Built-in Browser DevTools Network panel never records requests (empty after reload)Bug

Support Bug Reports
1

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

Where does the bug appear?

Cursor Desktop — Built-in Browser / Simple Browser DevTools → Network tab

Describe the Bug

The Network panel shows “Currently recording network activity” but the request list stays empty. Reloading the page (button / ⌘R), triggering Fetch/XHR, and switching filters (Fetch/XHR → All) do not capture any traffic.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Open a local web app in Cursor’s built-in browser
  2. Open DevTools → Network
  3. Ensure recording is on; optionally enable “Disable cache”
  4. Click “Reload page” or press ⌘R
  5. Trigger API calls on the page

Expected

Network requests (at least Fetch/XHR) appear in the list after reload / interactions.

Actual

Request list remains empty. Only the empty-state hint is shown.

Workaround

Open the same URL in external Chrome and use full Chrome DevTools — Network works there.

Environment

  • OS: macOS (darwin 24.6.0)
  • Cursor: [请填 Help → About 里的版本号]
  • Built-in browser DevTools UI language: zh-CN

Additional context

Looks like DevTools may not be attached to the same network stack as the embedded browser session (CDP / webview limitation). Happy to provide screen recording if needed.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Open a local web app in Cursor’s built-in browser
  2. Open DevTools → Network
  3. Ensure recording is on; optionally enable “Disable cache”
  4. Click “Reload page” or press ⌘R
  5. Trigger API calls on the page

Expected Behavior

Network requests (at least Fetch/XHR) appear in the list after reload / interactions.

Operating System

MacOS

Version Information

Version: 3.19.19
VS Code Extension API: 1.128.0
Commit: 6496ea8a068aebfcd21990e70ff522e9abf10c80
Date: 2026-09-08T16:25:33.352Z
Layout: IDE
Build Type: Stable
Release Track: Default
Electron: 42.10.0
Chromium: 148.0.7778.280
Node.js: 24.18.1
V8: 14.8.178.38-electron.0
xterm.js: 6.1.0-beta.291
OS: Darwin arm64 24.6.0

Additional Information

Looks like DevTools may not be attached to the same network stack as the embedded browser session (CDP / webview limitation). Happy to provide screen recording if needed.

Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

5

Hey, thanks for the detailed report, your diagnosis is spot on. This is a known issue: in the current 3.19 release, DevTools inside the built-in Browser loses its connection to the page, so Network stays empty (Console and Elements are affected too). This isn’t anything in your app.

We’re tracking this issue. I can’t share an exact timeline yet, but as soon as there’s an update I’ll reply here.

For now, the most reliable option is to open the same URL in external Chrome and use its DevTools, like you’re doing.

If you want DevTools to work inside Cursor right now, you can launch Cursor from Terminal with an extra flag (temporary, only for that launch):

/Applications/Cursor.app/Contents/MacOS/Cursor --disable-features=RenderDocument

Fully quit Cursor, then run the command and open the built-in Browser and DevTools again. Let me know if Network is still empty.

8

This is fixed in v3.20!