Feature request for product/service
Cursor IDE
Describe the request
Feature Request: Make Project Chats and Context Portable (Store Them with the Project)
Currently, Cursor stores project-specific chats, context, and other metadata in the user profile and associates them with the project’s absolute filesystem path.
This causes a significant usability issue.
Problem
If the project is moved to another location—for example:
- cloned into a different directory,
- moved to another drive,
- opened from a different workspace,
- synchronized between multiple computers,
Cursor treats it as a completely new project.
As a result:
- chat history is lost;
- project context is lost;
- previous AI conversations are no longer available;
- the project effectively starts from scratch.
The project identity should not depend solely on its absolute filesystem path.
Proposed Solution
Store project-specific data inside the project itself (for example, in a dedicated .cursor/ directory) instead of tying it to the user’s profile and the project’s location.
This would make the project portable:
- moving the project would preserve its chat history;
- AI context would remain available regardless of where the project is located;
- sharing or synchronizing a project between machines would preserve the full development context.
Alternatively, Cursor could use a persistent project identifier stored inside the project directory while keeping metadata elsewhere. The important part is that project identity should survive path changes.
Benefits
- Portable project history.
- Consistent AI context after moving projects.
- Better collaboration between multiple machines.
- Easier backups and project synchronization.
- No accidental loss of chat history when a project directory changes.
A project’s identity should be based on the project itself, not on the absolute path where it happens to be stored.