I use Cursor primarily as an IDE. I reach for agents as and when I need them. And when I do, I’m typically using a dedicated interface for that - eg the new Agents Window.
No matter how many times I toggle it off, the Agents panel will force itself open every single time I open a Cursor window. I will have been working on one project for an entire day, not once using the Agent panel, then the following day opening the same project, the Agents panel will force itself open after a short delay like a popup.
I need my tools to behave like tools, not like advertisements. How can I prevent the Agents panel from forcing itself open every single session?
Having the IDE take 3 clicks to open (click cursor, click editor, close agent…) instead of one, every single time, is (un)surprisingly such an annoyance lol.
As a tool, it should provide a settings option to let users decide whether to open it by default.
And the panel’s width does not remember the size it was last adjusted to, which is very annoying.
Following up on @kevinn’s reply:
We’ve acted on the feedback. Following up on that, version 3.3.30 adds a new “Open Agents Window on startup” toggle in Cursor Settings > Agents. Turn it off to launch into the Editor by default.
To get the update: Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+P > Attempt Update, then restart Cursor.
If you don’t see the toggle after updating, the workarounds from my earlier reply still work: Shift+Cmd+N (Mac) / Shift+Ctrl+N (Windows/Linux) to open the Editor, or launch from terminal with cursor . --classic. The update is rolling out gradually, so it may take a bit to reach everyone.
No hold on re-reading your post, that doesn’t address this bug literally at all. This bug is in relation to the “Agents Panel” - NOT the Agents Window.
It’s this awful sidebar being forceably opened, not the agents window
The toggle I mentioned controls which window type opens on startup (Agents Window vs Editor). Your issue is different: the agents panel/sidebar within the Editor being forced open every session, which that setting doesn’t address.
Your original bug is still being tracked separately. I don’t have a fix timeline, but wanted to correct my earlier response so there’s no ambiguity about what’s happening here.
Agent panel opens aggressively by default; “Editor window” in Agents doesn’t focus the current project
When I use Cursor, the UI keeps opening the Agents window as the normal starting state, but I want the editor to be the default so I land in my project files, not in the Agents window. When I’m in the Agents window and choose Editor window to get back to the code for this project, Cursor doesn’t open or focus the editor for the current workspace—it sends me to another already-open editor window, so I end up in the wrong project. Expected behavior: editor first by default, and Editor window should always bring me to the editor for the same project/session I’m in, not whichever window was last active globally.
Steps to Reproduce
Optional — show the wrong-window bug clearly: Open two different projects in two Cursor windows (e.g. Window A = Project A, Window B = Project B).
Focus Window B so its editor is frontmost.
Switch to Window A and open the Agents view (same window as Project A).
Start or open an agent chat so you’re clearly in Project A’s Agents context.
Click Editor window (or the control that should return you to the code for this project).
Observe: The wrong window may get focus (e.g. Window B / Project B) instead of Project A’s editor in Window A.
For “Agents opens by default” (if you’re filing that part too):
Close Cursor completely (all windows).
Open Cursor and open one folder/workspace as usual.
Observe: The Agents window/panel is shown immediately or becomes the main view, instead of the editor with files/tree as the default landing state.
Still no option “Open Agents window on startup” in Settings. My workaround is to CLOSE AGENTS WINDOW first, then CLOSE IDE > after opening Cursor next time, the IDE opens first.
Should be nice to have it in setting tho, or even to open IDE AND AGENTS WINDOW together.
