Cursor AI Chat

Master the Cursor AI Chat panel and inline edit for code assistance, debugging, and exploration.

Core Chat Interfaces

Chat Panel (Cmd+L / Ctrl+L)

The side-panel chat for conversational code assistance:

┌─────────────────────────────────┐
│  Chat                     [M]   │  ← Model selector
│─────────────────────────────────│
│  Context Pills:                 │
│  [main.ts] [utils/] [@Web]      │  ← Active context shown as pills
│─────────────────────────────────│
│  User: Explain the auth flow    │
│  in @src/auth/middleware.ts     │
│                                 │
│  AI: The middleware checks...   │
│─────────────────────────────────│
│  [Type message...]    [Send]    │
└─────────────────────────────────┘

Key actions:

• Select code in editor, then

  Cmd+L

  to add selection as context

• Cmd+Shift+L

  adds selection to existing chat without clearing
• Click model name in top-right to switch models mid-conversation

Inline Edit (Cmd+K / Ctrl+K)

Surgical edits within the editor. Select code (or place cursor), press

Cmd+K

Selected: function calculateTotal(items) { ... }

Prompt: "Add TypeScript types and handle empty array edge case"

Result: Cursor shows diff inline -- green for additions, red for removals.
        Press Cmd+Y to accept, Esc to reject.

Best for single-function edits, type annotations, refactoring a specific block, adding error handling.

@-Symbol Reference

Type

@

@Files

@src/utils/auth.ts

@Folders

@src/components/

@Code

@handleSubmit

@Docs

@Docs React Router

@Git

@Git

@Codebase

@Codebase where is auth handled?

@Web

@Web latest Next.js 15 changes

@Definitions

@Cursor Rules

@Recent Changes

@Lint Errors

@Docs: Adding Custom Documentation

Register external docs for

@Docs

1. Cursor Settings

   >

   Features

   >

   Docs

2. Click

   Add new doc

3. Enter URL:

   https://react.dev/reference/react

   (Cursor crawls and indexes it)
4. Reference in chat:

   @Docs React

   then ask questions

Works with any documentation site. Good for framework APIs, internal wikis, design systems.

Effective Prompting Patterns

Pattern 1: Context-First Prompts

@src/api/orders.ts @src/types/order.ts

The createOrder function doesn't validate the shipping address.
Add Zod validation that checks: street, city, state (2-letter), zip (5 or 9 digit).
Throw a typed ValidationError if invalid.

Pattern 2: Reference-Based Generation

@src/api/users.ts

Create a new file src/api/products.ts following the exact same pattern
as the users API. CRUD endpoints, same error handling, same response format.
Product fields: id, name, price (cents), category, createdAt.

Pattern 3: Debug with Context

@src/hooks/useAuth.ts @Lint Errors

The useAuth hook causes an infinite re-render loop when the token expires.
The useEffect fires repeatedly. What's the root cause and how do I fix the
dependency array?

Pattern 4: Architecture Discussion

@src/components/ @src/api/

I need to add real-time notifications. The app uses REST APIs currently.
Should I add WebSockets, SSE, or polling? Consider the existing architecture
shown in these directories.

Multi-Turn Conversation Management

Start new chats for new topics. Long conversations degrade response quality as context fills up.

When to start fresh:

• Switching to a different feature or bug
• After 10+ turns on the same topic
• When responses start repeating or losing accuracy

When to continue:

• Iterating on the same code change
• Follow-up questions about the same file
• Asking for tests after generating code

Model Selection for Chat

Switch models using the dropdown in chat header:

Chat vs Inline Edit vs Composer

Enterprise Considerations

• Privacy Mode: Enable in Cursor Settings > General > Privacy Mode for zero data retention
• Model governance: Teams can restrict which models developers access via admin dashboard
• Audit: Chat interactions are not logged server-side when Privacy Mode is on
• Cost control: Use Auto mode or default to faster models; reserve Opus/GPT-5 for complex tasks

Resources

• Cursor Chat Documentation
• @ Symbols Overview
• Keyboard Shortcuts