Cursor Codebase Indexing

Overview

What is Codebase Indexing?

Codebase indexing creates a searchable representation of your code:
- Enables @codebase queries
- Powers semantic code search
- Improves AI context awareness
- Helps AI understand project structure

Prerequisites

• Cursor IDE installed and authenticated
• Project workspace with source files
• Sufficient disk space for index storage
• Stable network connection for initial setup

Instructions

1. Open your project in Cursor
2. Navigate to Settings > Cursor > Codebase Indexing
3. Enable "Index this workspace"
4. Create

   .cursorignore

   file at project root
5. Add exclusion patterns for large/irrelevant directories
6. Wait for indexing to complete (check status bar)
7. Test with

   @codebase

   queries in chat

Output

• Indexed codebase enabling

  @codebase

  queries
• Semantic code search functionality
• Improved AI context awareness
• Searchable symbol table and definitions

Error Handling

{baseDir}/references/errors.md

Examples

{baseDir}/references/examples.md

Resources

• Cursor Indexing Documentation
• gitignore Pattern Syntax
• Cursor Performance Guide