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Question

Cursor forgets everything about my app when I open a new chat

Solved · 945 views · asked by jakeypoo · edited
cursorcontext-windowprompting

Every new chat I have to explain again it's a Next.js app with Supabase, that we use Tailwind, that the database is called X... Long chats become slow and weird, but new chats know nothing. Is there memory or something?

What I’ve tried

Kept one super long chat going for a week. It got really slow and started mixing up files.

Comment
Are you using a rules file at all right now? kofi_mensah · edited
No, what is that? jakeypoo · edited

3 answers

Marked as helpful by the asker
kofi_mensah · edited

Each chat starts empty by design. The way to carry knowledge over is rules files, which Cursor adds to every chat:

  • Create .cursorrules in the project root (or rules in .cursor/rules/).
  • Put the stuff you keep repeating in it: stack, folder structure, database names, conventions.

Then start new chats freely. One week-long chat is the worst of both worlds, as you noticed.

Comment
Made a .cursorrules with 15 lines. New chats just know it now. Wish I knew this a month ago. jakeypoo · edited
Also useful: @ a file in the chat to pull in a specific file instead of hoping it finds it. katie_on_cursor · edited
wes_codes · edited

Keep a docs/decisions.md too for the 'why' stuff (why we picked X). Rules for how to write code, decisions doc for the reasoning. @ it when relevant.

Comment
ingrid_h · edited

And keep the rules file short and factual. People turn it into an essay and then wonder why half is ignored.

Comment

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