Referencing folder is no longer finding files in subdirectories

Bug Report
1

I used to be able to give Cursor a React project and ask it a question that it would subsequently find an answer to by looking into files within the project (which happened to be in subdirectories within the React project I referenced).

That is no longer the case - when I give cursor a folder it only sees the files in the folder I gave it, it is no longer indexing files within subdirectories of the folder I referenced. Its lack of awareness can be confirmed by the “Long-file details” message which does not include any files from any subdirectories.

So if there is a project directory like this:

Root
|
mock.js
components
|
component1.js
component1.html

Cursor only knows about mock.js, it does not understand at all that there is a components.js directory there.

I’m looking for validation of my suspicion that this is a regression, and not a preexisting shortcoming.

1 Like
2

Hey,

Is this in the chat, or the composer?

In the chat, while you can @ specific files and folders, you still have the ability to use the Ctrl/Cmd + Enter shortcut to get the chat to look at the relevant files itself.

In Composer, you have the two modes:

  • Normal - In this mode, you can @codebase to get Cursor to pick it’s own context. Also, for more granular control, when you type @, you have a folder called “Recommended” which can suggest files to add to context.
  • Agent - In agent mode, Composer will find and look at whatever files it thinks it needs. Agent mode is still being worked on, so may have imperfect results for now.

Let me know if you find anything missing here!

3

@danperks I believe I was forgetting to hit command + enter, I was just hitting enter. I’m getting better results after using command+enter.

I think there’s a UX question here of why the product wouldn’t assume an end user wants to index code if they explicitly mentioned a code artifact, but my problem is solved - thank you.

4

Agreed. I want to have the AI review an entire subdirectory tree, but without worrying that it’s going to wander the codebase picking other files to look at ■■■■■-nilly. Cursor is so effective in part because of the granular control you have over the context you feed to the AI. Please give us that control. Perhaps a separate syntax such as @/path/to/dir/**/*?

ETA: I did just give it a try giving it permission to choose its own context, and it did indeed pull in all sorts of context unrelated to the target directory.

1 Like
5

I feel like this is particularly noticeable in chat using o1 where I simply mention one or two files and several get pulled into the context which probably contributes to how slow that model is to respond.