Cursor Adds Side Chats: Durable Agent Threads You Can @-Mention Back Into the Main Conversation

Cursor shipped Side chats, a way to branch off questions and exploration without derailing the main agent conversation.

The key detail is that a side chat is not just a temporary scratchpad: Cursor describes each side chat as a durable, full agent conversation that you can follow up on, revisit later, and @-mention to pull context back into the main thread. (Cursor changelog, Cursor on X)

What Side chats are

In Cursor’s Agents Window, you can open a side chat to investigate a tangent while keeping your main agent run intact.

Cursor says you can create a side chat using:

• /side
• /btw
• the plus button at the top of the chat panel

Cursor also notes that side chats inherit context from the main chat. (Cursor changelog)

Why it matters

Side chats are a small UI feature with a big workflow payoff:

• Fast clarification without context collapse. Ask “what does this file do?” or “what are the alternatives?” without pushing the main agent thread off track.
• Parallel investigation. Keep the main agent focused on execution while you use a side chat to sanity-check an approach, gather constraints, or explore a redesign.
• Reusable subthreads. If a side chat becomes the “design discussion,” you can keep it as a durable reference and pull it back in by @-mentioning it.

Sources

• Cursor announcement on X: https://x.com/cursor_ai/status/2075686268113916023
• Cursor changelog (Side chats section): https://cursor.com/changelog