[Bug]: cursor-cli silent failure - "Generating..." flashes and returns to prompt

Support Bug Reports
1

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor CLI

Describe the Bug

Problem Description

The cursor-cli is currently unusable. Every command results in the following sequence:

  1. Input command/prompt.
  2. “Generating…” appears for a split second.
  3. Immediately returns to the input prompt/shell.

Other

cursor-agent chat "what are the current tasks" -p
ConnectError: [internal] Parse Error: Expected HTTP/, RTSP/ or ICE/

There are no error logs, stderr output, or exit codes indicating what went wrong.

Context

  • This behavior started occurring suddenly without configuration changes.
  • Network is stable, and other CLI tools work fine.
  • Suspected cause: Changes in Cursor’s backend API or Cloudflare protection layers.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Input command/prompt.
  2. “Generating…” appears for a split second.
  3. Immediately returns to the input prompt/shell.

Operating System

MacOS

Current Cursor Version (Menu → About Cursor → Copy)

  • Node version: v23.10.0
  • cursor-cli version:
  • OS: macOS

Does this stop you from using Cursor

Yes - Cursor is unusable

2

Hey, thanks for the report.

The “Parse Error: Expected HTTP/” error is usually related to an HTTP protocol issue when connecting through a proxy or VPN.

A few questions:

  1. Are you using a VPN, a corporate proxy, or any kind of network filtering?
  2. What version of cursor-cli are you on? (run cursor-agent --version)
  3. Does the Cursor IDE (chat/agent) work on the same machine?

If you’re on a corporate network, the CLI currently has limited support for enterprise proxies. As a workaround, try disabling the VPN/proxy and see if the CLI works.

3

Hey, I’m experiencing the same issue:
When I set "useHttp1ForAgent": true in cli-config.json, I get:ConnectError: [internal] Parse Error: Expected HTTP/, RTSP/ or ICE/
But when "useHttp1ForAgent": false, the agent works fine.

Cursor CLI version: 2025.12.17-996666f
Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS

thanks

4

Same for me, but “useHttp1ForAgent”: false doesnt helps.

$ agent -p "hi"
ConnectError: [internal] 00BDE7694B7F0000:error:0A000410:SSL routines:ssl3_read_bytes:ssl/tls alert handshake failure:../deps/openssl/openssl/ssl/record/rec_layer_s3.c:916:SSL alert number 40

Cursor CLI version: 2025.12.17-996666f
Debian 13 stable

Would be nice to provide some downgrade option on the web site - I paid my check and I want to USE it instead of being tester. I’m not payed for QA.

5

Same here.

  • >cursor-agent -version && uname -a
    2025.12.17-996666f
    Darwin 25.2.0 Darwin Kernel Version 25.2.0: RELEASE_ARM64_T6030 arm64.
  • >cursor-agent -version && uname -a
    2025.12.17-996666f
    Linux eaasrt 4.18.0-553.60.1.el8_10.x86_64

Downgradig to http/1.1 (useHttp1ForAgent) did not work as well.

All connectivity tests from the docs are successful (TLS check, http/1.1 and http/2): Network Configuration | Cursor Docs

6

Seems to be resolved 04.01.2026, after updating to latest version.
Strangely the version number remained the same (2026.01.02-80e4d9b). Maybe it’s reported by the server?

1 Like
7 
└─$ agent -p "hi"
ConnectError: [internal] 005DD03A087C0000:error:0A000410:SSL routines:ssl3_read_bytes:ssl/tls alert handshake failure:../deps/openssl/openssl/ssl/record/rec_layer_s3.c:916:SSL alert number 40

└─$ agent --version
2026.01.09-231024f

└─$ uname -a
Linux angel-reflect 6.6.87.2-microsoft-standard-WSL2 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Thu Jun  5 18:30:46 UTC 2025 x86_64 GNU/Linux

└─$ node -v
v20.19.5