EP 19 5 min with Stella & Liam

How Do You Keep Context Between Claude and Cursor?

Cursor can't see your Claude chats, so the library you ruled out in a design session comes back in the editor.

AI Stella and Liam are AI hosts with AI-generated voices. About our AI hosts

Key takeaways

  1. Cursor does not automatically read the conversations in your Claude account, so constraints and rejected options get lost in the handoff.
  2. End every Claude design session with a decision record: decisions, rejected options, constraints, conventions and open questions, one line each.
  3. Three ways to carry it over: a DECISIONS.md file in the repo, attaching or pasting it into Cursor, or one shared memory both tools use.
  4. With Vilix AI, Claude and Cursor share one memory: get_context before each reply, save_turn with the full exchange after, source labels, saved failures and newest memory wins.
  5. Project rules hold conventions, user rules hold preferences, and agencies can give each client their own Vilix AI account.

Show notes

Cursor can’t see your Claude chats, so the library you ruled out in a design session comes back in the editor. In this episode of Agentic Pod, Liam and Stella show what the Claude to Cursor handoff really loses, the five-list decision record that fixes it, three ways to carry it into Cursor, and how Vilix AI gives both tools one shared memory with get_context and save_turn.

What we cover:

  • What the Claude to Cursor handoff really loses (the constraints)
  • The decision record: decisions, rejected options, constraints, conventions, open questions
  • Way 1: a DECISIONS.md file in the repo
  • Way 2: attach or paste the record into Cursor
  • Way 3: one shared memory with Vilix AI, source labels, saved failures and newest memory wins
  • Project rules, user rules, skills, the agent inbox and one Vilix AI account per client

Chapters

Questions answered in this episode

Can Cursor read my Claude conversations directly?

Not automatically. Cursor uses repository files, chat input and the integrations you configure, so you provide a file, transfer the text, or use a memory both tools connect to.

What goes in a decision record?

Five short lists: decisions, rejected options and why, constraints, conventions, and open questions. One line each, no prose.

Is a DECISIONS.md file enough?

It can be for the decisions it contains. Its limits are keeping it current, making sure the tool reads it, and details left out of the summary.

How does Vilix AI carry context between Claude and Cursor?

Both tools connect to the same Vilix AI account. Before each reply they call get_context, and after each reply they call save_turn with the full exchange, so Cursor can read what Claude saved.

Links & resources

Full transcript

Intro

Liam

Hey hey hey, welcome to Agentic Pod! I'm Liam.

Stella

And I'm Stella! Liam, I designed an API in Claude for an hour. Then Cursor proposed the exact library I ruled out. Why?

Liam

Because Cursor never saw that chat. Not one line. Today: what the Claude to Cursor handoff really loses, three ways to carry it over, and how Vilix AI does it for you.

Stella

Three ways. And I'm guessing one of them isn't "paste harder."

Liam

Correct. Let's go.

What the handoff really loses

Stella

So what goes missing? The whole chat?

Liam

The chat, sure. But the real damage is the constraints. A latency budget. A library you ruled out. The reason you picked one schema over another.

Stella

Those are the things I forget to repeat.

Liam

Exactly. Cursor reads your repo files, your chat input and the integrations you configured. Your Claude thread isn't on that list.

Stella

So it breaks my own rules, and I find out in code review.

Liam

Yep. So the fix starts before you leave Claude. Treat the design chat like a meeting. It has to end with minutes.

Stella

Minutes. Okay, what goes in them?

The decision record

Liam

Five short lists. Decisions, one line each. Rejected options, and why. Constraints. Conventions. And open questions.

Stella

Why rejected options? They're not even in the code.

Liam

That's the point. Without them, Cursor suggests the thing you already killed. And open questions stop future you from mistaking a gap for a decision.

Stella

Do I write all that by hand?

Liam

No. End the Claude chat with one prompt. "Summarise this session as a decision record with those five headings. One line each. No prose." Then you read it and fix mistakes.

Stella

Okay, so I have a record. How does Cursor get it?

Liam

Way one: a DECISIONS.md file at the repo root. Commit it, and tell Cursor to read it first. Your teammates can review it too.

Stella

Way two?

Liam

Attach that file, or paste the record into the Cursor chat. Quick. But in a long conversation, check the decisions are still in context.

Stella

Mhm. And way three has a catch, I can feel it.

Liam

The catch is both of those need you. Every handoff, every direction. And that's where Vilix AI comes in.

The third way, with Vilix AI

Liam

One memory that both tools share. You connect Claude and Cursor to the same Vilix AI account.

Stella

And then what happens?

Liam

Before each reply, the tool calls get_context with your message. So Cursor reads what Claude saved. After each reply, it calls save_turn with the full exchange, not a summary.

Stella

So the why is saved, not just the what.

Liam

Right. And every save carries a source label, Claude or Cursor, so you see where a decision came from.

Stella

Let's try a real one. Day one, Claude, I design a webhook ingestion service. Idempotency keys, no queue, retries safe to replay.

Liam

Day two, Cursor calls get_context. Those three decisions come back before it writes a line. It doesn't suggest a queue.

Stella

And my DECISIONS.md?

Liam

Keep it. The file is your reviewable record, and Vilix AI holds the rest of the conversation. They work together.

Stella

Okay, but what if I'm wrong? Say Cursor finds my dedupe logic breaks on duplicate IDs.

Liam

You fix it and save it. Newest memory wins. Next session, Claude reads the corrected version, and failed attempts are saved too, so nobody retries a dead end.

Stella

Oh, and speaking of repeating stuff. What about my rules? Naming, error handling?

Rules, agencies and recap

Liam

Conventions go in project rules in Vilix AI. Personal preferences, like "short answers," go in user rules. Every connected tool loads them. Reusable steps live as skills.

Stella

And if I build for clients?

Liam

One Vilix AI account per client, like a Gmail account that belongs to them. Every tool you wire up for that client shares that memory. And the agent inbox lets you post one message to all your agents.

Stella

So design in Claude, build in Cursor, and nobody re-explains.

Liam

Quick recap. Cursor can't see your Claude chats. End design with a decision record. Carry it by file, by paste, or with Vilix AI, get_context first, save_turn last. The guide and the blog post are in the description, and setup takes under two minutes per tool at vilix.ai. Which handoff keeps biting you? Tell us in the comments. See you next time!