Commands & Shortcuts

Cursor has two surfaces with their own command sets: the IDE (Agent panel, Inline Edit, Tab) and the Cursor CLI (agent). In both, typing / opens a menu of slash commands and skills, and @ attaches context. This page is the reference for both surfaces, plus the terminal configuration you need for multi-line input in the CLI.

CLI slash commands

Type / in an interactive agent session to see the list. Commands below are grouped by purpose; the official reference is cursor.com/docs/cli/reference/slash-commands.

Session and navigation

Command	What it does
/clear	Start a new chat session (aliases: /new, /new-chat, /newchat)
/resume	Open recent chats and resume one
/fork	Fork the current chat into a new session
/rename <name>	Rename the current chat session
/rewind	Jump back to a previous message (enable with rewind: true in cli-config.json if it is off)
/summarize	Summarize the conversation to reduce context (alias: /compress)
/copy	Copy a previous user message to the clipboard
/copy-request-id	Copy the last request ID (useful when reporting issues)
/copy-conversation-id	Copy the current conversation ID
/open	Open the repository's Git root in the Cursor editor (alias: /cursor)
/quit, /exit	Exit the CLI

Modes and model

Command	What it does
/model [filter]	Select a model. Press Tab to edit the filter
/plan [prompt]	Switch to Plan mode, show the current plan, or submit a prompt in Plan mode
/ask	Toggle Ask mode for read-only questions
/debug [prompt]	Toggle Debug mode or submit a prompt in Debug mode
/goal [objective]	Give the agent a long-lived objective it keeps working toward until complete. Rolling out; Ctrl+C pauses the goal
/run-everything [on|off|status]	Toggle Run Everything (no per-command approval) or show its status (alias: /auto-run)
/max-mode	Toggle Max Mode on legacy request-based plans
/sandbox	Configure sandbox mode and network access

See Agent Modes for what Plan, Ask, and Debug do, and Security & Run Modes for Run Everything and the sandbox.

Shell and tools

Command	What it does
/shell [command]	Enter Shell Mode and run a command directly (aliases: /sh, /run)
/mcp [list|list-tools] [identifier]	Manage MCP servers and list tools for a server
/plugin [subcommand]	Manage plugins and marketplaces
/bedrock [subcommand]	Configure Amazon Bedrock when that feature is enabled

Display and configuration

Command	What it does
/config	Configure CLI settings interactively
/vim	Toggle Vim keybindings in the input area
/line-numbers	Toggle line numbers in code blocks
/show-thinking	Toggle display of thinking blocks
/status-indicators	Toggle terminal title status indicators
/setup-terminal	Detect your terminal and configure newline keybindings

Account and diagnostics

Command	What it does
/about	Show CLI version, system, and account info (also copied to clipboard)
/logs	Show the debug log path and copy it
/update	Update the CLI to the latest version
/help [command]	Show help, or details for one command
/feedback <message>	Send feedback to the Cursor team
/logout	Sign out

Built-in skills invoked with /

Skills also live in the / menu, in both the IDE and the CLI. Cursor ships these built-in ones:

Skill	What it does
/create-rule	Creates a Cursor rule with the right scope and frontmatter
/create-skill	Scaffolds an Agent Skill and its SKILL.md
/create-subagent	Creates a custom subagent
/create-hook	Creates a hook and updates hooks.json
/review	Picks and runs the appropriate code-review agent
/review-bugbot	Reviews code for likely bugs with Bugbot
/review-security	Reviews code for security vulnerabilities
/autopilot	Monitors a pull request and addresses feedback, conflicts, and failing checks
/split-to-prs	Splits a large change into smaller pull requests
/automate	Creates Cursor Automations triggered by schedules or events
/loop	Runs a prompt or skill repeatedly at an interval
/canvas	Creates an interactive React artifact next to the conversation
/cursor-blame	Investigates AI-authored changes and the prompts that produced them
/sdk	Helps build on the Cursor SDK
/statusline	Configures the CLI status line
/update-cli-config	Updates ~/.cursor/cli-config.json
/update-cursor-settings	Finds and updates a Cursor or VS Code setting
/migrate-to-skills	Converts eligible dynamic rules and legacy slash commands into skills

Pressing Enter on a skill attaches it to one message. Pressing Option+Enter (Alt+Enter) instead turns it into a Custom Mode that stays active for the whole session. See Skills.

