# Ctrl+V image paste always fails on macOS (execFile missing encoding:"buffer")

**URL:** <https://forum.cursor.com/t/ctrl-v-image-paste-always-fails-on-macos-execfile-missing-encoding-buffer/176096>\
**Category:** Bug Reports\
**Tags:** cli, macos\
**Created:** [October 25, 2026, 12:14pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/ctrl-v-image-paste-always-fails-on-macos-execfile-missing-encoding-buffer/176096 "2026-10-25T12:14:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Manuel\_Avalos\_Cruz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Manuel\_Avalos\_Cruz](https://forum.cursor.com/u/Manuel_Avalos_Cruz)\
**Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 12:14pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/ctrl-v-image-paste-always-fails-on-macos-execfile-missing-encoding-buffer/176096/1 "2026-10-25T12:14:11Z")

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### Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor CLI

### Describe the Bug

Ctrl+V with an image in the clipboard does nothing. The session log shows  
“ctrl-v-clipboard-image-miss” preceded by uncaught exceptions:  
TypeError [ERR\_INVALID\_ARG\_TYPE]: The “list[1]” argument must be an instance of  
Buffer or Uint8Array. Received type string (‘OK\n’)  
at Buffer.concat … at Socket. (5622.index.js)

### Steps to Reproduce

Steps to reproduce

1. Cmd+Ctrl+Shift+4 to copy a screenshot to the clipboard
2. In `agent`, press Ctrl+V
3. Nothing is inserted (no [Image #1]); the log shows the errors above

### Operating System

MacOS

### Version Information

Cursor CLI 2026.10.22-27dcf5f, macOS (darwin arm64), Warp, zsh

### Does this stop you from using Cursor

Yes - Cursor is unusable

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Colin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/colin/32/90452_2.png) [@Colin](https://forum.cursor.com/u/Colin)\
**Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 12:38pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/ctrl-v-image-paste-always-fails-on-macos-execfile-missing-encoding-buffer/176096/7 "2026-10-25T12:38:36Z")

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Hi @Manuel_Avalos_Cruz,

This is a regression in recent CLI builds: Ctrl+V doesn’t attach images from the clipboard right now, even though the screenshot is on the clipboard. It’s a known issue the team is aware of, and I’ve added your report to it.

Until a fixed build ships, attaching the image as a file should still work:

1. Take the screenshot with Cmd+Shift+4 (without Ctrl) so macOS saves it to a file.
2. Drag that file from Finder into the `agent` prompt, or paste its full path. You should see `[Image #1]` appear.

Pasting a screenshot into the chat in the Cursor app also still works in the meantime!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![miczhu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/miczhu/32/124537_2.png) [@miczhu](https://forum.cursor.com/u/miczhu)\
**Post date:** [October 26, 2026, 7:43am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/ctrl-v-image-paste-always-fails-on-macos-execfile-missing-encoding-buffer/176096/9 "2026-10-26T07:43:49Z")

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Hi @Manuel_Avalos_Cruz I had the same issue and resolved it by downgrading to version _2026.10.16-e3cb207_ for the time being

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Manuel\_Avalos\_Cruz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Manuel\_Avalos\_Cruz](https://forum.cursor.com/u/Manuel_Avalos_Cruz)\
**Post date:** [October 26, 2026, 12:04pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/ctrl-v-image-paste-always-fails-on-macos-execfile-missing-encoding-buffer/176096/10 "2026-10-26T12:04:14Z")

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Hello, thanks for the contribution. It worked correctly in the version you mentioned, but after updating to 2026.10.22-27dcf5f, the issue regressed. I applied a patch at the zsh level to make it work with the latest version; so far, it’s working well.