CRITICAL: Cursor application self-deletes for the second time - Major data loss

Support Bug Reports
1

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

Working on a project for 2 weeks.

Using Chat to apply a fix/change.

The AI executes a command that deletes all local files in the project folder instead of modifying them.

Project folder becomes empty.

Steps to Reproduce

Open a project and use Chat to test a new option.

Give a prompt to the AI to fix or modify something in the code.

Observe that instead of fixing the code, the system deletes the content/files.

The AI then responds by asking why the user performed the deletion

Expected Behavior

The application should remain installed and stable on the system.

Operating System

Windows 10/11

Current Cursor Version (Menu → About Cursor → Copy)

Version: 2.2.44 (system setup)
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: 20adc1003928b0f1b99305dbaf845656ff81f5d0
Date: 2025-12-24T21:41:47.598Z
Electron: 37.7.0
Chromium: 138.0.7204.251
Node.js: 22.20.0
V8: 13.8.258.32-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.19045

For AI issues: which model did you use?

OPUS 4.5 MAXMODE !!!

For AI issues: add Request ID with privacy disabled

f9a7046a-279b-47e5-ab48-6e8dc12daba1.

Additional Information

I have lost two weeks of professional work, valued in thousands of dollars. This is the second time this ‘wipe-out’ has happened. I need to know if there is a way to recover these files through Cursor’s local history or if they are gone forever.

I found my files in Local History, but the AI trigger deleted them from the disk. Request ID provided.

Does this stop you from using Cursor

Yes - Cursor is unusable

2

Ive tried your response and cursor doesn’t delete anything. What does your rules file say?

3

Hey, thanks for the report. I see this is a critical issue for you.

To investigate, we need some additional information:

  1. Can you share the contents of your .cursorrules file (if it exists in the project root)?

  2. What exact prompt did you give the agent before the files were deleted?

  3. Check the Agent Auto-Run settings: Cursor Settings > Agent > Auto-Run Settings > File-Deletion Protection - is this option enabled?

  4. Are there any errors in the developer console (Help > Toggle Developer Tools > Console)? Please take a screenshot.

  5. In the Agent chat history, the command it executed should be visible - can you show that part?

For now, recommendations:

  • Enable File-Deletion Protection in the Agent settings
  • Use Git for all projects - it provides additional protection
  • When working with the Agent, review the suggested changes in the Review Panel before applying them
4

For the low cost of 0 dollars, you can enable Git into the project folder and make at least one priceless snapshot every day to reduce losses.

2 Likes
5

With all due respect, you have gotten ahead of yourself. Before you edit any files, regardless of whether it’s by hand or by invoking one of the most expensive LLMs on the market, you should at least run git init. What you are describing is somewhat extreme developer error.

1 Like
6

I went to bed last night, woke up to keep working on my project, and all 7 edited files in the current chat (which had been marked ‘keep’) had literally been deleted.

I was able to see them in the agent diff view, and manually recreate them (there was no way to ‘re-apply’), but this is terrifying.