IDE-only slash commands

A few / commands exist in the editor rather than the CLI:

Command	What it does
/side [question]	Open a side chat (optionally with a first prompt). See Managing Context
/in-cloud	Hand a task to a cloud subagent from the Agents Window. See Cloud Agents

IDE keyboard shortcuts

Cursor keeps VS Code's defaults and adds shortcuts for AI features. Mac keys are shown; on Windows and Linux replace Cmd with Ctrl and Opt with Alt. See every binding with Cmd+R then Cmd+S, or through the command palette (Cmd+Shift+P > Keyboard Shortcuts). Everything, including Cursor-specific bindings, can be remapped.

General

Shortcut	Action
Cmd+I or Cmd+L	Toggle the Agent sidepanel (unless bound to a mode)
Cmd+E	Toggle Agent layout
Cmd+.	Mode menu
Shift+Tab	Rotate between Agent modes (Agent, Ask, Plan, Debug)
Cmd+/	Cycle through AI models
Cmd+Shift+J	Cursor settings
Cmd+,	General settings
Cmd+Shift+P	Command palette
Cmd+Shift+Space	Toggle Voice Mode

Agent chat input

Shortcut	Action
Return	Send (or nudge a running agent; the message is delivered at the next tool call)
Ctrl+Return	Queue the message to run after the current task
Cmd+Return while typing	Force send immediately, bypassing the queue
Cmd+Shift+Backspace	Cancel generation
Cmd+Return with suggested changes	Accept all changes
Cmd+Backspace	Reject all changes
Cmd+Shift+L with code selected	Add selection as context
Cmd+L with code selected	Add selection to a new chat
Cmd+V with code or a log in the clipboard	Add clipboard as context
Cmd+Shift+V with code in the clipboard	Paste clipboard into the input as text
Cmd+M	Toggle file reading strategies
Tab	Cycle to next message
Cmd+Opt+/	Model toggle
Cmd+N or Cmd+R	New chat
Cmd+T	New chat tab
Cmd+[ / Cmd+]	Previous / next chat
Cmd+W	Close chat
Shift+Cmd+S	Open a side chat seeded with the current transcript selection
Escape	Unfocus the input

Inline Edit (Cmd+K)

Inline Edit changes the selected code in place without opening the chat panel. Select code, press Cmd+K, describe the change, press Return. Follow-up instructions refine the same edit.

Shortcut	Action
Cmd+K	Open Inline Edit on the selection (in the terminal: open the terminal prompt bar)
Cmd+Shift+K	Toggle input focus / add selection to Edit
Return	Submit
Opt+Return	Ask a quick question about the selection instead of editing (type "do it" to apply a suggested change)
Cmd+Shift+Backspace	Cancel
Cmd+L with the same selection	Escalate to Agent with the selection as context, for multi-file changes

User Rules and project rules do not apply to Inline Edit; they are Agent-only.

Tab

Tab is Cursor's autocomplete. It reads recent edits, surrounding code, and linter errors, and can edit multiple lines, add imports, and jump between files.

Shortcut	Action
Tab	Accept the suggestion
Tab again after accepting	Jump to the predicted next edit location (jump-in-file); a portal appears when the jump is in another file
Cmd+Right	Accept the next word only
Escape (or keep typing)	Reject

Click the Tab indicator in the status bar to snooze Tab, disable it globally, or disable it for specific file types. Remap the accept key by searching Accept Cursor Tab Suggestions in Keyboard Shortcuts.

Terminal

Shortcut	Action
Cmd+K	Open the terminal prompt bar (describe a command in plain language)
Cmd+Return	Run the generated command
Escape	Accept the command into the terminal without running it

Agents Window

Shortcut	Action
Cmd+Shift+P > Open Agents Window	Switch to the agent-first interface
Cmd+Shift+P > Open IDE	Switch back to the editor
Cmd+K (in the Agents Window)	Search across past agent transcripts
Cmd+F (inside a conversation)	Search within the transcript
Cmd+P / Cmd+Shift+F	Search files / search all files without leaving the Agents Window

CLI keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Shift+Tab	Rotate between Agent, Plan, and Ask
Enter while the agent works	Steer the active run at a safe boundary; press Enter again to interrupt
Shift+Enter	Insert a newline (iTerm2, Ghostty, Kitty, Warp, Zed)
Ctrl+J or \ then Enter	Insert a newline in any terminal, including tmux and SSH
Option+Enter	Insert a newline after /setup-terminal (Apple Terminal, Alacritty, VS Code terminal)
ArrowUp	Cycle through previous prompts
Ctrl+R	Review changes; i adds follow-up instructions, arrows scroll and switch files
Ctrl+O	Expand truncated Shell Mode output
Ctrl+C	Cancel the current command or pause a /goal
Ctrl+D (twice)	Exit
y / n	Approve or reject a proposed terminal command
Tab on a permission prompt	Add the command to the allowlist
Esc on empty input	Leave Shell Mode

