Describe the Bug
Agent Window repeatedly complaining about missing WSL extension, install and reload button doesn’t seem to help. The WSL extension from Anysphere is installed in the editor extensions, but perhaps that’s not what it’s referring to? The editor window is able to read and manipulate the WSL project just fine.
Steps to Reproduce
How can you reproduce this bug? We have a much better chance at fixing issues if we can reproduce them!
Opened a WSL repo in Cursor 3
Opened the new Agent Window
Changed the Select Project dropdown from Home to “wsl+ubuntu” and selected a project
Get a pop-up in the bottom right saying “Extension ‘WSL’ is required to open the remote window. Do you want to install the extension?” with an “Install and Reload” button
Clicked the button
It reloaded the agent window, but continues to show the same pop-up in the corner
Chat does not work (cannot reference files, agent times out with “The agent execution provider did not respond in time. This may indicate the extension host is not running or is unresponsive.”)
Expected Behavior
It should either work or install whatever it’s missing and then work.
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.
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!
yeah it shows me popup to install wsl in the new agents window, i click install (multiple times), restart, try again, nothing happens, works good in editor window
Hey, this is a known limitation. Agent Window (Glass) doesn’t support WSL connections yet. The extension installs, but Glass doesn’t activate it, so you get a looped prompt.
Workaround: use Editor Window for WSL projects. You can open it from Agent Window via Open Editor Window, or start Cursor in classic mode:
@deanrie Even with classic I cant still connect wsl to cursor. I have tried to uninstall and reinstall, delete cursor-server, restarted pc but still didnt work.
$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS
Release: 24.04
Codename: noble
Edit:
My issue specifically was tied to opening a code-workspace file and having Cursor assume an incorrect WSL distribution – opening a single folder in classic mode works and selects the correct distribution
That will be such a well-welcomed feature since codex doesn’t work with WSL. I wanted to give a try to agent window today but was disappointed that I cannot connect to WSL.
