"Apply to specific files" Rules do not appear to be applied?

Support Bug Reports
1

Title says it. Rules with globs and alwaysApply: false do not appear to be applying. Rules apply if I set alwaysApply: true

  • Cursor 2.5.17
  • :white_check_mark: All Rules show up under Cursor Settings
  • :white_check_mark: All rules are under /rules
  • :white_check_mark: alwaysApply: true work
  • :cross_mark: alwaysApply: false with globs do not appear to be applied
  • :white_check_mark: alwaysApply: false WITHOUT globs do apply when context is appropriate

Indicators

The “Active Rules” indicator does not list out any rules aside from AGENTS.md

image
image754×203 8.33 KB

If I ask the agent:

For this file.

What cursor rules are available for your use? Do not search the code base.

It will only indicate that alwaysApply and some Apply Intelligently rules are applied.

Rule examples:

(sans content) that don’t ever apply to files that match their globs.

---
description: This file provides guidelines for writing clean, maintainable, and idiomatic C# code with a focus on functional patterns and proper abstraction.
globs: **/*.cs
alwaysApply: false
---

---
description: Comprehensive code quality standards and best practices for Fettra - enforcing the HIGHEST standards of quality
globs: **/*.ts,**/*.vue
alwaysApply: false
---

---
description: Backend development guidelines for the apps/backend .NET project
globs: apps/backend/**/*
alwaysApply: false
---

---
description: Literally applies to every file
globs: **.*
alwaysApply: false
---

???

  1. Are rules not applying, or is the “Active Rules” indicator broken?
  2. How can I debug or introspect what is going on?
2

Hi there!

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

To help us investigate and fix this faster, could you edit your original post to include the details from the template below?

Bug Report Template - Click to expand

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

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

Describe the Bug
A clear and concise description of what the bug is.

Steps to Reproduce
How can you reproduce this bug? We have a much better chance at fixing issues if we can reproduce them!

  1. …
  2. …
  3. …

Expected Behavior
What is meant to happen here that isn’t working correctly?

Screenshots / Screen Recordings
If applicable, attach images or videos (.jpg, .png, .gif, .mp4, .mov)

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

For AI issues: which model did you use?
Model name (e.g., Sonnet 4, Tab…)

For AI issues: add Request ID with privacy disabled
Request ID: f9a7046a-279b-47e5-ab48-6e8dc12daba1
For Background Agent issues, also post the ID: bc-…

Additional Information
Add any other context about the problem here.

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!