Why My Claude Code Extension Broke in Cursor 0.51.1 and How I Fixed It

Just the other day, I updated my Cursor IDE to version 0.51.1. To my surprise, my Claude Code extension suddenly stopped working. The UI button disappeared, and pressing cmd + esc did absolutely nothing. As someone who depends on this tool for AI-assisted coding, I was pretty stuck.

After a few hours of digging, I finally found a fix that worked. Let me share it so you can get back to coding too.

What Went Wrong: The Extension Break After Updating

After updating to Cursor 0.51.1, my Claude Code extension broke even though it was installed correctly. To test, I downgraded to version 0.50.5 and boom – it started working again.

So, what’s the issue? It looks like Claude Code needs VS Code version 1.98.0 or newer. But Cursor’s base version might be older, causing the extension to fail silently. That means it either doesn’t install properly or just doesn’t show up.

How I Fixed It: A Manual Installation Guide

After some trial and error, I found a reliable way to get Claude Code working again. Here’s exactly what I did:

• Check if Claude Code is installed globally: Open your terminal and run npm list -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code. If it’s not there, install it with npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code.
• Find the .vsix file: You’ll need the extension file. On my Mac, it was in the npm directory. The typical path is: ~/.nvm/versions/node/[your-node-version]/lib/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code/vendor/claude-code.vsix. I copied it to my Downloads folder with a command like: cp /path/to/claude-code.vsix ~/Downloads/.
• Install from VSIX in Cursor: Inside Cursor, press Ctrl+Shift+P (or Cmd+Shift+P on Mac) and search for “Extensions: Install from VSIX”. Then, pick the claude-code.vsix file you just copied.
• Restart and test: After installing, restart Cursor. That should bring back the UI button and get the shortcut working again.

Tips to Avoid Future Headaches

If you’re using Windows with WSL or have custom profiles, make sure the .vsix file is in a place your main system can access.

Also, check that the ‘cursor’ command is in your PATH. Just run cursor --version in your terminal. If it’s not there, open Cursor’s command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P) and run “Shell Command: Install ‘cursor’ command in PATH”.

Remember, this manual install is a great backup when the automatic one fails. It keeps your AI coding assistant ready when you need it.