How to open Agent Window and Editor Simultaneously

Discussions
21

@condor so its never coming back? Because if we will have to use 1.7 indefinitely in the future, then we will never be able to use any other new features of cursor. So is it coming back? Or should we consider other IDEs?

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22

So far majority of users do like the merged window and the additional improvements we made in it.

We are open for feedback and may extend the features in upcoming versions.

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23

I always used the old mode too. I will try a time the new one but I also think that both versions should be available

24

@condor appreciate the feedback, thanks.

The majority of users are probably on a single laptop monitor, so itā€™s not an issue for them, and Iā€™m sure thereā€™s lots of improvements which I would love to be able to use.

But being forced to use a single window is a huge negative for me, the dual window was a massive productivity boost.

I understand there was issues with data access between them, but would you be willing to open an internal issue and have the team seriously consider adding an option to allow using agents as either combined or separate windows? Would really appreciate, thanks!

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25

I guess Iā€™m heading back to 1.7 for as long as it still works. Having to choose between making my primary workspace either a functioning editor and a functioning agent view is breaking my brain.

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26

Thatā€™s nonsensical. It can obviously be an option, configurable, etc.

27

majority of users

What is the basis for this assertion?

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28

I would just like to add my complete frustration that I canā€™t have the agent window on one monitor and the editor window on another anymore. This was an extremely useful feature of cursor and to remove it seems like a giant regression. Please bring this feature back.

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29

+1 very angry about this changeā€¦ Cursor 2.0 is great but this is a big regression, now iā€™m using VS Code + Cursor instead of just have the Editor and Agents mode at same time.

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30

I second this, I am aware of local storage issues if you have the file open in an editor as cursor is writing changes, solution is to close file and re-open.

Thatā€™s not enough of a problem to get rid of having both open at the same time.

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31

At least it should have a option to open a new window for the agentsā€¦

32

Hey all! Iā€™m one of the engineers that has been working on the Agent Window/Layout and wanted to clear some things up.

We moved away from separate windows because many users found it unintuitive (esp. those working on a single screen) and there were some large performance implications of running two windows due to VSCodeā€™s extension host architecture. The separate Agent Window was always a Beta feature because we werenā€™t sure we would be able to support it long-term.

I hear you all though! I loved having a separate window too and this is something the team and I want to bring back. It is definitely something we will support eventually, but I canā€™t make any guarantees about when that will be just yet.

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33

Thanks Austin. That all makes total sense, and itā€™s awesome to hear from the folks who are working on these features.

Iā€™ve been a huge and probably annoying advocate for bringing back the separate agent/editor windows, but I will admit that I found the separate agent window unintuitive at first. But I think thatā€™s more of a first-use/feature onboarding problem. Once I figured it out, I loved it, and itā€™s hard to go back to not having it :slight_smile:

I also understand that not everyone works on an M4 Max with two 49ā€ monitors, and the performance and screen real-estate problems are real.

34

Thanks Austin! Understand the reasons, but maybe this could be an beta option or an option that could be selected by the user (not by the default) because for users using multiple screens the actual Agents/Editor mode its the same experience of doing alt + tab all the time, Iā€™m using VS Code on the second screen but its not a good experience as using only cursor.

As mentioned by Alex I also have multiple screens and a very good cpu, but I believe most of the users using Pro and Ultra Plan will have at least 2 screens these days and a decent computer.

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35

HUGE regression.. makes the way I use cursor completely broken, agents window is a cluttered mess now with no way to get out of it.. 4 vertical sections on a single screen makes the content of editor and agent output completely squeezed in with bunch of horizontal scrolling needed for the editor .. only way this works is with extremely wide monitors..

to be perfectly honest it seems like you went for the easy route and are masking it as something users wanted.. who wants to work like this? every place Iā€™ve worked with has a basic setup of 2 screens + laptop for a reason..

can you point me to the discussion where users actually asked for this?

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36

Iā€™m so disappointed :frowning:

having two cursor windows on two separate monitors with Editor and Agents was really amazing

Even if it was intended, it definitely feels like itā€™s a regression, it ruins my day

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37

I managed to do so by using plain VScode logic by creating separate workspaces

It definitely feels like something that should be a feature, without manual stuff

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38

How so? Is it different from having multiple normal windows open?

We moved away from separate windows because many users found it unintuitive (esp. those working on a single screen)

This is a bit of a cop-out answer because, as pointed out frequently in this thread, it could be an option. Moreover, it has been a safe assumption for a number of years now that a lot (maybe most?) professional engineers are using more than one monitor, or otherwise segmenting their screens so that they can view multiple things at once.