Why is cursor showing file results from /var/folders/.. ? Is this some sort of temp cache that failed to get busted? Or something to do with the terminal integration? It super noisy and annoying…
Hey, thanks for the report!
From your screenshot, I can see files from /var/folders/ marked as “recently opened”. That’s the Quick Open recently opened history, not project indexing.
Those files might have been opened via the terminal, an external editor, or a plugin, and now they show up in the history.
To clear the recently opened file history:
Cmd+Shift+P> “Clear Recently Opened”
If it happens again, let me know and we’ll dig deeper into what’s opening them.
@deanrie thanx! that worked. yeah, I’m curious which tool is doing this … i suspect it’s related to the github MCP looking back through the git history and doing some diffs/comparisons. Personally, I would want recently opened to be, by default, filtered to just files the IDE user has explicitly opened themselves (vs. agent/tool/etc) – as that can get a little messy otherwise.
Glad the team helped.
Interesting point about GitHub MCP, that’s a very possible source. MCP servers can open files when working with git diff and other operations.
Your idea to filter “Recently Opened” (exclude files opened by the agent or tools) makes sense. That would improve the UX. I’ll pass it to the team as a feature request.
If those files show up in the history again, let me know which specific MCP servers you have active. That’ll help us pinpoint the source.
@deanrie , well, actually, I don’t think it was the Github MCP as i forgotten I had disabled it to make room for some other tools. That said … I still think chasing git is the right vector. I installed GitLens a few days ago (specifically for some history-specific conveniences) and I’d bet dollars to donuts that the GitLens extension is the culprit here…
Thanks for the clarification about GitLens. Yes, extensions that work with git history (GitLens, Git Graph, and similar ones) can open temporary files when comparing commits, and those files show up in “Recently Opened”.
This looks like expected extension behavior, not a Cursor bug. But your feedback about filtering “Recently Opened” (excluding files opened by tools or the agent) has already been shared with the team as a feature request.
For now, if the list gets cluttered again:
Cmd+Shift+P> “Clear Recently Opened”
If you notice other extensions doing the same thing, let us know. That’ll help the team when implementing the filtering.