AI Context — Persistent Project Memory

Every time you open a new Cursor chat, the AI already knows your full project history, active tasks, recent code changes, and exactly where you left off. Zero commands. Zero copy-paste. Fully automatic.

THE PROBLEM

Every new Cursor chat starts completely fresh. The AI has no memory of:

• What you were building
• What bugs you fixed yesterday
• What decisions were made and why
• Which files you were working on
• What tasks are still pending

You waste time re-explaining the same project context every single chat.

AI Context fixes this permanently — automatically.

HOW IT WORKS

You open Cursor + open your project
        ↓
Extension creates a memory file in your project (.cursor/rules/ai-context.mdc)
        ↓
You chat normally — extension watches Cursor's database in background
        ↓
After every chat message → context auto-updates silently
        ↓
Every file you save → git diff runs → context updates
        ↓
Every new Cursor chat → AI reads memory file automatically
        ↓
AI already knows everything → just type your question

No commands needed. No copy-paste. No setup before each chat.

INSTALLATION

Option A — From Marketplace

Cursor → Extensions (Cmd+Shift+X) → Search "AI Context" → Install

Option B — From VSIX file

1. Cursor → Cmd+Shift+P → "Extensions: Install from VSIX..."
2. Select: ai-context-extension-1.0.0.vsix
3. Click Install
4. Restart Cursor

Verify installation

Cmd+Shift+P → type "AI:"

You should see:
  AI: Init Context
  AI: Edit Project Info
  AI: Add Task
  AI: Save Session
  AI: Summarize This Chat
  AI: Load Context
  AI: AI Chat

FIRST TIME SETUP (one time only, 2 minutes)

Step 1 — Open your project

File → Open Folder → pick your project

Extension automatically creates:

your-project/
├── .ai-context/
│   ├── project.json          ← project name, stack, goal, focus
│   ├── tasks.json            ← task list with priorities
│   ├── session-log.json      ← session history
│   ├── code-map.json         ← auto-tracked files
│   ├── decisions.json        ← architectural decisions
│   └── overall-summary.json  ← growing project memory
└── .cursor/
    └── rules/
        └── ai-context.mdc    ← Cursor reads this in EVERY chat automatically

Step 2 — Set your project info (once)

Cmd+Shift+P → "AI: Edit Project Info"

You only do this once per project. Never again.

FINDING THE SIDEBAR PANEL

The extension has a sidebar with one-click buttons for everything.

Open it:

Option 1: Right-click Activity Bar (left strip) → enable "AI Context"
Option 2: Cmd+Shift+P → "AI: Open Context Panel"

What it shows:

┌──────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ⚡ AI Context — Project Memory        │
│ ● Auto-updating after every chat     │  ← live status
├──────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Website                             │
│ Stack: Next.js, TypeScript, Strapi   │
│ 🎯 Fix mobile navbar bug             │
├──────────────────────────────────────┤
│  ✏️ Edit Info    💾 Save Session     │
│          📋 Copy Context             │
│    🚀 AI Chat                         │
│    🧠 Summarize This Chat            │
│    💾 Quick Save Session             │
├──────────────────────────────────────┤
│ ACTIVE TASKS (2)              + Add  │
│  🔄 [HIGH] Fix navbar bug            │
│  📋 [MED]  Optimise API calls        │
├──────────────────────────────────────┤
│ SESSIONS (5 total)      + Summarize  │
│ Apr 19 — Fixed API caching...        │
│  ▶ View full history                 │
├──────────────────────────────────────┤
│ RECENT FILES                         │
│  Navbar.tsx    page.tsx              │
└──────────────────────────────────────┘

DAILY WORKFLOW

Everything is automatic — here is what happens

When you open Cursor:

Open project
        ↓
Extension reads git status → ai-context.mdc refreshed
        ↓
Press Cmd+L → new chat
        ↓
AI already knows: project, tasks, last session, git changes
        ↓
Just type and work

While you code:

Edit any file → Cmd+S
        ↓
Extension tracks the file
        ↓
3 seconds later: git diff runs automatically
        ↓
ai-context.mdc updated with live changes:

  ## Live Code Changes
  Branch: himanshu/optimise-api-call
  ~ Navbar.tsx         (3 insertions, 2 deletions)
  ~ app/page.tsx       (8 insertions, 17 deletions)
  + lib/strapiCache.ts (new file)
        ↓
Next chat → AI sees exactly what changed

After every chat message:

You send any message in Cursor chat
        ↓
Extension detects Cursor's database update (within 8 seconds)
        ↓
Reads new chat entries automatically
        ↓
Extracts: what was done, files changed, new tasks discovered
        ↓
Updates .ai-context/ + rewrites ai-context.mdc
        ↓
Status bar flashes: "✓ AI Context updated"
        ↓
Next chat → full context already there

You do ZERO manual work. It's all automatic.

