Windows: Agent chat file drag-and-drop stops working after "Activating Extensions"; @ attachment still works

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Describe the Bug

Cursor Bug Report — Windows: chat drag-and-drop stops after “Activating Extensions”

Copy everything below the line into: Bug Reports - Cursor - Community Forum → New topic

Title (subject)

Windows: Agent chat file drag-and-drop stops working after “Activating Extensions”; @ attachment still works

Where does the bug appear?

Cursor IDE — Agent / Chat input (file drag-and-drop into context)

Environment

Item Value
OS Windows 10 (build 19045)
Cursor version 2.6.22 (Help → About; package.json in install dir)
Install path D:\Cursor\cursor\
Project Local workspace (Chinese path: e:\三国项目)
Account Pro+

Describe the bug

  • Dragging files (any type: CSV, code, etc.) into the bottom chat input shows no file chip and does not attach context.
  • Typing @ and selecting files still works.
  • After Developer: Reload Window, drag-and-drop sometimes works briefly, then fails again once the status bar finishes “Activating Extensions” (激活扩展).
  • Issue persisted after:
    • Disabling Office Viewer extension
    • Deleting state.vscdb-wal / state.vscdb-shm (light SQLite fix)
    • Restoring state.vscdb from state.vscdb.manual_backup_20260521_165213 (pre–cache-clean backup)
  • Project Rules (.cursor/rules, 14 .mdc files) were not disabled; hover on context ring shows Active Rules only — unrelated to fixing drag-drop.

Timeline / likely trigger

  1. Cursor crashed / froze repeatedly (no intentional settings change that day).
  2. Ran community cleanup script fix_cursor_storage_B.ps1 which edits
    %APPDATA%\Cursor\User\globalStorage\state.vscdb (chat/agent cache clean; backup created).
  3. After that, drag-and-drop stopped; problem may combine DB cleanup + current Cursor build.

Steps to reproduce

  1. Open Cursor 2.6.22, open Agent chat.
  2. Reload Window (Ctrl+Shift+P → Developer: Reload Window).
  3. Immediately drag a file from Explorer into the chat input → may work once.
  4. Wait until status bar “Activating Extensions” completes.
  5. Drag the same or another file into the input again → nothing happens (no chip).
  6. Type @ → file list appears → attachment works.

Expected behavior

Drag-and-drop into chat input should add a file context chip, same as before crashes / cache clean.

Actual behavior

No UI feedback; file not added. @ remains the only reliable method.

Installed extensions (at time of report)

Extension Publisher Notes
cursor-agent-exec anysphere Built-in
cursor-always-local anysphere Built-in
cursor-resolver anysphere Built-in
cursor-retrieval anysphere Built-in
Chinese (Simplified) Language Pack MS-CEINTL Optional
Office Viewer cweijan Disabled for testing — drag still broken

What we already tried (did not fix drag-drop)

  • Not Rules: kept all project .cursor/rules enabled
  • Disable Office Viewer
  • Reload Window / full PC restart
  • Delete state.vscdb-wal + state.vscdb-shm
  • Restore full state.vscdb from manual backup before cache script
  • Downgrade to 2.1.50 — user chose not to pursue for now

Workarounds

  • Use @ file picker
  • Right-click file → Add to Cursor Chat (when available)
  • Paste file path from Explorer (Shift+Right-click → copy path)

Additional notes for maintainers

  • Forum reports mention Windows regression: drag from Cursor sidebar vs Explorer may differ.
  • “Activating Extensions” may correlate with Extension Host / state.vscdb integrity after aggressive cache purge.
  • globalStorage\state.vscdb size went from ~7 GB (manual_backup) to ~1.1 GB after clean script.

Logs / attachments (optional — add if forum asks)

  • Help → About → copy full version string
  • %APPDATA%\Cursor\logs\ latest folder
  • Screenshot: chat input + status bar “Activating Extensions” + context ring “Active Rules”

Steps to Reproduce

Cursor Bug Report — Windows: chat drag-and-drop stops after “Activating Extensions”

Copy everything below the line into: Bug Reports - Cursor - Community Forum → New topic

Title (subject)

Windows: Agent chat file drag-and-drop stops working after “Activating Extensions”; @ attachment still works

Where does the bug appear?

Cursor IDE — Agent / Chat input (file drag-and-drop into context)

Environment

Item Value
OS Windows 10 (build 19045)
Cursor version 2.6.22 (Help → About; package.json in install dir)
Install path D:\Cursor\cursor\
Project Local workspace (Chinese path: e:\三国项目)
Account Pro+

Describe the bug

  • Dragging files (any type: CSV, code, etc.) into the bottom chat input shows no file chip and does not attach context.
  • Typing @ and selecting files still works.
  • After Developer: Reload Window, drag-and-drop sometimes works briefly, then fails again once the status bar finishes “Activating Extensions” (激活扩展).
  • Issue persisted after:
    • Disabling Office Viewer extension
    • Deleting state.vscdb-wal / state.vscdb-shm (light SQLite fix)
    • Restoring state.vscdb from state.vscdb.manual_backup_20260521_165213 (pre–cache-clean backup)
  • Project Rules (.cursor/rules, 14 .mdc files) were not disabled; hover on context ring shows Active Rules only — unrelated to fixing drag-drop.

