Lost dozens of files. Checkout deletes moved files without restoring them in old location

Dear Cursor Team,

I’ve encountered a critical issue that can result in the loss of all project files, particularly affecting solo developers who rely on checkpoints instead of Git.

Steps to reproduce:

  1. The agent moves all app code to {authenticated} using CLI, causing a break.
  2. The user attempts to restore a previous checkpoint. However, the moved files are deleted and not restored in their original location.
  3. As a result, the user loses access to their files and cannot even use the timeline, which is only available for opened files.

This poses a significant risk for users who depend solely on Cursor for version control. Do you have any thoughts on how this can be addressed?

Looking forward to your insights.

This possibly being a bug aside, I for one would never, never, ever, rely on checkpoints as any kind of substitute for Git, any more than I would rely on my clipboard’s undo / redo in a text document, nor Adobe’s “History” pane in a Photoshop file over the entire lifecycle of any project. (I guess some people might? I’d honestly never give that a second thought).

As to the timeline, there is a way actually, you need to create a new blank file for what was previously removed, in the previous location. See my other comment here: Lost 2000 lines of code because Cursor killed my file and rolling back via checkpoints does not work - #8 by jchase

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Using the cursor requires frequent backups of the files, or every time before accepting the code, I must review everything thoroughly. Although everyone prefers to accept changes with one click, this can easily lead to issues.

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