I use Cursor across two monitors. I want files and the git diff on one monitor, and the chat on the other. There is a workaround to get chat to open in a new window, but it requires “Open chat as Editor,” and even when that was working, it was buggy:
The workaround that was usable for me was to run two instances of cursor, one that had the chat and agents panel minimized so I could just see the git diff sidebar and the file editors, and the other had the sidebar and chat panel minimized so I could see the agents panel and the chat as editor.
With “Open chat as Editor” not working currently, my workaround is to keep the chat panel open and Maximize Chat Ctrl + Alt + E, which hides the editor so I just see the chat and agent panels in that window. But would still prefer chat as Editor because I can have multiple chat tabs open at a time, as well as the plan files the chat had created.
I wanted to add that the first time you attempt to use Open Chat as Editor, The chat disappears from the pane with a message saying “the chat could not be loaded, the chat data may have been deleted or is unavailable,” and then a second later the chat panel closes itself. You can re-open the chat panel, and re-open any chat without issue. After that, attempting to use Open Chat as editor again appears to do nothing.
If I open developer tools and try it, clicking on the three dots in the upper right of the chat pane gives the following warning:
And then clicking Open chat as editor gives the following error:
workbench.desktop.main.js:58 ERR A view with id 'workbench.panel.aichat.view.[object Object]' is already registered: Error: A view with id 'workbench.panel.aichat.view.[object Object]' is already registered
at Z9u.addViews (vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Program%20Files/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:637:80809)
at vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Program%20Files/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:637:79443
at Array.forEach (<anonymous>)
at Z9u.registerViews2 (vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Program%20Files/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:637:79401)
at Z9u.registerViews (vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Program%20Files/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:637:79337)
at Zpc.swapComposerPaneView (vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Program%20Files/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:34245:42467)
at Zpc.swapComposerView (vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Program%20Files/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:34245:43164)
at J1.openComposerImpl (vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Program%20Files/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:34212:14703)
at async J1.openComposer (vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Program%20Files/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:34212:12633)
at async J1.handleOpenComposerEditor (vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Program%20Files/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:34212:9149) Error: A view with id 'workbench.panel.aichat.view.[object Object]' is already registered
at Z9u.addViews (workbench.desktop.main.js:637:80809)
at workbench.desktop.main.js:637:79443
at Array.forEach (<anonymous>)
at Z9u.registerViews2 (workbench.desktop.main.js:637:79401)
at Z9u.registerViews (workbench.desktop.main.js:637:79337)
at Zpc.swapComposerPaneView (workbench.desktop.main.js:34245:42467)
at Zpc.swapComposerView (workbench.desktop.main.js:34245:43164)
at J1.openComposerImpl (workbench.desktop.main.js:34212:14703)
at async J1.openComposer (workbench.desktop.main.js:34212:12633)
at async J1.handleOpenComposerEditor (workbench.desktop.main.js:34212:9149)
error @ workbench.desktop.main.js:58
error @ workbench.desktop.main.js:58
error @ workbench.desktop.main.js:35994
handleUnexpectedError @ workbench.desktop.main.js:35991
(anonymous) @ workbench.desktop.main.js:35991
onUnexpectedError @ workbench.desktop.main.js:27
Uc @ workbench.desktop.main.js:22
(anonymous) @ workbench.desktop.main.js:35991
How do you grab it I haven’t been able to drag and drop chat tabs at all, especially not dragging them. I wanna know cause I just switched and I’ve been trying to do a multiple monitor setup since I’m used to chat being on another monitor now I have to compromise having the chat and right tab on another monitor and the editor in a popup window, pretty annoying Since the transfer chat to editor doesn’t work even after the new update. Hope they fix it soon
@Sloth The only way to move chat into a different window is by first using “Open chat as Editor” (See the linked form post in the Additional Information section at the top of the page). But that isn’t possible right now, thanks to this bug. As you’ve noticed, there’s no-where to click and drag the chat directly from the pane. The bug might only be affecting Windows users, so maybe @Alwindawee didn’t realize their suggestion didn’t work for all users.
My workaround was to open two separate instances of Cursor, with the chat and Agent sidebar on the first instance, and the git version control side bar and open file editor tabs on the other. Visually it achieves what we want, and it’s mostly functional, but it does have the downside of taking extra computer resources to run those two instances. Also, it’s helpful to save two separate versions of the workspace, one for chat and one for files. Make sure both these workspaces have the same open folders, so that your chat instance has the same access to the files that you are viewing in the file instance. Once you’ve opened all required folders (using File > Add Folder to Workspace), use File > Save Workspace As to save the workspace for the chat. Then use Save Workspace As again to save the workspace for the files. After that, close Cursor, and open both the workspaces you just saved. Then organize the UI for each of those opened instances. The gear icon near the upper right of the each instance window has toggles to hide the various parts of Cursor, so you can set up each instance the way you want.
I can confirm this behavior on Windows, and I’ve raised an issue with the team.