Cursor is having trouble finding open files

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

Cursor is having trouble “seeing” files that are open. If I open a .html in my Downloads folder (Mac), the first thing it does is start searching for files. Previously, it would understand what file is open and use that as the starting point.

Often during this search, it never finds the file - even if I try to explain what file to open (which should be unnecessary).

This also happens when I use Transmit and open a file remotely on a server. Previously, it would understand what file is open and make changes to that file - but now it will randomly start editing other files on the server, without ever recognizing which file is opened and is the topic of discussion.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Right click a file in your Downloads folder
  2. Select “Open with Cursor”
  3. Open the AI panel
  4. Ask it to make a change (ex “Please change the countdown timer to end on Monday ad Midnight instead of 24 hours from now.”)
  5. It will not search the current open file - it will start searching other files on the system to make the change.

*note, this same behaviour happens if you open a remote file on a server with Transmit.

Expected Behavior

It should search the current file that is open and make changes to it.

Operating System

MacOS

Current Cursor Version (Menu → About Cursor → Copy)

Version: 2.1.39 (Universal)
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: 60d42bed27e5775c43ec0428d8c653c49e58e260
Date: 2025-11-27T02:30:49.286Z (1 day ago)
Electron: 37.7.0
Chromium: 138.0.7204.251
Node.js: 22.20.0
V8: 13.8.258.32-electron.0
OS: Darwin arm64 24.5.0

*note: about 2 weeks ago, this did not happen

For AI issues: which model did you use?

Auto / Auto

Additional Information

(I have a screen recording of the issue, but I don’t want to post it publicly because it contains some personal information. Please contact me directly if you need it and I will send it to you if you need it.)

Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

If you open a project as a directory, this does not happen. It only occurs if you open a single file.

Hey, thanks for the report. It seems to be a bug in the “single file” mode. A temporary workaround: instead of using “Open with Cursor” for the file, open the folder containing the file (File > Open Folder) and work from the project - this way, search/edit will work on the current file.

You can also try adding the file to the context using the “@” symbol.