Agent doesn't realize it's in Ask Mode

Support Bug Reports
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1

Describe the Bug

When I’m in Ask mode and simply asking a question, the agent seems to get stuck trying to write changes. I have to stop it, otherwise I have no idea when it might stop or if it would ever stop and keep charging for credit usage.

Steps to Reproduce

Switch to Ask Mode. Ask a question.

Expected Behavior

I expect it to answer the question without trying to edit code and getting stuck.

Screenshots / Screen Recordings

Screenshot from 2026-02-18 16-55-27.png
Screenshot from 2026-02-18 16-55-27.png281×856 51.2 KB

Operating System

Linux

Version Information

Version: 2.4.37
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: 7b9c34466f5c119e93c3e654bb80fe9306b6cc70
Date: 2026-02-12T23:15:35.107Z
Build Type: Stable
Release Track: Default
Electron: 39.2.7
Chromium: 142.0.7444.235
Node.js: 22.21.1
V8: 14.2.231.21-electron.0
OS: Linux x64 6.14.0-37-generic

For AI issues: which model did you use?

Composer 1

For AI issues: add Request ID with privacy disabled

437710d0-9642-4e3b-8efe-71745e690199

Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

3

Hey, this is a known issue with Composer 1 in Ask mode. The model sometimes doesn’t realize it’s in read-only mode and tries to edit files, which can get it stuck in a loop.

Related reports:

The team is aware and tracking it. The most reliable workaround right now is to switch to a different model in Ask mode. Sonnet and GPT models work well. You can also try explicitly reminding the model in your request that it’s in Ask mode and shouldn’t edit files, but switching models is more reliable.

Let me know if switching models helps.

4

Ah, thank you!