Side Chats and Conversation Search

Source: Cursor Date: 2026-07-10 URL: https://cursor.com/changelog/side-chat

Summary

Cursor 3.11 adds side chats (/side, /btw, or a plus button) for spinning off durable, full agent conversations alongside a main thread without losing context, plus a local conversation-search index reachable from the command palette and redesigned project/repo pickers with scoped search across local, cloud, and remote machines.

Implications

• Continues the coding-agent-ergonomics thread: rival editors are converging on parallel-agent-thread UX (side chats here echo the multi-session/background-agent patterns tracked elsewhere for Claude Code), suggesting “run several agent conversations at once without losing the main thread” is becoming table stakes rather than a differentiator.
• Conversation search as a first-class feature is notable — it treats agent transcripts as a searchable knowledge asset, not disposable scrollback, which is the same instinct behind this project’s own transcript/journal practices.