Started to use the notepad feature that is in beta.
In the notepad I use the @ symple to reference files and folders. I also use the @Commit to get a diff of the current working state. I provide a lot of context and so on in the notepad and save it. Great!
In the chat i reference my notepad BUT the AI doesn’t execute/run properly the @ references. In the notepad I ask it to show me the git diff and it shows me something completely unrelated to the file I am asking questions about. Same with when references in folders.
Not sure if Im using notepad correctly but this is what I expected:
- if I use
@Folder to reference a folder and ask AI to read the contents of the folder, then it should have the context of those files in the folder
- if I use
@Commit to get the diff in the notepad, I expect AI to apply the diff to the current working state of the attached file (within chat). For example, in chat, if I attach a file and do @my-notepad, I expect the git diff to be scoped to the attached file
Not sure if this is a bug or im just using notepads wrong.
1 Like
I believe @commit is intended for picking a specific commit, not necessarily the latest you have made.
While this may not be working as it should in notepads, my guess is that the @commit is not referencing the commit you expect.
I believe we have some changes coming soon to notepads, so I’d wait to see what changes with them in the near future!
Project Rules (Cursor – Rules for AI) are a better version of notepads, and can have more flexibility and power, as the Agent can choose which to use on its own.
1 Like
Feedback from my usage of Notepads.
Project Rules - Things that are specific to the repo these are committed so all developers get access. Never put personal preferences in here.
Rules for AI (In the setting) - Things I want in every AI interaction normally just a single line saying “My name is dale and be terse in your responses.”
Notepads - Context specific rules.
Context specific rules, I have two I use all the time
- Git flow. This is how I like to do my personal git flow and how I like to automate it. I only include this when I want to commit/push/pr. If I include Git rules in my Rules for AI I find the AI is overzealous in committing code (YOLO) before I get change to review it. (Also I don’t want to bloat the context)
- Plan Mode Plan vs Act I include this when I want to do planning.
Some git rules will be project specific (how to name branches etc) so they would go in the cursor rules folder.
So to sumarize I think we need 3 different systems (Like the vscode settings) Workspace settings & Personal settings.
- Project rules (Dynamically included)
- Personal rules (Manually included)
- Personal rules (Always include)
For want of a better system I’m using Notepads for Personal rules
3 Likes
Wer Notepad? 
Version: 0.46.7 (user setup)
VSCode Version: 1.96.2
Commit: 3611c5390c448b242ab97e328493bb8ef7241e60
Date: 2025-02-27T07:28:03.958Z
Electron: 32.2.6
Chromium: 128.0.6613.186
Node.js: 20.18.1
V8: 12.8.374.38-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.19045
Will notepads be able to link to other notepads? This will help prevent writing very long notepads, separation of concerns when referencing