I’ve been running into an issue with Cursor (latest version) for several months and I can’t seem to resolve it.
When using Agent mode (Auto), Cursor is unable to write files inside my www directory from Wamp64. I get an error indicating that writing is not allowed.
However:
Quick edit mode works perfectly in the same files
Agent mode works fine on other projects located outside of the Wamp www directory
Environment
OS: Windows 11
Cursor: up to date
Local server: Wamp64
Project location: C:\wamp64\www\my-project
What I’ve tried
Running Cursor as administrator
Checking folder permissions (full control granted)
Restarting Wamp and Cursor
Moving the project outside www (Agent mode works there)
Expected behavior
Agent mode should be able to modify files just like Quick Edit mode.
Actual behavior
Agent mode fails with a “write not allowed” type error, but only inside the Wamp www directory.
Has anyone encountered this issue before?
Is there some kind of Windows restriction, sandboxing, or special permission related to Wamp directories that could block Cursor’s Agent mode?
Hey, thanks for the detailed report. It looks like this might be related to how Agent mode writes files. It uses a temporary file and then renames it, which can fail in folders with certain permission settings. Quick Edit writes directly, so it works there.
A couple things to check:
The exact error message: can you copy the full error text from the chat when Agent crashes? Or open Developer Tools (Help > Toggle Developer Tools), reproduce the issue, and share what shows up in the Console tab.
Check for .cursorignore: see if there is a .cursorignore file in the project root, or any global ignore patterns (VS Code Settings > General > Global Cursor Ignore List). A pattern that accidentally matches C:\wamp64\ could block Agent access.
Cursor version: what exact version are you on? (Help > About)
Also worth trying: can Cursor’s built-in terminal create or write files in C:\wamp64\www\my-project? For example, run this in the Cursor terminal: echo test > test.txt. This will help narrow down whether the issue is general permissions or specific to Agent’s file writing method.
The exact message is: I do not have write permissions on this file. If the file is read-only in the IDE or on disk, change the permissions or save the contents manually.
Using the developer tools, I get one message in the console: (anonymous) @ workbench.desktop.main.js:453
workbench.desktop.main.js:64 ERR [Extension Host] [otel.error] {“stack”:“OTLPExporterError: Bad Request\n\tat IncomingMessage. (c:\Users\anthonyj\AppData\Local\Programs\cursor\resources\app\node_modules\@opentelemetryopentelemetry***\otlp-exporter-base\build\src\transport\http-transport-utils.js:52:31)\n\tat IncomingMessage.emit (node:events:531:35)\n\tat endReadableNT (node:internal/streams/readable:1698:12)\n\tat process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:90:21)”,“message”:“Bad Request”,“code”:“400”,“name”:“OTLPExporterError”,“data”:“{“error”:“Trace spans collection is not enabled for this user”}”}***
The .cursorignore file is empty.
The command: cursor -l` echo test > test.txt
works.
