AGENTS.md not always loaded

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1

We find that on windows (2.6.12) if the user launches cursor through the vs code workspace file then there’s a chance that the root AGENTS.md does not get loaded into the context.

It works when launching cursor without a workspace then opening the project from within.

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To verify, ask the agent “list all the always_applied_workspace_rule by name, do not read any file“.

This is the only reliable way to verify because if the AGENTS.md is loaded, it’s represented as <always_applied_workspace_rule name={file path of AGENTS.md}>{file content}</always_applied_workspace_rule>in the context.

Do NOT trust the rules dashboard in cursor settings as those can be misleading (when the bug happens the AGENTS.md shows up there but not in the context).

macOS seems to be ok.

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I seriously don’t understand why cursor can’t get this simple thing right, these days you can vibe code stuff more reliable than this…

2

Hi there!

We detected that this may be a bug report, so we’ve moved your post to the Bug Reports category.

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Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

  • Cursor IDE
  • Cursor CLI
  • Background Agent (GitHub, Slack, Web, Linear)
  • BugBot
  • Somewhere else…

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Steps to Reproduce
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Expected Behavior
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Operating System

  • Windows 10/11
  • MacOS
  • Linux

Version Information

  • For Cursor IDE: Menu → About Cursor → Copy
  • For Cursor CLI: Run agent about in your terminal
IDE:
Version: 2.xx.x
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: ......

CLI:
CLI Version 2026.01.17-d239e66

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Request ID: f9a7046a-279b-47e5-ab48-6e8dc12daba1
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Additional Information
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Does this stop you from using Cursor?

  • Yes - Cursor is unusable
  • Sometimes - I can sometimes use Cursor
  • No - Cursor works, but with this issue

The more details you provide, the easier it is for us to reproduce and fix the issue. Thanks!

5

and I think it’s probably related to this, given the similar symptom: If your cursor rules are not loading, here's an workaround