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Request ID: d37188fb-5e5b-4d3a-9062-e53921a6806d
[internal] Invalid time zone specified: Etc/Unknown
aae: [internal] Invalid time zone specified: Etc/Unknown
at rK_ (vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Users/ivanm/AppData/Local/Programs/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:28926:24637)
at nK_ (vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Users/ivanm/AppData/Local/Programs/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:28926:23543)
at dK_ (vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Users/ivanm/AppData/Local/Programs/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:28927:6487)
at h8u.run (vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Users/ivanm/AppData/Local/Programs/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:28927:11285)
at async xDn.runAgentLoop (vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Users/ivanm/AppData/Local/Programs/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:41235:11960)
at async W1d.streamFromAgentBackend (vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Users/ivanm/AppData/Local/Programs/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:41305:12151)
at async W1d.getAgentStreamResponse (vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Users/ivanm/AppData/Local/Programs/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:41305:18486)
at async N3e.submitChatMaybeAbortCurrent (vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Users/ivanm/AppData/Local/Programs/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:29033:16809)
at async Object.Va [as onSubmit] (vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Users/ivanm/AppData/Local/Programs/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:40288:4233)
at async vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Users/ivanm/AppData/Local/Programs/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:40287:100561
Hey, thanks for the report with the Request ID and stack trace. That really helps.
This is a known bug on our side. If the OS reports the time zone as Etc/Unknown, Cursor crashes instead of falling back to UTC. We’re already tracking it.
Workaround for Windows:
Settings > Time & Language > Date & Time
Turn off Set time zone automatically
Pick your time zone manually
Restart Cursor, and ideally your PC too
Another user with the same stack trace said this fixed it. Let me know if it works for you, and we’ll fully fix it with a server-side patch. I can’t share an ETA yet.
I’ve been having the same issue for a while now and none of the troubleshooting in any of the 3 related threads I found have resolved my issue.
I have tried multiple timezones, turned off autoset time, turned off adjust for daylight, restarted my pc between each test. Nothing has worked and cursor is completely unusable for me.
Request ID: 0cf18514-0c43-47d2-980a-3f7aec7ef237
[internal] Invalid time zone specified: Etc/Unknown
aae: [internal] Invalid time zone specified: Etc/Unknown
at rK_ (vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Users/me/AppData/Local/Programs/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:28926:24637)
at nK_ (vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Users/me/AppData/Local/Programs/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:28926:23543)
at dK_ (vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Users/me/AppData/Local/Programs/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:28927:6487)
at h8u.run (vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Users/me/AppData/Local/Programs/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:28927:11285)
at async xDn.runAgentLoop (vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Users/me/AppData/Local/Programs/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:41235:11960)
at async W1d.streamFromAgentBackend (vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Users/me/AppData/Local/Programs/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:41305:12151)
at async W1d.getAgentStreamResponse (vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Users/me/AppData/Local/Programs/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:41305:18486)
at async N3e.submitChatMaybeAbortCurrent (vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Users/me/AppData/Local/Programs/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:29033:16809)
at async Va (vscode-file://vscode-app/c:/Users/me/AppData/Local/Programs/cursor/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:40288:4233)
Hey @Chrispyy, thanks for following up. The fact that the standard workaround didn’t help is useful info. The root cause is server-side: the client sends a timezone that the OS reports as Etc/Unknown, and the server crashes instead of falling back to UTC.
A few things to help us debug:
Open PowerShell and run:
tzutil /g
[System.TimeZoneInfo]::Local.Id
Paste the output here and I’ll pass it to the engineers.
Check that the TZ environment variable isn’t set to a bad value:
If you see Etc/Unknown or anything invalid anywhere, remove it.
The most reliable fix is to set the timezone in Windows:
Settings → Time & Language → Date & Time
Turn off Set time zone automatically
Pick your timezone manually
Fully quit Cursor, make sure no processes are left in Task Manager, then restart it
This removes Etc/Unknown at the OS level and fixes the issue at the source.
Alternative workaround, if step 3 doesn’t help for some reason. You can explicitly set TZ for Cursor via environment:
setx TZ "America/New_York"
Replace it with your timezone from the IANA list: Noda Time | Time zones. Cursor is Electron and Node.js under the hood, and Node reads TZ in IANA format. Note this only affects Node.js apps, not the whole system. Windows natively uses its own IDs like Eastern Standard Time.
We’re tracking a server fix to fall back to UTC, but I can’t share an ETA yet. Let me know what tzutil /g shows, it’ll help the investigation.
Also, the sandbox errors in the log aren’t related to timezone and don’t affect this crash.
Thanks @deanrie, step 4 looks to have solved my issue. Here are my outputs from the commands
PS D:\Programming\codes> tzutil /g
New Zealand Standard Time
PS D:\Programming\codes> [System.TimeZoneInfo]::Local.Id
New Zealand Standard Time
PS D:\Programming\codes> echo $env:TZ
New Zealand Standard Time
PS D:\Programming\codes> [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("TZ","User")
New Zealand Standard Time
PS D:\Programming\codes> [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("TZ","Machine")
PS D:\Programming\codes> setx TZ "Pacific/Auckland"
SUCCESS: Specified value was saved.
I ran them again after setting it to “Pacific/Auckland” and go slightly different output which could hopefully help debugging.
PS D:\Programming\codes> tzutil /g
New Zealand Standard Time
PS D:\Programming\codes> [System.TimeZoneInfo]::Local.Id
New Zealand Standard Time
PS D:\Programming\codes> echo $env:TZ
Pacific/Auckland
PS D:\Programming\codes> [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("TZ","User")
Pacific/Auckland
PS D:\Programming\codes> [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("TZ","Machine")
PS D:\Programming\codes>
I did restart Cursor after setting the TZ variable and all looks to be working
@Chrispyy glad it’s working now, and thanks for the detailed command output. It actually explains why the usual workaround of changing the timezone in Windows Settings didn’t help.
Here’s what you had in your env before the fix:
$env:TZ = "New Zealand Standard Time"
That’s a Windows timezone ID, but Node.js (which Cursor and Electron run on) only understands the IANA format like Pacific/Auckland. It couldn’t parse it and fell back to Etc/Unknown, which then triggered the server crash. That’s why changing the system timezone in Settings didn’t do anything. The bad value was coming from the TZ env var.
How it ended up there in that format is a separate question, maybe some script or tool set it. If you want the cleanest option, you can remove the variable entirely:
Then Node will read the timezone directly from the Windows API.
The server-side fix to fall back to UTC when the timezone is invalid is still being tracked, and I can’t share an ETA yet. But I’ll pass your diagnostic output to the team. This case where TZ is set in a Windows format is a good example of why the usual workaround doesn’t always work.
