diff --git a/packages/xl-ai/src/api/LLMRequest.ts b/packages/xl-ai/src/api/LLMRequest.ts
index c11a19d62..fcd781af0 100644
--- a/packages/xl-ai/src/api/LLMRequest.ts
+++ b/packages/xl-ai/src/api/LLMRequest.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import { LLMResponse } from "./LLMResponse.js";
 import type { PromptBuilder } from "./formats/PromptBuilder.js";
 import { htmlBlockLLMFormat } from "./formats/html-blocks/htmlBlocks.js";
 import { LLMFormat } from "./index.js";
+import { trimEmptyBlocks } from "./promptHelpers/trimEmptyBlocks.js";
 
 export type LLMRequestOptions = {
   /**
@@ -155,7 +156,7 @@ export async function doLLMRequest(
     cursorBlock &&
     deleteEmptyCursorBlock &&
     isEmptyParagraph(cursorBlock) &&
-    editor.document.length > 1
+    trimEmptyBlocks(editor.document).length > 0
       ? cursorBlock.id
       : undefined;
 
diff --git a/packages/xl-ai/src/api/formats/html-blocks/defaultHTMLPromptBuilder.ts b/packages/xl-ai/src/api/formats/html-blocks/defaultHTMLPromptBuilder.ts
index 1df1b714d..7fe83e758 100644
--- a/packages/xl-ai/src/api/formats/html-blocks/defaultHTMLPromptBuilder.ts
+++ b/packages/xl-ai/src/api/formats/html-blocks/defaultHTMLPromptBuilder.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { CoreMessage } from "ai";
+import { trimEmptyBlocks } from "../../promptHelpers/trimEmptyBlocks.js";
 import type { PromptBuilder } from "../PromptBuilder.js";
 import {
   getDataForPromptNoSelection,
@@ -99,6 +100,8 @@ function promptManipulateDocumentUseHTMLBlocks(opts: {
 }
 
 export const defaultHTMLPromptBuilder: PromptBuilder = async (editor, opts) => {
+  const isEmptyDocument = trimEmptyBlocks(editor.document).length === 0;
+
   if (opts.selectedBlocks) {
     const data = await getDataForPromptWithSelection(editor, {
       selectedBlocks: opts.selectedBlocks,
@@ -141,7 +144,7 @@ export const defaultHTMLPromptBuilder: PromptBuilder = async (editor, opts) => {
     return promptManipulateSelectionHTMLBlocks({
       ...data,
       userPrompt: opts.userPrompt,
-      isEmptyDocument: editor.isEmpty,
+      isEmptyDocument,
     });
   } else {
     const data = await getDataForPromptNoSelection(editor, opts);
@@ -174,7 +177,7 @@ export const defaultHTMLPromptBuilder: PromptBuilder = async (editor, opts) => {
     return promptManipulateDocumentUseHTMLBlocks({
       ...data,
       userPrompt: opts.userPrompt,
-      isEmptyDocument: editor.isEmpty,
+      isEmptyDocument,
     });
   }
 };
diff --git a/packages/xl-ai/src/api/formats/html-blocks/htmlPromptData.ts b/packages/xl-ai/src/api/formats/html-blocks/htmlPromptData.ts
index 594950970..aeceedd84 100644
--- a/packages/xl-ai/src/api/formats/html-blocks/htmlPromptData.ts
+++ b/packages/xl-ai/src/api/formats/html-blocks/htmlPromptData.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,10 @@ export async function getDataForPromptNoSelection(
     excludeBlockIds?: string[];
   },
 ) {
-  const input = trimEmptyBlocks(editor.document);
+  const cursorBlockId = editor.getTextCursorPosition().block.id;
+  const input = trimEmptyBlocks(editor.document, {
+    cursorBlockId,
+  });
   const blockArray = await convertBlocks(
     flattenBlocks(input),
     async (block) => {
diff --git a/packages/xl-ai/src/api/formats/json/defaultJSONPromptBuilder.ts b/packages/xl-ai/src/api/formats/json/defaultJSONPromptBuilder.ts
index 0cf00895d..0b1d7324b 100644
--- a/packages/xl-ai/src/api/formats/json/defaultJSONPromptBuilder.ts
+++ b/packages/xl-ai/src/api/formats/json/defaultJSONPromptBuilder.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { CoreMessage } from "ai";
+import { trimEmptyBlocks } from "../../promptHelpers/trimEmptyBlocks.js";
 import { PromptBuilder } from "../PromptBuilder.js";
 import {
   getDataForPromptNoSelection,
@@ -122,21 +123,24 @@ function promptManipulateDocumentUseJSONBlocks(opts: {
 }
 
