely nothing — not even raw source opens.
  • “Open” action on a file-change/tool-call card (the card Cursor shows when an agent creates/edits a file, e.g. via a Write tool call, separate from the message text): clicking “Open” here works and correctly opens the rendered canvas.
  • Double-clicking / Ctrl-clicking the file in the Explorer sidebar (with the canvases folder added to the workspace): opens raw TSX source, not the rendered canvas.
  • Command Palette > “Open Canvas”: works and renders the canvas correctly.

So the only two reliable ways to view a rendered canvas are the tool-call/file-card “Open” action at the moment the agent creates it, or Command Palette > “Open Canvas” afterward. Any link the agent puts in its actual response text is dead — this makes it impossible to reference/reopen a previously-created canvas from chat once its original file-card has scrolled out of view.

Steps to Reproduce

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Have an agent create a .canvas.tsx file under ~/.cursor/projects//canvases/
  2. Click “Open” on the file-change/tool-call card for that creation → works, renders canvas correctly
  3. Have the agent (in the same or a later message) reference that same file via a markdown link inside its normal chat text → clicking it does nothing at all
  4. Double-click the file in Explorer (with the canvases folder added to the workspace) → opens raw TSX source instead of rendering
  5. Command Palette > “Open Canvas” → this reliably renders the canvas

Expected Behavior

Any reference to a canvas file — whether from the original creation card or from a later markdown link in chat text — should open the rendered canvas view. At minimum, a visible Preview toggle (like Markdown files have) should exist for Explorer-opened files, since Command Palette is not discoverable.

Operating System

Windows 10/11

Version Information

Version: 3.16.17
VS Code Extension API: 1.128.0
Commit: 6b2afae0257df2bb5e1835f15165dc2f0de056b0
Date: 2026-08-14T01:41:12.803Z
Build Type: Stable
OS: Windows 10.0.26200 x64

Additional Information

There’s quite a few report on this with not satisfactory resolution, so I’m sending a new bugreport.

Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

7

Thanks for the detailed write-up, Guillaume.

I was able to reproduce this on Windows as well. Clicking a Canvas file link in a normal chat response does nothing, while Open on the tool-call card and Command Palette > Open Canvas still open the rendered view.

That is not caused by anything in your setup. We’ve let the team know and this is an issue we’re tracking.

Your current workarounds (the tool-card Open action, or Command Palette > Open Canvas) are the most reliable way to get back to a rendered Canvas for now. I’ll post here when there’s an update.