“+” next to No Repo no longer starts a local empty-window chat in my home directory. It opens Start from scratch on Cloud. The Cloud control is a static label, not a dropdown, so I cannot switch to This PC without providing an explicit directory to work in.
Steps to Reproduce
Open agents window
press + next to “No Repo” in sidebar
Now starts in “cloud” with “Start from scratch”, unable to switch to local, “Cloud” button now unclickable.
Expected Behavior
I expect the agent to run locally in home directory like it always has, able to run tool calls locally, and moving the no repo thread into a project.
Cursor IDE 3.16.29 build 6246455961129c32969845e00aa25d87ae926ec0
Additional Information
I used No Repo for non-coding work, such as logs, filesystem search, local troubleshooting. I am no longer able to do that unless I provide a directory. Previously the agent could later move a thread into a project it created so it showed under that project in the sidebar.
Same-day changelog What's New in Cursor — Latest Updates & Release Notes still shows the old composer: No Repo + This Mac as two dropdowns. On 3.16.29 Windows that UI is gone. + on No Repo opens Start from scratch with an unclickable Cloud label. The advertised local empty-window target is what I’m asking to get back.
Hey, thanks for the detailed report and the screenshots. I can see both screenshots, the arrow pointing at the disabled Cloud label and the On This PC submenu with the folder list.
This isn’t a setting issue on your side. The agent creation flow changed in a recent release. The + next to No Repo and the default empty window now route to Start from scratch on Cloud, and the folderless local chat in your home directory was removed from that path. So what you’re seeing is expected in the current build, even though I get that it breaks your workflow with logs, filesystem search, and local troubleshooting.
Workaround to run the agent locally right now:
In the picker, select On This PC and choose a folder you want, your home folder is fine. The agent will run locally and execute tool calls on your machine.
Or open a folder via Ctrl+O Open Folder, then run the agent from there.
I know this doesn’t fully replace the old folderless mode. I’ve passed the request to the team to bring back a local No Repo path that doesn’t require picking a directory. I can’t share an ETA, but I’ll post an update here if I hear anything.
Thanks @deanrie — plus one on bringing local No Repo back.
For me this isn’t a nice-to-have. A lot of my work starts before there is a project: questions, local logs, filesystem search, deciding whether something even needs a repo. Folderless No Repo + This Mac was the right entry for that. Picking a directory (even $HOME) is a different mode: it binds the chat to a workspace, and I lose the “start with no project, then move it into one later” flow.
Cloud “Start from scratch” doesn’t replace it. Hoping the local No Repo path (no directory required) can come back soon.
Thanks for spelling out this exact scenario. The difference between folderless No Repo and picking a directory, even HOME, is the key point here. You’re right. Choosing a folder binds the chat to a workspace, and you lose the flow of starting without a project, then moving it into a project. That’s not the same as the old mode.
I shared this detail with the team along with the original request to bring back a local No Repo path that doesn’t require choosing a directory. I can’t give an ETA yet, but if I get an update I’ll post it here.
For now, the only way to run the agent locally is to pick On This PC and select a folder, or open a folder via Ctrl+O. I get that this doesn’t replace folderless mode.
PLEASE add the “No Repo” option back. As a new Cursor user coming from Claude Code, I absolutely love this feature. So far with Cursor, this is the only complaint I have, and it was originally a huge positive, so please, please bring it back.
Yes, we need a simple ‘home’ to perform some simple searches or queries! This is important—not all questions can be placed under a single working directory.
Restore local No Repo, or make Default Environment: Local actually apply to all start paths. Until then this product change is a reason to cancel. This has disrupted our workflow and just makes no sense to force us into cloud.
We have had to start looking at alternatives, im not sure who thought this was a good idea but the clearly dont use this product daily.
Sometimes I don’t let Cursor code for me, and I let it just do some non-repo tasks, like writing tech docs or fixing up the complex setup, system issues. But after it’s gone, I have to start from scratch and create the directory every time, which is very disruptive and I don’t like this change at all.
To fix this, I opened my home directory, but this worked out differently; Cursor aggressively greps all stuff and makes my PC very unresponsive without any reason. I let my agent debug, then I found it was Cursor.
Missing a single entry makes it very less useful and annoying. Please restore it back!!!
Hey, thanks for the details. Your case with non-repo tasks like tech docs and digging into setup issues is exactly what we shared with the team. The request to bring back the folderless local No Repo flow that doesn’t require picking a directory is on our radar. I can’t share an ETA yet, but I’ll post an update in this thread as soon as I have one.
On Cursor starting to grep everything when you open your home directory and your machine freezing: that’s expected for very large folders since indexing and search run across the whole tree. Until the folderless flow is back, here’s a workaround:
Instead of opening all of $HOME, open a specific subfolder for the task. Only that folder will be indexed.
If you really need a broad folder, add a .cursorignore at its root and exclude heavy or unnecessary directories like node_modules, caches, and large data folders. This should reduce the load a lot.
I know this doesn’t fully replace the old mode. Let me know if performance is still bad even with a smaller folder and we can take a closer look.
