/summarize

Summarizes the conversation to free up space in the context window.

/summarize compresses the conversation so far to free up context. The command was renamed from /compress (to match the IDE); /compact and /compress still work as aliases.

✅ WHEN TO USE IT?

A long session is about to blow past the context window

/summarize — after many turns, before the agent loses track

Clean up before a topic switch within the same session

/summarize — keep the key points, drop the detail noise

⛔ WHEN NOT TO?

Important detail must not be lost

Summarizing loses the exact wording and detail fidelity of earlier messages.

Better: Write down important facts explicitly beforehand, or use /fork to keep a copy with the full history

The context is still small

Summarizing a short session barely saves space but still costs nuance.

Better: Just keep working normally

SOURCES

Cursor Docs — Slash Commands ↗ cursor.com