Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?
Cursor IDE
Describe the Bug
Hi Cursor Support Team,
I’m facing an issue where Cursor agents are not functioning on my machine.
Error message:
“The agent execution provider did not respond in time. This may indicate the extension host is not running or is unresponsive.”
I have already tried:
Reloading the window
Restarting the extension host
Restarting Cursor
Disabling/re-enabling extensions
Reinstalling Cursor
However, the issue still persists consistently on this machine.
Could you please help investigate this issue? Please let me know if you need logs or diagnostic information from my side.
Steps to Reproduce
Not sure how can we reproduc
Screenshots / Screen Recordings
Operating System
Windows 10/11
Version Information
Cusor IDE version : 3.5.33
Vs code version : 1.121
For AI issues: which model did you use?
For all the mode i am not able to use cursor
Does this stop you from using Cursor
Yes - Cursor is unusable
This is a known bug that our team is actively working on — it particularly affects Windows users and is being addressed across multiple engineering efforts right now.
Since you’ve already tried the basics (reload, restart, reinstall), here are a few additional steps that have resolved this for other Windows users:
1. Clear specific cache folders:
2. Test with extensions fully disabled (from command line):
-
Open a terminal and run: cursor --disable-extensions
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If agent works this way, an extension is blocking the extension host. You can then enable Extension Monitor (Settings > Application > Experimental > Extension Monitor Enabled) and open it via Ctrl+Shift+P > Developer: Open Extension Monitor to identify the culprit.
3. Check cursor-socket directory (this has fixed it for others):
-
Open PowerShell as admin and run:
dir “$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\cursor\resources\app\extensions\cursor-socket”
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If you see a dist\ folder but no out\, create a symlink:
cd “$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\cursor\resources\app\extensions\cursor-socket”
New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Name “out” -Target “dist”
-
Restart Cursor.
4. Antivirus / endpoint protection:
- If your machine has enterprise endpoint protection or antivirus software, try temporarily disabling it and testing again. Heavy EDR software on managed Windows machines can delay extension host startup past the timeout threshold.
Let me know which step helps, or if none of these resolve it — I can gather additional diagnostics from your side.
Thanks for your response Mohit. I already tried all the steps which you mentioned. In fact I moved cursor extension from default path to my target folder where I have full access.
Thanks for trying all of those and for the additional detail about the path change.
One thing worth noting: moving the Cursor extension from its default location can interfere with the extension host’s path resolution, which could contribute to the timeout. If possible, I’d recommend reverting to the default installation path for now.
On the antivirus side, rather than just temporarily disabling it, could you try adding these specific paths to your AV/EDR exclusion list? This has resolved the issue for other enterprise Windows users hitting the same bug:
-
C:\Users\<your-username>\AppData\Local\Programs\cursor\
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C:\Users\<your-username>\.cursor\
-
Your project folder(s) where the timeout occurs
If that still doesn’t help, I’d like to gather some diagnostic data for our engineering team:
-
Open Help > Toggle Developer Tools > Console tab
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Reproduce the timeout
-
Right-click in the Console > Save as… and share the file
-
Also check View > Output > select Extension Host from the dropdown and copy the output after the timeout occurs
We also have a diagnostic build with additional instrumentation for this exact issue. Could you email us at [email protected] referencing this thread? I’ll share it with you directly so we can pinpoint exactly where the extension host is getting stuck on your machine.
Hi @mohitjain ,
I tried troubleshooting again and issue was resolved.
Thank you!
vscode-app-1780323743126-timeouterror.log (49.3 KB)
Hi Mohit,
This issue has started again. I tried followed all the steps mentioned above. I am using cursor latest version i.e. 3.6.31.
Request Id: fe3c0163-167a-4b18-ac1f-e1aa608eb988
I have attached the console log file here.
It confirms the agent timeout is a downstream symptom: your extension host is taking longer than 60 seconds to start (The local extension host took longer than 60s to send its ready message), so the agent provider never registers and every backend call fails right after. In other words, this is the extension host not starting on your machine, not a network or model issue. I also checked on our side and the request never reached our servers, which lines up.
The pattern you’re seeing - it works after troubleshooting, then breaks again - usually points to something on the machine periodically scanning or locking Cursor’s files, most often enterprise endpoint protection. A few targeted things:
1. AV/EDR exclusions at the policy level. Temporarily disabling isn’t enough if your org’s policy re-applies on a schedule. Ask your IT team to add these to the exclusion list permanently:
C:\Users\<your-username>\AppData\Local\Programs\cursor\C:\Users\<your-username>\.cursor\- Your project folder(s)
2. Confirm Cursor is fully on the default install path. You’d mentioned moving the extension to a custom folder earlier - moving it out of the default location can interfere with how the extension host resolves its paths. Make sure both the app and your .cursor folder are in their default locations, with no leftover copies in the custom folder.
3. Update to the latest stable release. You’re a few versions behind on 3.6.31, so it’s worth ruling that out.
