"Connection Failed" is seldom an internet issue

Bug Reports
1

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

“Connection Failed” has a generic help suggesting to check for internet connection issues when this happens for many other reasons that have nothing to do with an internet connection loss leading to extreme frustration. Eg. Other causes can include MCP tool use faults, running out of context space, pretty much any time some function appears to be called and faults out. Aside from being resolved, there needs to be more to the suggestion than just check your internet.

Steps to Reproduce

Run out of context space. Create a MCP tool that compile fine but will fail , eg. no space left to create a file.

Expected Behavior

Gracefully switch to a new chat for new context option, change the help suggestion to indicate other causes for connection failure rather than just check your internet.

Operating System

Windows 10/11

Current Cursor Version (Menu → About Cursor → Copy)

Version: 2.0.43 (system setup)
VSCode Version: 1.99.3
Commit: 8e4da76ad196925accaa169efcae28c45454cce0
Date: 2025-10-30T18:49:27.589Z
Electron: 34.5.8
Chromium: 132.0.6834.210
Node.js: 20.19.1
V8: 13.2.152.41-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26100

Additional Information

Resume hangs, Try again often just repeats the issue.

Does this stop you from using Cursor

Sometimes - I can sometimes use Cursor

2

Hey, thanks for the report. From your description (MCP tool faults and “no space left to create a file”), this is almost certainly an MCP tool issue.

Please share:

  • Which MCP servers you’ve configured? (Cursor Settings → Tools & MCP)
  • How many total tools are shown? (Cursor has an 80‑tool limit)
  • A link to the MCP server repository that’s causing the issue

In the meantime, try disabling MCP servers you’re not using. This fixed the same “Connection Failed” errors for other users.

Your point about the misleading message is valid, we can improve how these failures are communicated to users.