[VSC/Cursor] .what-is-this.md Update/Extension Settings Request

[Shadyman]

Issue Type

• Bug Report
• Feature Request

Product (check all that apply):

• SpecStory for Cursor
• SpecStory for GitHub Copilot (VSCode)
• SpecStory CLI (for Claude Code)

Describe the issue/request
.what-is-this.md describes a very basic way to remove .specstory from search. There is a better way.

Screenshots & Relevant Logs

To exclude AI interaction history:

1. Open the "Find in Files" search in Cursor or VSCode (Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + F)
2. Navigate to the "files to exclude" section
3. Add the following pattern:

.specstory/*

This will ensure your searches only return results from your working codebase files.

Describe the solution you'd like
Files can be excluded from search programmatically by adding it to /.vscode/settings.json under "search.exclude", (and, somewhat related but unlikely to be as useful for specstory, can be hidden from view in file explorer with "file.exclude").

I'm unsure how VSCode Extension app settings work, but adding that key to the JSON in /.vscode/settings.json and using the Extension settings to change between TRUE and FALSE may make search exclusion/inclusion a bit more user-friendly.

For example, with specstory shown in file explorer, and hidden from search results:

{
    "files.exclude": {
        "**/venv": true,
        "**/__pycache__": true,
        "**/.specstory": false
    },
    "search.exclude": {
        "**/lib/save": true,
        "**/.specstory": true
    },
    "files.eol": "\n",
    "editor.renderWhitespace": "none"
}

[belucid]

Thanks @Shadyman this is an excellent idea, and is well presented and explained. We'll get this one implemented soon.