Agent tool calls (grep/file search) hang indefinitely after macOS "Golden Gate" update

Support Bug Reports
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1

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

Environment: Cursor 3.21.13 (build 18 Sep 2026), macOS recently updated to “Golden Gate”, Apple Silicon Mac.

Symptom: Agent chat works normally for conversation, but freezes indefinitely the moment it needs to execute a tool call involving file search (grep) or file reading. Status stays stuck on “Exploring / Grepping …” forever, with no timeout, no error, no progress. New agent chats can be opened and typed into fine (the UI itself stays fully responsive) - only the specific in-progress tool call never resolves. Eventually surfaces: “Agent stopped retrying - The connection was interrupted repeatedly without saving progress…” (Request ID: d7b68362-177e-402f-960e-a2e2789a4891).

Relevant logs (Output panel, “Cursor Agent Exec” / “Cursor Grep Service” channels):

[error] Failed to initialize GrepClient cannot index repository without Git
[info] using external crepectl binary at ‘…/Cursor.app/Contents/Resources/app/resources/helpers/crepectl’
[warning] [watchdog, LocalReadExecutor] permissionsService.shouldBlockFileRead still not completed after 3000ms
[info] [agent-store-sync] sync failed: [unavailable] getaddrinfo ENOTFOUND api2.cursor.sh

The shouldBlockFileRead warning recurs every few minutes and never resolves to “completed”.

What we’ve ruled out (extensive troubleshooting over several hours):

  • Not network/DNS: HTTP/1.0 and HTTP/1.1 pass Cursor’s own Network Diagnostics fully green.
  • Not VPN (all profiles disconnected) or firewall (inactive).
  • Not macOS file permissions: Full Disk Access already granted to Cursor.
  • Not workspace size or missing git: reproduced identically after switching from a large multi-project workspace to a small, isolated single-project folder.
  • Not orphaned processes: fully quit via Cmd+Q (verified zero Cursor/Cursor Helper processes in Activity Monitor), clean relaunch - issue recurred at the exact same step.
  • Not CPU-bound: Cursor main process sits at under 1% CPU while “hung” (looks blocked/waiting, not spinning).
  • Not third-party AV/monitoring: fully quit CleanMyMac X.
  • Not Gatekeeper/quarantine on the app bundle: ran xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine on Cursor.app, no change.
  • Not Spotlight reindexing: mds/mds_stores CPU usage negligible.
  • Not shell environment: removed a problematic “source <(ng completion script)” line from .zshrc, no change.
  • Already on latest build (checked via Check for Updates).

Interesting clue: after one full restart, the UI instantly rendered several previously-stuck steps as “completed” (with timestamps like “12m ago”) the moment the app reopened - suggesting the backend agent process may have actually finished those steps, but the UI/renderer never received or displayed the completion event until restart. This may point to an IPC/state-sync bug between the agent backend and the renderer, rather than (or in addition to) an actual hang in the grep/file-read execution itself.

Timeline: issue began right after updating macOS to “Golden Gate”; no other environment changes were made around that time.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Open Cursor with any workspace (reproduced both on a large multi-project folder and a small single-project folder). 2. Start a new Agent chat and give it a task that requires searching/reading files (e.g. “find where cookies are saved and update the logic”). 3. Watch the agent progress to a step like “Exploring / Grepping …” - it freezes there indefinitely, never completes, no error surfaces until eventually “Agent stopped retrying” appears. 4. Fully quit Cursor (Cmd+Q) and relaunch - issue recurs at the same type of step (grep/file read) even in a brand new chat.

Expected Behavior

The agent tool call (file search/read) should complete normally within seconds, like it did before the macOS “Golden Gate” update, instead of hanging indefinitely and eventually forcing “Agent stopped retrying”.

Operating System

MacOS

Version Information

Cursor IDE 3.21.13 (build 18 Sep 2026), macOS (Golden Gate)

For AI issues: which model did you use?

Not model-specific — the hang happens on the tool-call/file-search layer regardless of which model is selected (reproduced with Claude Sonnet 4.5 and others).

Does this stop you from using Cursor

Sometimes - I can sometimes use Cursor

5

Hey @Ihor.Melnik, thanks for the detailed report, and sorry for the disruption.

I checked the request ID you shared. The request reached us fine and the model replied within a few seconds. What never finishes is the local part: the Grep, Glob, and Read steps run inside Cursor on your Mac, and since your macOS update they stop responding, so the agent sits in “Exploring” until the run gets cancelled. That is also why Network Diagnostics passes and why new chats still work for plain conversation.

We have tracked this down. macOS Golden Gate does not carry Rosetta over during the upgrade, so any Intel-only tool left on the Mac stops launching. The usual culprit is an older git from a previous Homebrew install in /usr/local/bin. Cursor picks that git up on startup, and when it fails to launch, the file steps never return. We are fixing this so the agent handles it gracefully, and either of these should unblock you right away:

  1. Open Terminal.app and run:

    file "$(which git)"

    If the output mentions x86_64 and not arm64, that is the culprit.

  2. Fastest fix: run

    softwareupdate --install-rosetta --agree-to-license

    and enter your password.

    Alternative: point Cursor at Apple’s built-in git by adding "git.path": "/usr/bin/git" to your settings (Cmd+Shift+P, then “Open User Settings (JSON)”), or remove the old Intel git so /usr/bin/git is used.

  3. Fully quit Cursor (Cursor > Quit Cursor), reopen it, and ask the agent to search a file again.

Could you let me know whether step 1 showed x86_64, and whether the agent works after step 3? If it still hangs, please paste the output of file "$(which git)" and I will dig further.

7

Hey @Colin, following up — went through the steps you outlined (Rosetta / legacy git check + fix) and after a full quit and relaunch, the agent’s grep/file-read tool calls now complete normally, no more indefinite hangs on “Exploring/Grepping”. Really appreciate the fast, precise diagnosis — thank you!

10

Hey @Ihor.Melnik,

Glad the Rosetta / git steps got you unblocked, and thanks for confirming.

Quick follow-up: we’re also changing Cursor itself so that an old Intel-only git that can’t launch no longer leaves the agent stuck in “Exploring”. Cursor will now fall back to a working git instead. That change will be included in an upcoming version of Cursor.

Your current setup is fine to keep as is. Let me know if anything like this comes back.