Hey, thanks for the report. I’ll go point by point.
/summarize: based on your setup, you’re running agents via Remote Control cloud-agent harness, and on that surface /summarize currently doesn’t work correctly. The input gets cleared and nothing happens. This is a known issue we’re tracking, but I can’t share a timeline yet. In normal local chats, the command should work. One important note is that automatic summarization still kicks in by itself when the context fills up, so the chat won’t get stuck.
If /summarize also doesn’t work in a normal local chat not via Remote Control, send me the Request ID from one of those attempts right upper corner chat menu > Copy Request ID and we’ll dig deeper.
Shared chat history between CLI and IDE is a popular request and it’s on our radar.
/remote-control in CLI: on the CLI side, the Remote Control role is handled by cursor-agent worker start. It makes your machine available so agents can run on it from IDE, web, or mobile. There isn’t a separate slash command yet to hand over the specific CLI session. I shared this request with the team.
Let me know the Request ID if you see /summarize dead in a local chat.
@deanrie Thanks a lot for your reply and explanations! It really helped.
I want to use Cursor and I want to see it work well. However, as a user coming from Claude Code, it feels like Cursor has a lot of rough edges at the moment.
Walking through your points, from a UX perspective - me as a end-user is not supposed to know when I’m dealing with a “Remote Control cloud-agent harness” surface and that /summarize won’t work for a unspecified timeline. To me this is a critical bug since I’m used to compacting as soon as I’m done with a section of work to save on usage.
Shared chat history: Good to know it’s on the radar
remote-control on the CLI: Again circling back to UX - me as an end-user is dealing with complex stuff on my own application and I won’t have the patience to know what a “cursor-agent worker start” is supposed to mean. I run /remote-control from anywhere and it is just supposed to work, regardless of where it’s run from - and my ultimate goal being able to control it remotely from a phone.
I do not say any of this to be mean, I actually mean it quite well because I want to see good alternatives to Claude Code - but right now, I just don’t see it. But I hope it will be better soon, because I want to come back (especially because everything else Cursor has to offer - using models from a bunch of providers is one main one) - but I think I will just move back to Claude Code until things get better (and I really hope they will get better soon!)
@Stephen_Kingston thanks for the detailed write-up. This kind of feedback is more helpful than it might seem, and I’ve passed it along to the team.
A couple quick clarifications:
On /summarize and usage, there’s an important detail that should reduce some of the pain. Even if a manual /summarize doesn’t work on the Remote Control surface, automatic summarization will still kick in once the context gets full. So the chat won’t get stuck and the context won’t grow forever. Manual compaction is more about controlling the timing than being the only way to manage context. Your point that the user shouldn’t have to care which surface they’re on is totally valid, and I shared that as feedback. We’re tracking the /summarize issue on that surface, but I can’t share a timeline yet.
On shared history and being able to run /remote-control from anywhere, including your phone, I logged both as product feedback. The idea of I can run the command from anywhere and it just works makes sense.
On the report form with lots of fields, also fair. Passed along.
Totally understand if you switch back to Claude Code for now, no hard feelings. I’d be happy if you check back later. And if you ever see /summarize dead in a normal local chat, not via Remote Control, send over the Request ID and I’ll dig deeper.
Quick update on the /summarize part of your report: a fix has landed and will be included in an upcoming version of Cursor (the next cut of 3.18). Once you’re on that update, /summarize should work in Remote Control and cloud agent conversations the same way it does in local chats.
Let me know if /summarize still does nothing for you once you’re on the new version.