 export const defaultJSONPromptBuilder: PromptBuilder = async (editor, opts) => {
+  const isEmptyDocument = trimEmptyBlocks(editor.document).length === 0;
+
   if (opts.selectedBlocks) {
     const data = await getDataForPromptWithSelection(editor, {
       selectedBlocks: opts.selectedBlocks,
     });
+
     return promptManipulateSelectionJSONBlocks({
       ...data,
       userPrompt: opts.userPrompt,
-      isEmptyDocument: editor.isEmpty,
+      isEmptyDocument,
     });
   } else {
     const data = await getDataForPromptNoSelection(editor, opts);
     return promptManipulateDocumentUseJSONBlocks({
       ...data,
       userPrompt: opts.userPrompt,
-      isEmptyDocument: editor.isEmpty,
+      isEmptyDocument,
     });
   }
 };
diff --git a/packages/xl-ai/src/api/formats/json/jsonPromptData.ts b/packages/xl-ai/src/api/formats/json/jsonPromptData.ts
index 72480f929..2ac81328f 100644
--- a/packages/xl-ai/src/api/formats/json/jsonPromptData.ts
+++ b/packages/xl-ai/src/api/formats/json/jsonPromptData.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,10 @@ export async function getDataForPromptNoSelection(
     excludeBlockIds?: string[];
   },
 ) {
-  const input = trimEmptyBlocks(editor.document);
+  const cursorBlockId = editor.getTextCursorPosition().block.id;
+  const input = trimEmptyBlocks(editor.document, {
+    cursorBlockId,
+  });
   const blockArray = await convertBlocks(
     flattenBlocks(input),
     async (block) => {
diff --git a/packages/xl-ai/src/api/formats/markdown-blocks/markdownPromptData.ts b/packages/xl-ai/src/api/formats/markdown-blocks/markdownPromptData.ts
index 5b983dc7c..91394e738 100644
--- a/packages/xl-ai/src/api/formats/markdown-blocks/markdownPromptData.ts
+++ b/packages/xl-ai/src/api/formats/markdown-blocks/markdownPromptData.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,10 @@ export async function getDataForPromptNoSelection(
     excludeBlockIds?: string[];
   },
 ) {
-  const input = trimEmptyBlocks(editor.document);
+  const cursorBlockId = editor.getTextCursorPosition().block.id;
+  const input = trimEmptyBlocks(editor.document, {
+    cursorBlockId,
+  });
   const blockArray = await convertBlocks(
     flattenBlocks(input),
     async (block) => {
diff --git a/packages/xl-ai/src/api/promptHelpers/trimEmptyBlocks.ts b/packages/xl-ai/src/api/promptHelpers/trimEmptyBlocks.ts
index c6969ae2b..a75bec0b1 100644
--- a/packages/xl-ai/src/api/promptHelpers/trimEmptyBlocks.ts
+++ b/packages/xl-ai/src/api/promptHelpers/trimEmptyBlocks.ts
@@ -7,19 +7,16 @@ export function trimEmptyBlocks(
   opts?: {
     trimStart?: boolean;
     trimEnd?: boolean;
+    cursorBlockId?: string;
   },
 ) {
-  if (source.length === 1) {
-    // don't trim empty blocks from a single block document
-    return source;
-  }
   // trim empty trailing blocks that don't have the cursor
   // if we don't do this, commands like "add some paragraphs"
   // would add paragraphs after the trailing blocks
   const trimmedSource = trimArray(
     source,
     (block) => {
-      return isEmptyParagraph(block);
+      return isEmptyParagraph(block) && opts?.cursorBlockId !== block.id;
     },
     opts?.trimStart ?? false,
     opts?.trimEnd ?? true,