Can't edit steering message in CLI

Support Bug Reports
1

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor CLI

Describe the Bug

I can’t edit a follow-up message after I’ve set it to steering mode. It edits a single character and then closes the steering dialogue instead of being able to type multiple characters.
Also there’s a “steering” text appended to the message which sometimes appears in the actual sent message.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Enter a long workflow (e.g. thinking) which won’t be interrupted by steering (don’t know how to trigger this)
  2. Type a follow-up message and press Enter to set it to steering
  3. Press up arrow to edit the steering follow-up message text

Expected Behavior

You should be able to edit the steering follow-up message like you can with normal follow-up messages.

Screenshots / Screen Recordings

Operating System

Linux

Version Information

╭────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ │
│ About Cursor CLI │
│ │
│ CLI Version 2026.09.18-9a7762b │
│ Latest 2026.09.18-9a7762b (up to date) │
│ Model Grok 4.7 256K High │
│ OS linux (x64) │
│ Terminal tmux │
│ Shell zsh │
│ Last Request ID 15e032cc-6eda-40f3-bf86-af156308fe8c │
│ User Email [email protected] │
│ │
╰────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯

Additional Information

A similar follow-up related issue: CLI: Agent sends follow-up mid-edit - #5 by deanrie.

Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

5

Hey, thanks for the detailed report and the recording.

This is a known issue, and it’s fixed in an update that’ll land in the next Cursor CLI release. After updating with agent update, the “steering” text will stop showing up in messages, and the Up Arrow won’t break the follow-up tray anymore.

One note about the behavior: once a follow-up is sent into steering by pressing Enter on an empty prompt, it’s already been handed off to the running agent, so you can’t edit it anymore. The Up Arrow will skip those lines. You can only edit a follow-up that’s still in the queue and hasn’t been moved into steering yet.

Until the update is out, there are two workarounds:

  1. Finish writing your follow-up while it’s still in the queue, then press Enter to move it into steering.
  2. Or turn off steering: /config → General → disable “Steering”. Then Enter will stop the current run and send your follow-up.

Let me know if anything still behaves oddly after the update.