BugBot: @cursor review only works as a standalone comment, not as a reply in a PR

[Luisa]

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

BugBot

Describe the Bug

When replying to an existing comment in a PR (e.g., replying to BugBot’s own analysis comment), typing @cursor review in the reply does not trigger BugBot. BugBot only activates when @cursor review is posted as a new, top-level standalone comment on the PR — not as a reply within a comment thread.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open a Pull Request that has BugBot enabled.
2. Wait for BugBot to post its initial analysis comment on the PR.
3. Click “Reply” on BugBot’s comment to create a reply within that comment thread.
4. Type @cursor review in the reply box and submit.
5. Observe that BugBot does NOT trigger a new review.
6. Instead, create a new standalone (top-level) comment on the PR with @cursor review.
7. Observe that BugBot now triggers correctly.

Expected Behavior

@cursor review should trigger BugBot regardless of whether it is posted as a standalone comment or as a reply within an existing comment thread on the PR.

Operating System

MacOS

Version Information

N/A - BugBot (GitHub integration)

Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

[Luisa]

[deanrie]

Hey, thanks for the report. I see the screenshot with the PR comment.

Right now cursor review and bugbot run only work when posted as a top-level comment in the main PR conversation. Replies inside threads aren’t supported as a trigger. That’s a current BugBot limitation, not a bug.

From the docs, the manual trigger is “commenting cursor review or bugbot run on any PR”, which refers to the main conversation.

I’ve shared your feedback with the team. Reply-thread support for starting a review isn’t implemented yet, but the request is noted. I also see you previously filed a feature request about conversational replies with BugBot for context clarification: Feature Request: Conversational Replies with BugBot for Context Clarification

For now, the workaround is to post a new top-level comment with cursor review to rerun the review.

[Luisa]

cool! thanks @deanrie