Generating navigation menu?

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1

I’m having trouble remember where bits of code live in my project. I have a half formed idea that I would like help refining.

I could ask Cursor to look at a feature and generate a list of where the code lives for the controller, the scheduled job that triggers it, the repositories that are used.

For each of those I would want to be able to click through to be taken to the actual file.

I think I would also want to display a status for each of those, such as “not implemented” or “needs updating” so that I could see at glance which parts of a feature still need to be worked on.

tl:dr - is it possible to generate a file that would result in a navigable menu in the left panel, where the folder based navigation is.

Or more generally, how can I can setup and control a panel in Cursor, to display a navigable menu?

4

Or to ask possibly easier question - are there any blank/skeleton projects setup for creating a Cursor plugin that is setup for drawing?

6

Hey, good idea. Cursor doesn’t have a built-in feature map panel yet, but there are a few ways to get close to what you описed.

The simplest option is structured markdown. Ask the agent to generate ARCHITECTURE.md or feature-map.md in the project root. List your features, and under each one add the controller, scheduled job, repositories, with markdown links like [UserController](src/controllers/UserController.php). Relative paths become clickable in preview, and you can also add statuses like [not implemented] or [needs updating]. The file is versioned and you can ask the agent to update it anytime. It’s also easy to pull into chat with an @ reference so the agent always knows the structure.

If you want an actual panel in the left tree with navigation and statuses, the closest match is existing VS Code extensions since Cursor is based on it:

  • Code Tour: step-by-step tours with a sidebar panel
  • Bookmarks: named bookmarks in a tree view, grouped by feature
  • TODO Tree: scans custom annotations like // STATUS: not-implemented and shows them as a tree

On your second question, there’s an important detail. Cursor plugins Plugins | Cursor Docs are for rules, skills, agents, commands, hooks, and MCP. They don’t render UI. A custom panel and any UI is done with a regular VS Code extension using a webview. The easiest way to start is the Yeoman generator. Run npm i -g yo generator-code, then yo code, and you’ll get a starter you can extend with a webview panel.

Let me know which direction you want to take and I can help with the next steps.