Quick prefixes

Prefix	What it does
/	Slash commands and skills
@	Attach files, folders, and other context
&	Send the message to a Cloud Agent and continue there (& refactor the auth module and add tests)

Custom commands

Cursor's Customize page still lists Commands as a component: reusable Markdown prompts you invoke with / in Agent chat, which plugins can bundle. The current documentation no longer describes a dedicated .cursor/commands/ directory or file format; the documented way to create a reusable / command today is a skill with model invocation disabled:

---
name: release-notes
description: Draft release notes from the commits since the last tag.
disable-model-invocation: true
---

1. Run `git log $(git describe --tags --abbrev=0)..HEAD --oneline`.
2. Group the commits under Added, Changed, Fixed.
3. Write the result to CHANGELOG.md under a new heading and stop. Do not commit.

Save it as .cursor/skills/release-notes/SKILL.md and it appears as /release-notes. Because disable-model-invocation is true, Agent will not pull it in on its own; it runs only when you type the command. Existing user-level and workspace-level commands can be converted in bulk with /migrate-to-skills. Details in Skills.

@-symbols quick reference

Symbol	Attaches
@file.ts, @src/components/	A file or folder (type / after a folder to navigate deeper)
@Terminals	Terminal output
@Chats	Context from a previous conversation or side chat
@Commit (Diff of Working State)	Uncommitted changes
@Branch (Diff with Main)	The full branch diff
@Browser	State from the built-in browser
@rule-name	A manual rule from .cursor/rules/

Skip @ when you are not sure which files matter; Agent searches the codebase itself. Full detail in Managing Context.

Terminal setup for the CLI

Multi-line prompts are the main thing that needs configuration. Run /setup-terminal; it detects your terminal and prints instructions.

Keybinding	Works in	Notes
Ctrl+J	All terminals	Most reliable, including tmux, screen, and SSH
\ then Enter	All terminals	Universal alternative
Shift+Enter	iTerm2, Ghostty, Kitty, Warp, Zed	Native, no configuration
Option+Enter	After /setup-terminal	Apple Terminal, Alacritty, VS Code integrated terminal

tmux and screen intercept Shift+Enter before it reaches the CLI, so use Ctrl+J there.

Manual configuration. Option+Enter needs the terminal to send \x1b\r:

# alacritty.toml
[keyboard]
bindings = [
  { key = "Return", mods = "Alt", chars = "\u001b\r" }
]

// VS Code keybindings.json, to make Shift+Enter work in the integrated terminal
{
  "key": "shift+enter",
  "command": "workbench.action.terminal.sendSequence",
  "args": {"text": "\u001b[13;2u"},
  "when": "terminalFocus"
}

Vim mode. Toggle with /vim or set it in ~/.cursor/cli-config.json:

{
  "version": 1,
  "editor": {"vimMode": true},
  "permissions": {"allow": [], "deny": []}
}

Vim mode affects only the input area (normal/insert modes, hjkl, w/b, dd, cc, counts like 3w).

Theme. The CLI detects light or dark backgrounds automatically. Force one with export COLORFGBG="15;0" (dark) or "0;15" (light). In tmux, add set -g default-terminal "tmux-256color" and set -ag terminal-overrides ",xterm-256color:RGB" to .tmux.conf.

Shell integration. agent install-shell-integration adds integration to ~/.zshrc; agent uninstall-shell-integration removes it.

Compared with Claude Code

Topic	Cursor	Claude Code
Compact the conversation	/summarize (alias /compress)	/compact [instructions]
New conversation	/clear, /new	/clear (aliases /reset, /new)
Fork	/fork creates a new session; /side opens an attached side chat	/fork (background copy), /branch, /subtask
Mode cycling	Shift+Tab through Agent, Plan, Ask (Debug in IDE)	Shift+Tab through permission modes (Normal, Auto-Accept, Plan)
Run a shell command inline	/shell (/sh, /run) or Shell Mode	! prefix
Send to the cloud	& prefix	/background, /autofix-pr, /teleport
Custom commands	Skills with disable-model-invocation: true	Skills in .claude/skills/
Rewind	/rewind (CLI), checkpoints in the IDE	/rewind, Esc Esc

See Claude Code Slash Commands & Shortcuts for the full Claude Code reference.