Duplicate chat panels shown when "Open chat as editor" is enabled + add icon creates tab in wrong panel

Support Bug Reports
1

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

When I have “Open chat as editor” enabled, I’m seeing two separate chat interfaces on the same screen:
The editor-based chat (as expected)
The compose/sidebar chat (should be hidden)

Steps to Reproduce

Enable “Open chat as editor” in Cursor settings
Open a new chat - both the editor chat and compose chat panels appear simultaneously
Click the “+” (add) icon from the left editor chat panel
A new tab gets created in the right compose chat instead of in the editor chat

Expected Behavior

Only one chat interface should be visible when “Open chat as editor” is enabled
The add icon in the editor chat should create a new tab within the same editor chat panel

Operating System

Windows 10/11

Current Cursor Version (Menu → About Cursor → Copy)

Version: 2.2.43 (system setup)
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: 32cfbe848b35d9eb320980195985450f244b3030
Date: 2025-12-19T06:06:44.644Z
Electron: 37.7.0
Chromium: 138.0.7204.251
Node.js: 22.20.0
V8: 13.8.258.32-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.22631

Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

Screenshot 2025-12-23 095438
Screenshot 2025-12-23 095438996×861 32 KB

2

Hey, thanks for the report.

I can see the screenshot where the chat panels are duplicated. This is a known issue related to the new Agent sidebar. Please try this workaround:

  • Go to Settings → Agents → Default Location, and set it to “Pane” instead of “Editor”
  • Close the Agent panel
  • Try creating a new chat again

This helped in similar cases: CMD+OPT+B often opens two chat sidebars

Let me know if the issue persists.

3

Screenshot 2025-12-24 094144
Screenshot 2025-12-24 0941441915×571 42.4 KB

Still same for me after trying the workaround

4

Thanks for the update. I see that Default Location is set to “Pane”, but the issue still happens.

Please also try the following:

  1. Fully quit and restart Cursor after changing the setting.
  2. After restart, make sure the Agent panel is closed (right sidebar).
  3. Only then, create a new chat.

If it still happens after all of the steps above, please share:

  • Does this happen every time, or only sometimes?
  • Do you have any other custom Cursor settings, especially related to layout or panels?
  • Try using the CTRL+D shortcut to force switching to panel mode.

Let me know if this helps.