Is there a way to configure Cursor so that it can access or interact with the terminal directly? This would be particularly useful when running code and encountering errors that are displayed in the terminal.
For context, I asked Cursor to show me the last line in my terminal, and the response was:
Q: What is the last line in my terminal? Show me the exact last line.
A: “I apologize, but I don’t have access to your terminal or any information about its current state. As an AI language model, I can only respond based on the information you provide. If you want me to comment on or help with something specific in your terminal, you’ll need to share that information with me directly. Could you please copy and paste the last line from your terminal so I can assist you better?”
This is fantastic —I tried it, and it works perfectly.
Your screenshot and explanation were spot on and extremely helpful.
I have a follow-up question: When I copy and paste part of the code from the editor into the chat box, it initially stays open, but once I hit enter, it automatically collapses.
Is there a way to keep it open? It would be helpful when reviewing chat history to have a clearer understanding if the code snippets remained visible.
I’m glad that was the functionality you were after .
In regard to being able to see the code that has previously been added as context, I believe there have been a few iterations on how this is displayed, currently you can click on the referenced code context, and it will toggle display of that code.
Ctrl + L to open up an AI chat panel in the sidebar (docs)
Ctrl + I (Composer) to create and edit code across multiple files
So you could test all of that functionality by taking the following steps:
Create a folder in your Documents folder called myGreatProject
Open that folder in Cursor
Ctrl + I:
Press Ctrl + I to open up Composer and give it a prompt like:
Please create a simple HTML site with an index.html file and CSS and JS folders that contains fun JavaScript functionality and a bold blue color scheme that documents the adventures and victories of a super hero named Sam traversing the mountainous terrain of Chile!
Press the Apply All and then Accept All buttons to accept the code
Note that there are some bugs with Composer at the moment, so YMMV.
Ctrl + K:
Open the generated JavaScript file, highlight some code, press Ctrl + K and either ask it something about the code or ask it to change the code in some way
Ctrl + L:
Press Ctrl + L to display the AI Chat in the sidebar and have larger conversations - choose your desired model and use the @Symbols feature to add different types of context to your chat, from individual files to the whole codebase
Other frequently used places within Cursor are:
Cursor Settings (Ctrl + Shift + J)
System Information (Help > About)
Hopefully these tips will assist you in getting started!
A few other tips in regards to requests:
Remember that the gpt-4o-mini model is considered a ‘non-premium’ model, so use that for small tasks to save your ‘fast-premium’ requests:
Pro users get an additional 10 ‘long-chat’ model requests per day, as defined when logged in at https://www.cursor.com/settings , so take advantage of them
It does have access to the terminal, it just forgets it does And if you then tell it that it does, it remembers and then does it (Sometimes but not every time)
—I tried it, and it works perfectly.
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, but text documents 
work too) that teach the features and how-tos of the Cursor IDE?
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