How do I get my .env.local to not have AI features disabled?

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1

how do I get my .env.local to not have AI features disabled? i added my OpenAI - API key to the .env.local file and now it is greyed out and a tool tip say’s AI Features are disabled (file in .cursorignore), I can not find the .cursorignore file to edit it and when I try and have the AI in cursor read the .evn.local file I get this response…

I see you’ve added the .env.local file to your project. Let’s verify its contents and make sure it’s properly set up:

Could not find file .env.local in the workspace.

I see that the file is still not accessible. This is likely because:

  1. The file is still in .cursorignore

  2. Or there might be a permission issue

Let’s try to:

  1. Remove .env.local from .cursorignore if it’s there

  2. Make sure the file has the correct permissions

Could you:

  1. Check if .env.local is listed in your .cursorignore file?

  2. Try removing it from .cursorignore if it’s there?

Also, could you confirm that you’ve added your actual OpenAI API key to the .env.local file? The file should contain:

text

Apply to .env.local

OPENAI_API_KEY=your_actual_api_key_here

(Replace your_actual_api_key_here with your real OpenAI API key)

again I can not find the .cursorignore file

2

You can remove the ignore for .env.local as shown in Global Cursor Ignore list

3

close, I think… I do not see this full path… Cursor Settings > Features > Editor > Hierarchical Cursor Ignore - The > Hierarchical Cursor Ignore doesn’t seem to display, and I checked, and Cursor tells me I have the current version.

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image1507×921 36.4 KB

4

i never added a .cursorignore file to my project and can not find one to edit.

5

Could you open Cursor, click into the Command Palette (the search box on top center), there Paste “Preferences: Open User Settings”, then you get user settings.
in user settings there is a search field, just paste “Global Cursor Ignore” and you will see the general ignored files. Cursor team has added some easily missed files that were often requested to be ignored, if you want to include any of those you can remove it from the list: click on it and then the delete x mark on the right.

6

no idea what the command palette is, this is what i see when i open Cursor, there is no search box on top center.

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image2559×1439 305 KB

7

Yeah it seems the top part has been disabled partially.
You can see that from the View menu as well

image

Hope that helps

8

that does help, thank you. i assume i delete just the - */.env.

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image1675×983 38.7 KB

9

Yes great!

10

Here is the written down process in case others search here:

Cursor Settings > General Settings > Open Editor Settings

Files: Exclude

Make sure that .env is not included in the exclude list. This prevents the .env file from being displayed in your project.

Then,

Cursor › General: Global Cursor Ignore List

Remove the .env file by clicking on the trash can icon, save your files, close the cursor, and reopen it.
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