Agent default mode not respected

Support Bug Reports
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1

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

All my new chats start with the mode Agent, I would like to start with Ask.

Steps to Reproduce

I tried to modify that in Cursors settings → Agents → Default Mode, but nothing I select changes the mode in a new chat. I’ve tried quitting and reopening Cursor, same output.

Operating System

MacOS

Current Cursor Version (Menu → About Cursor → Copy)

Version: 2.3.34 (Universal)
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: 643ba67cd252e2888e296dd0cf34a0c5d7625b90
Date: 2026-01-10T21:17:10.428Z
Electron: 37.7.0
Chromium: 138.0.7204.251
Node.js: 22.20.0
V8: 13.8.258.32-electron.0
OS: Darwin arm64 24.6.0

Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

3

Hey, this is a known issue. The Default Mode setting isn’t working right now when creating new chats. It always opens in Agent mode no matter what you set.

The team knows about it and is working on a fix. For now, you can quickly switch modes:

  • Shift+Tab to toggle between Ask and Agent
  • Or use the mode selector at the top of the chat

Here’s a similar report from today with details: New chat mode ignores my Default Mode settings

4

A post was merged into an existing topic: New chat mode ignores my Default Mode settings