Ignore files (.cursorignore)

Secrets and irrelevant files shouldn't end up in prompts; ignore files are the first layer, not the only one.

A .cursorignore file in the project root lists files Cursor's AI features should not use. It uses the same pattern syntax as .gitignore:

* matches within a path segment, ** across folders, ? one character,
! re-includes something an earlier pattern excluded,
# starts a comment.

Ignored files are blocked from Agent, Tab and Inline Edit, and can't be pulled in with @-mentions. Cursor already ignores everything in your .gitignore plus a built-in list (environment files, lock files, dependency and build folders, logs, binaries, media and archives); a ! pattern in .cursorignore can override those defaults. You can also set a global ignore list in user settings that applies to all projects, a good home for patterns like *.pem, .env* and credential files. An optional Hierarchical Cursor Ignore setting makes Cursor also respect .cursorignore files in parent folders.

The important limits:

The agent's terminal and MCP tools can't be blocked by .cursorignore. A command like cat config/secrets.yml can still read an ignored file.
Cursor itself says complete protection isn't guaranteed because model behavior is unpredictable.

So treat it as one layer. Keep real secrets out of the repository (use a secrets manager or environment variables), protect them with run-mode settings and sandboxing, and don't paste them into chat.

Ignoring also improves quality: large generated files, fixtures and vendored code waste index space and context. To debug a pattern, git check-ignore -v <file> tests gitignore-style rules.

Example

# .cursorignore   (gitignore syntax)
# secrets and credentials
.env*
*.pem
config/secrets.*
# big generated or vendored stuff that only adds noise
src/generated/
vendor/
fixtures/large/*.json
!fixtures/large/schema.json      # re-include one small file

Remember

.cursorignore uses gitignore syntax and blocks Agent, Tab, Inline Edit and @-mentions
.gitignore and a built-in list are ignored by default; add a global list for secrets
Terminal and MCP tools can still reach ignored files; it's not a guarantee

Watch out for

Assuming .cursorignore keeps secrets safe while the agent can still cat them through the terminal.

Check yourself

A file is listed in .cursorignore. Which can still read it?

Official docs: cursor.com/docs/reference/ignore-file

Example

Remember

Watch out for

Check yourself

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