How to Prevent Proprietary Code Leaks from Cursor

1// Navigate in Cursor:
2// Settings (Cmd+,) → General → Privacy Mode
3// Select: "Privacy Mode (Enabled)"
4//
5// This ensures:
6// - Code is NOT stored on Cursor servers
7// - Code is NOT used for model training
8// - All data deleted after processing
9// - SOC 2 Type II certified handling

1# .cursorignore
2# Proprietary and sensitive directories
3src/core/proprietary-algorithm/
4src/licensing/
5lib/internal-sdk/
6vendor/licensed/
7
8# Security-critical files
9src/auth/encryption.ts
10src/auth/token-signing.ts
11
12# Secrets and credentials
13.env
14.env.*
15credentials/
16*.pem
17*.key
18*.p12
19
20# Legal and compliance
21contracts/
22licenses/proprietary/

1# .cursorindexingignore
2# Exclude from indexing but allow explicit @file reference
3node_modules/
4dist/
5build/
6vendor/
7*.min.js
8*.bundle.js
9coverage/
10__generated__/

1# .cursorrules (add to existing file)
2
3## Proprietary Code Protection
4- NEVER reference or replicate code from src/core/proprietary-algorithm/
5- NEVER expose internal API endpoint paths in generated code
6- NEVER include company-specific authentication logic in code snippets
7- When generating examples, use generic placeholder names (not internal project names)
8- All generated code must be suitable for public repositories
9- Replace internal library calls with standard library equivalents in examples
10- Never reference internal package names (@company/internal-*) in generated imports

1// In Cursor Chat or Composer, check context before sending:
2// 1. Look at the context chips at the top of the conversation
3// 2. Each @file reference is visible as a chip
4// 3. Click on any chip to see what content will be sent
5// 4. Remove unwanted context by clicking X on the chip
6//
7// In Agent mode, the agent may read files autonomously.
8// Use .cursorignore to prevent it from accessing sensitive files.