When opening a PR via gh pr create, the agent uses the generic PR body template baked into its system prompt:
## Summary
<1-3 bullet points>
## Test plan
[Checklist of TODOs for testing the pull request...]
This template is applied even in repositories that define their own PR description conventions (via project rules, custom instructions, or repo-level configuration). In such cases the agent defaults to the built-in template instead of detecting and following the repository's own format.
Impact
Cursor spends context for redundant instructions
PRs are opened with a non-conforming body, including a “Test plan” checklist that isn’t derived from any ticket or real test run.
The built-in template silently competes with repo-level instructions, even where repo conventions are expected to take precedence.
Requires manual rewrites after the fact.
Same applies to PR title - Cursor is improvising due to conflicting built in instructions
Steps to Reproduce
have a skill/rules that define PR description
Expected Behavior
Ideally there is a way to turn off built in rules/instructions
at least when a repository defines PR conventions, those should take precedence over the agent’s built-in PR template
we have opening PR created as a skill so it seems that it’s skipped sometimes and built in instructions take over
I would really appreciate if there would be way to opt out from built in instructions to reduce unnecessary context bloat, conflicting instructions and unnecessary time waisted to remediate such cases.
@Karlis_Melderis Thanks for the detailed report! You’re right: the PR title/body format is currently baked into the agent’s system prompt, so it competes with repo-level conventions rather than deferring to them. We have an open ticket about this, and I’ve attached your report.
In the meantime, a workaround that might help would be adding an always-applied project rule that explicitly tells the agent to ignore the built-in template. The key is to be forceful and name the sections to drop. A vague “here’s our format” rule tends to lose to the built-in one, but an explicit override generally wins:
---
alwaysApply: true
---
# PR conventions (override built-in template)
When creating a PR, DO NOT use the default "## Summary / ## Test plan" template.
Ignore the built-in PR title and body format entirely.
PR title: <your convention, e.g. Conventional Commits "fix(api): ...">
PR body MUST be exactly:
...
Never add a "Test plan" section or invent checklist items unless a test was actually run.
If your repo already has a .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md, you can instead point the rule at it: “Before opening a PR, read .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md and use it as the body” (the agent won’t pick it up automatically otherwise).
Fully agree this isn’t ideal when you’ve already got a working template.