Timeline / likely trigger

  1. Cursor crashed / froze repeatedly (no intentional settings change that day).
  2. Ran community cleanup script fix_cursor_storage_B.ps1 which edits
    %APPDATA%\Cursor\User\globalStorage\state.vscdb (chat/agent cache clean; backup created).
  3. After that, drag-and-drop stopped; problem may combine DB cleanup + current Cursor build.

Steps to reproduce

  1. Open Cursor 2.6.22, open Agent chat.
  2. Reload Window (Ctrl+Shift+P → Developer: Reload Window).
  3. Immediately drag a file from Explorer into the chat input → may work once.
  4. Wait until status bar “Activating Extensions” completes.
  5. Drag the same or another file into the input again → nothing happens (no chip).
  6. Type @ → file list appears → attachment works.

Expected behavior

Drag-and-drop into chat input should add a file context chip, same as before crashes / cache clean.

Actual behavior

No UI feedback; file not added. @ remains the only reliable method.

Installed extensions (at time of report)

Extension Publisher Notes
cursor-agent-exec anysphere Built-in
cursor-always-local anysphere Built-in
cursor-resolver anysphere Built-in
cursor-retrieval anysphere Built-in
Chinese (Simplified) Language Pack MS-CEINTL Optional
Office Viewer cweijan Disabled for testing — drag still broken

What we already tried (did not fix drag-drop)

  • Not Rules: kept all project .cursor/rules enabled
  • Disable Office Viewer
  • Reload Window / full PC restart
  • Delete state.vscdb-wal + state.vscdb-shm
  • Restore full state.vscdb from manual backup before cache script
  • Downgrade to 2.1.50 — user chose not to pursue for now

Workarounds

  • Use @ file picker
  • Right-click file → Add to Cursor Chat (when available)
  • Paste file path from Explorer (Shift+Right-click → copy path)

Additional notes for maintainers

  • Forum reports mention Windows regression: drag from Cursor sidebar vs Explorer may differ.
  • “Activating Extensions” may correlate with Extension Host / state.vscdb integrity after aggressive cache purge.
  • globalStorage\state.vscdb size went from ~7 GB (manual_backup) to ~1.1 GB after clean script.

Logs / attachments (optional — add if forum asks)

  • Help → About → copy full version string
  • %APPDATA%\Cursor\logs\ latest folder
  • Screenshot: chat input + status bar “Activating Extensions” + context ring “Active Rules”

Operating System

Windows 10/11

Version Information

Version: 2.6.22 (user setup)
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: c6285feaba0ad62603f7c22e72f0a170dc8415a0
Date: 2026-03-27T15:59:31.561Z
Build Type: Stable
Release Track: Default
Electron: 39.8.1
Chromium: 142.0.7444.265
Node.js: 22.22.1
V8: 14.2.231.22-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.19045

Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

5

Hey, thanks for the detailed report. The main suspect here is the third-party script fix_cursor_storage_B.ps1. It cut state.vscdb from about 7 GB to about 1.1 GB, and that very likely broke the extension host state. Restoring only state.vscdb from a backup doesn’t roll everything back. There’s related data in globalStorage and workspaceStorage that the script could’ve touched too. The timing with “Activating Extensions” fits that.

What to try, in order:

  1. Clean reinstall, not Reload:

    • Close Cursor.
    • Back up and delete %APPDATA%\Cursor and %USERPROFILE%\.cursor.
    • Uninstall Cursor via Add/Remove Programs.
    • Download a fresh installer from Cursor · Download and reinstall.
    • Sign in, open the project, and test drag-and-drop before installing any extensions.

  2. If everything works on a clean profile, add extensions one by one to find the trigger. Office Viewer is already suspicious, even if you disabled it.

  3. If it still doesn’t work on a clean profile, please share:

    • A short video showing the repro drag works, then “Activating Extensions”, then drag breaks.
    • A log from %APPDATA%\Cursor\logs\ the newest folder, especially renderer.log and exthost.log, captured right after the failed drop.

There’s also a closed Windows thread with the same symptom, but without cleanup scripts: Regression: Drag-and-drop from Cursor Explorer to Chat/Composer stopped working (Windows)

One more thing. I wouldn’t recommend community scripts that modify state.vscdb directly. It’s a closed SQLite format with links between tables, and trimming by size can easily break integrity. If you need to clean up, it’s safer to do it via Cursor Settings or a full reinstall.

Let me know how it goes after the clean reinstall.