Cursor codebase indexing — what still works
Semantic embeddings indexing for agent search was wound down. Pick what you are seeing; get the staff-backed diagnosis and the fix that matches.
Checked against Cursor forum staff posts and docs as of 2026-09-15.
- Semantic index
- Wound down
- Agent search now
- Instant Grep + reads
- Empty Grep bug
- Disable Instant Grep, reload
Cursor is a VS Code fork. Search today is Instant Grep plus file reads — not the old semantic embeddings index.
What are you seeing?
Expected product change
Indexing settings / Resync Index disappeared
Cursor wound down the old semantic (embeddings) codebase index. Agents search with Instant Grep and ordinary file reads instead.
Do this
Treat missing Indexing controls as normal on current builds. Use Instant Grep behavior below — do not chase Resync Index.
Staff (Maxime, Colin, Kevin Neilson, 2026): models got good enough at grep that the dedicated semantic path stopped helping. Cursor no longer builds embeddings of your code for search, and does not store them on servers for that purpose.
Current status (always visible)
Crawlable reference from Cursor staff posts and docs. Product can change; dates below are when we last checked.
| Claim | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Semantic / embeddings codebase indexing for agent search | Wound down — not the agent search path | Cursor staff (Maxime / Colin / Kevin) |
| What agents use to find code | Instant Grep + normal file reads (Explore subagent for broad sweeps) | cursor.com/docs agent search |
| Where Instant Grep stores its index | Per-repo under .git/cursor/ (local binary; not pushed) | Colin on forum |
| Non-git workspace | Instant Grep off → plain ripgrep fallback | Colin on forum |
| Old 250,000-file semantic limit | Does not apply to Instant Grep | Colin on forum |
| Empty Grep with Instant Grep enabled | Known bug — disable setting + reload; check parent .git | Mohit, Instant Grep bug thread |
Direct answers
- Did Cursor remove codebase indexing?
- The semantic embeddings index for agent search was wound down. A local Instant Grep index still exists for git repos under
.git/cursor/. - Why does agent search find nothing?
- If Instant Grep is enabled and Grep returns empty while shell ripgrep works, disable Instant Grep and reload — staff-documented bug. Also check a parent
~/.git. - Is Instant Grep cloud-stored code?
- Staff: Instant Grep index is local under
.git/cursor/. Docs also state file paths sent for search are encrypted and code content is not stored in plaintext on Cursor servers for that path.
