CLI launch always opens Agent panel instead of IDE

Support Bug Reports
,
1

When launching Cursor from the command line on Windows using:

"C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Programs\cursor\Cursor.exe" C:\path\to\folder

it always opens with the Agent/Chat panel focused. I have to manually click to switch to the editor/IDE view every time.

This wasn’t the case a few months ago — CLI launch used to open directly into the editor view.

Is there a CLI flag or setting to choose which view opens on startup? I couldn’t find one in cursor --help or the docs.

Environment: Windows 10/11, Cursor.exe launched directly via CLI (not the cursor PATH shim).

Thanks

2

Hi there!

We detected that this may be a bug report, so we’ve moved your post to the Bug Reports category.

To help us investigate and fix this faster, could you edit your original post to include the details from the template below?

Bug Report Template - Click to expand

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

  • Editor, Tab & Chat (autocomplete, Composer, in-editor agent)
  • Terminal & commands
  • Models, pricing & API keys (availability, Auto/Max, BYOK/Bedrock)
  • MCP & tools
  • Cloud Agents & Automations (cursor.com/agents, scheduled/event)
  • BugBot & Code Review
  • Cursor CLI
  • Cursor Mobile
  • Remote (SSH / Dev Containers / WSL)
  • Account, billing & login
  • Something else…

Describe the Bug
A clear and concise description of what the bug is.

Steps to Reproduce
How can you reproduce this bug? We have a much better chance at fixing issues if we can reproduce them!

  1. …
  2. …
  3. …

Expected Behavior
What is meant to happen here that isn’t working correctly?

Screenshots / Screen Recordings
If applicable, attach images or videos (.jpg, .png, .gif, .mp4, .mov)

Operating System

  • Windows 10/11
  • MacOS
  • Linux

Version Information

  • For Cursor IDE: Menu → About Cursor → Copy
  • For Cursor CLI: Run agent about in your terminal
IDE:
Version: 2.xx.x
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: ......

CLI:
CLI Version 2026.01.17-d239e66

For AI issues: which model did you use?
Model name (e.g., Sonnet 4, Tab…)

For AI issues: add Request ID with privacy disabled
Request ID: f9a7046a-279b-47e5-ab48-6e8dc12daba1
For Background Agent issues, also post the ID: bc-…

Additional Information
Add any other context about the problem here.

Does this stop you from using Cursor?

  • Yes - Cursor is unusable
  • Sometimes - I can sometimes use Cursor
  • No - Cursor works, but with this issue

The more details you provide, the easier it is for us to reproduce and fix the issue. Thanks!

5

Hi @system,
This isn’t really a bug — Cursor works as intended, I’m just asking whether there’s a CLI argument to choose the startup view (editor vs. Agent panel), since this seems to have changed from a few months ago. Feature request / question rather than something to reproduce. Happy to move it back to the right category if that’s easier on your end.

7

Hey, thanks for the request. There is a flag for this, it’s just not documented for this exact use case.

Routing to the Agents Window when you run Cursor.exe <folder> only happens if the last active window was the Agents Window. You can work around it like this:

  • Cursor.exe --classic C:\path\to\folder always opens the classic editor. -n / --new-window and --reuse-window also bypass routing to the Agents Window.
  • Or break the loop once: Cursor Settings Ctrl+Shift+J → General → Startup → Window Restoration = Last Used Windows, then Ctrl+Shift+P → Open Editor Window, close the Agents Window and quit Cursor from the editor window. After that, normal Cursor.exe <folder> opens the editor again, since routing only triggers if the last active window was the Agents Window.

A configurable opt-out just for the CLI path is on the radar as a separate request, but there’s no ETA yet. Let me know if the flags don’t help.

8

Ah great, thanks! The hidden --classic argument was exactly what I was missing.