cursor-indexing-issues

name	cursor-indexing-issues
description	Troubleshoot Cursor codebase indexing: stuck indexing, empty search, @codebase failures, and performance issues. Triggers on "cursor indexing", "cursor index", "@codebase not working", "cursor search broken", "indexing stuck".
allowed-tools	Read, Write, Edit, Bash(cmd:*)
version	1.18.0
license	MIT
author	Jeremy Longshore <[e-mail]>
tags	["saas","cursor","cursor-indexing"]
compatibility	Designed for Claude Code, also compatible with Codex and OpenClaw

Cursor Indexing Issues

Diagnose and fix codebase indexing problems. Covers stuck indexing, empty search results, stale results, and performance optimization for large codebases.

Quick Diagnosis

Symptom	Likely Cause	Quick Fix
Status bar stuck on "Indexing..."	Large codebase or network issue	Add .cursorignore, resync
@Codebase returns nothing	Index not built or file excluded	Wait for index, check ignore files
@Codebase finds wrong code	Stale index	Resync index
Indexing crashes / restarts	Memory or file watcher limits	Increase limits, reduce scope
"Unable to index" error	Network blocked or auth expired	Check proxy/firewall, re-auth

Fix: Stuck Indexing

Step 1: Reduce Scope

Create or update .cursorignore in project root:

# .cursorignore -- exclude non-essential directories

# Build output
dist/
build/
.next/
out/
target/

# Dependencies (always exclude)
node_modules/
vendor/
.venv/
venv/

# Generated / large files
*.min.js
*.min.css
*.bundle.js
*.map
*.lock
package-lock.json
yarn.lock
pnpm-lock.yaml

# Data files
*.csv
*.sql
*.sqlite
*.parquet
*.json.gz
fixtures/

# Media
*.png
*.jpg
*.gif
*.svg
*.mp4
*.woff2

Step 2: Resync Index

Cmd+Shift+P > Cursor: Resync Index

Step 3: Clear Cache (if resync fails)

# macOS
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Cursor/Cache/
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Cursor/CachedData/

# Linux
rm -rf ~/.config/Cursor/Cache/
rm -rf ~/.config/Cursor/CachedData/

# Windows (PowerShell)
Remove-Item -Recurse "$env:APPDATA\Cursor\Cache"
Remove-Item -Recurse "$env:APPDATA\Cursor\CachedData"

Restart Cursor after clearing cache. Full re-index begins automatically.

Fix: @Codebase Returns No Results