Customization and Configuration - Step 2: Excluding Files/Directories
from AI Context
Control what information Cursor's AI can access by excluding specific
files or directories. This is crucial for protecting sensitive
information, improving performance by ignoring irrelevant large
files/folders, and focusing the AI's attention on relevant parts of
your codebase.
Why Exclude Files/Directories?
-
Sensitive Information:
Prevent the AI from accessing files containing API keys,
passwords, personal data, or other confidential information
(e.g., .env files, private
keys).
-
Irrelevant Content:
Exclude build artifacts (dist/, build/), dependency folders
(node_modules/,
vendor/), large log files, or
binary assets that are not useful for code generation or
understanding.
-
Focus and Performance:
Limiting the scope of context can help the AI provide faster
and more relevant suggestions by not getting bogged down in
unrelated code.
-
Third-Party Code:
You might want to exclude vendored libraries or large
third-party SDKs if you don't want the AI to focus on
them.
How to Exclude: The
.cursorignore File
Cursor, much like Git with
.gitignore, often uses a dedicated
ignore file (commonly
.cursorignore) to specify patterns
for files and directories that should be excluded from AI context
and indexing.
Creating and Using
.cursorignore:
-
Create the File:
In the root directory of your project, create a file named
.cursorignore.
-
Add Patterns:
List files, directories, or patterns you want to ignore, one
per line. The syntax is typically similar to
.gitignore.
-
Direct file name:
credentials.json
-
Directory (and its contents):
node_modules/ or
logs/
-
Wildcards: *.log (all log
files), temp_* (files
starting with temp_)
-
Specific paths:
src/config/secrets.yml
-
Comments: Lines starting with
# are usually treated as
comments.
-
Save and Commit:
Save the file and commit it to your repository so the exclusion
rules are shared with your team and applied consistently.
Example
.cursorignore content:
# Comments are allowed
# Ignore dependency folders
node_modules/
vendor/
bower_components/
# Ignore build output
dist/
build/
out/
target/
# Ignore sensitive files
.env
*.pem
*.key
secrets.json
credentials.*
# Ignore log files
*.log
logs/
# Ignore IDE/editor specific files
.vscode/
.idea/
*.swp
*.swo
# Ignore OS generated files
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db
# Ignore specific large assets if not needed for context
assets/videos/
large_dataset.csv
Other Exclusion Mechanisms
Besides .cursorignore, Cursor might
offer additional ways to manage context exclusion:
-
IDE Settings:
Check Cursor's settings/preferences. There might be options to
globally ignore certain patterns or to manage included/excluded
folders for indexing on a per-project basis through the
UI.
-
Right-Click Context Menu:
Some IDEs or tools allow right-clicking on a file or folder in
the project explorer and selecting an option like "Exclude from
AI Context" or "Ignore for Indexing."
Privacy and Security First
Proactively use .cursorignore or
other exclusion methods to protect sensitive data. Even if you trust
the AI provider, it's best practice to limit the exposure of
confidential information. Regularly review your ignored patterns,
especially when adding new types of sensitive files to your project.
