The exact reason why newer versions of CURSOR feels like Trash.

After removing @ codebase and claiming that cursor now automatically searches the codebase when needed is false. Previously whenever i had any tasks, the Agent always assumed that i already have all the files created which needs modifying and listed all the related files before making changes. Now 7/10 times, it will create duplicate files even the ones the agent created itself in the same chat 3-4 queries before. To get the same experience, i have to mention all the files individually on every message which is truly tiresome.

Extra Information: I am not doing vibe coding, I have 3 years of coding experience (intermediate but still not a newbie) before using AI. And the tech stack i am using cursor for is : JavaScript, Typescript, React, Next.js, Node.js. Previously i had no issue even when working on project with 100+ files, And now its creating duplicate files even in projects with 20-25 files in total.

So, my conclusion is the claim that cursor now automatically searches the codebase when needed is FALSE or the method they are using behind the scenes is not optimized enough to give the same quality we used to get by just typing @ codebase. I hope this feedback will help cursor team to improve their IDE if they are not intentionally making it worse.

Edit: u/No-Conference-8133 figured out a little hack to get @ codebase back without switching to older version of cursor.

You can still use @ codebase! It’s just not that visible anymore.

Here’s how:

In settings, make sure "custom modes" is enabled which allows you to create your own modes.

Then, in the chat panel, click the modes dropdown (default is agent) and create a new mode here. Create it and select it. Now you can use @ codebase in this mode (while also allowing the LLM to use tools on its own)

Maybe this is a bug? If it is, I hope the bug sticks around. Because I’ve found this workflow to be very effective