WHAT YOU DO vs WHAT IS AUTOMATIC

COMMANDS (all optional — everything runs automatically)

WHAT THE AI SEES IN EVERY CHAT

Cursor reads .cursor/rules/ai-context.mdc automatically. The AI sees:

# Project Memory

**Project:** Website
**Stack:** Next.js, TypeScript, Strapi
**Goal:** University website with dynamic program pages
**Current focus:** Optimise API performance

## Active Tasks
- 🔄 [HIGH] Fix mobile navbar dropdown
  - Files: Navbar.tsx, ProgramsDropdown.tsx
  - Note: Closes when another program selected
- 📋 [MED] Add rate limiting to Strapi

## Last Session (Apr 19, 2026)
Optimised API calls using React cache(). Removed unused
getElectiveCareerCards call. 14 files changed.

## Live Code Changes (auto-updated on save)
Branch: himanshu/optimise-api-call
Uncommitted changes (2 files):
  ~ app/page.tsx         (8 insertions, 17 deletions)
  ~ lib/strapiCache.ts   (new file)

## Project History (5 sessions)
Completed work:
- Set up Next.js project with Strapi integration
- Built navbar with mobile dropdown
- Implemented sticky CTA button
- Fixed scroll-based animations
- Optimised API calls with React cache()

## Key Decisions
- Used React cache() over manual caching — simpler, built-in
- Strapi as CMS over hardcoded data — dynamic content needed

## Instructions
- You are continuing this project. Do not restart from scratch.
- Do not hallucinate file contents — ask if you need to see a file.
- Context last updated: 4/19/2026, 12:33:00 PM

SETTINGS

Cmd+, → search aiContext

OPTIONAL — AI-POWERED SUMMARIZATION

Without API key: extracts info using pattern matching (free, always works).

With OpenAI key: uses GPT for much cleaner, smarter summaries.

Cmd+, → search "aiContext.openaiApiKey" → paste your key
Key from: platform.openai.com/api-keys
Cost: ~$0.001 per summary

TROUBLESHOOTING

.ai-context/ not created

Cmd+Shift+P → "AI: Init Context"

⚡ icon not in sidebar

Cmd+Shift+P → "AI: Open Context Panel"
OR: Right-click Activity Bar → enable "AI Context"

Auto-update not working

Check: Cmd+, → aiContext.autoUpdate → must be true
Then: Cmd+Shift+P → "Developer: Reload Window"

AI not getting context in new chat

Check .cursor/rules/ai-context.mdc exists in your project.
If missing: Cmd+Shift+P → "AI: Summarize This Chat"

Want to force-update context right now

Cmd+Shift+P → "AI: Summarize This Chat" → pick Auto-detected

FILE STRUCTURE

your-project/
│
├── .ai-context/                     ← extension memory store
│   ├── project.json                 ← name, stack, goal, focus
│   ├── tasks.json                   ← tasks with status + priority
│   ├── session-log.json             ← per-session history
│   ├── code-map.json                ← auto-tracked files
│   ├── decisions.json               ← architectural decisions
│   └── overall-summary.json         ← rolling project history
│
└── .cursor/
    └── rules/
        └── ai-context.mdc           ← Cursor reads this in EVERY chat
                                        auto-updated after every message
                                        auto-updated on every file save

ROADMAP

V1 — Current (shipped)

• [x] Auto-create .ai-context/ on workspace open
• [x] Auto-update context after every Cursor chat message
• [x] Auto-track files on every save
• [x] Auto-run git diff on every save
• [x] Sidebar panel with full UI
• [x] Task management
• [x] Session history
• [x] Cursor rule auto-inject (no copy-paste)
• [x] ChatGPT / Claude support (copy context)
• [x] Rolling project history across all sessions

V2 — Next

• [ ] OpenAI auto-summarization (smarter extraction)
• [ ] Task extraction directly from chat text
• [ ] Decision log with UI
• [ ] Code map with function-level summaries
• [ ] Git commit → auto session save

V3 — Product

• [ ] Built-in chat UI (no browser needed)
• [ ] Team shared context
• [ ] Multi-workspace support
• [ ] Context diff viewer

PUBLISHING YOUR OWN BUILD

# Install packaging tool
npm install -g @vscode/vsce

# Create publisher at marketplace.visualstudio.com/manage

# Login
vsce login your-publisher-name

# Package
npm run compile
vsce package --no-dependencies

# Publish
vsce publish

DEVELOPMENT

# Install deps
npm install

# Compile
npm run compile

# Watch mode (auto-recompile on changes)
npm run watch

# Test: press F5 in Cursor/VS Code → Extension Development Host opens

LICENSE

MIT