Adding Context to Chat in AI

From the Cursor cheat sheet ยท Context Management ยท verified Jul 2026

Adding Context to Chat

Include relevant code and files

bash
# Selection context
Ctrl+Shift+L   # Add selected code to chat
Ctrl+L         # Add selection to new chat

# Clipboard context
Ctrl+V         # Add clipboard as context (auto-detect)
Ctrl+Shift+V   # Add clipboard to input box

# Reference operators
@              # Reference specific items
#              # Reference files
/              # Use shortcut commands

# Codebase search
Ctrl+Enter     # Search entire codebase in chat
bash
// EXAMPLE: Multi-file context
> @file1.ts @file2.ts How do these interact?

// EXAMPLE: Codebase search
> Find all API endpoints [Ctrl+Enter]

// EXAMPLE: Reference specific function
> @calculateTotal Why does this return NaN?
๐Ÿ’ก @ symbol references specific context
โšก Ctrl+Enter searches entire codebase
๐Ÿ” Clipboard auto-formats as context
๐Ÿ“Œ Multiple files can be referenced at once
contextreferencesearch

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