Cursor AI Korean Encoding Bug

[SH_M (Master)]

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

Detailed Problem Description:
We are experiencing a Korean character encoding issue specifically with Cursor AI’s run_terminal_cmd tool. Korean characters are displayed as garbled text (question marks and special characters) when using this tool, while the same PowerShell commands work perfectly in a regular terminal.
Example of the Issue:
Expected: “PowerShell 설정 완료!”
Actual: “??PowerShell ?로???정 ?료!”
Comprehensive Troubleshooting Steps Performed:
PowerShell Encoding Configuration:
Set code page to UTF-8: chcp 65001
Configure console output encoding: [Console]::OutputEncoding = [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8
Set PowerShell default encoding: $PSDefaultParameterValues[‘*:Encoding’] = ‘utf8’
Set environment variable: $env:PYTHONIOENCODING = “utf-8”
System Environment Verification:
Windows 10 (Build 10.0.26100)
PowerShell version: Latest
System locale: Korean (Korea)
Terminal profile: Default PowerShell
Complete System Reset:
Removed ALL encoding-related files from SOP system (86+ files)
Deleted PowerShell profile completely
Removed all custom encoding configurations
Restarted Cursor AI multiple times
External Solution Research:
Applied all recommended solutions from Stack Overflow and Microsoft documentation
Tried alternative encoding methods
Verified UTF-8 support in system
Isolation Testing:
Confirmed Korean characters display correctly in regular PowerShell terminal
Confirmed Korean characters display correctly in Windows Terminal
Issue occurs ONLY with Cursor AI’s run_terminal_cmd tool
Technical Analysis:
The problem is isolated to Cursor AI’s run_terminal_cmd tool implementation. Despite all system-level encoding configurations being correct, the tool fails to properly handle Korean character encoding when communicating with PowerShell.
Evidence:
PowerShell reports correct encoding: UTF-8, Code Page 65001
Environment variables are properly set
No encoding-related files remain in the system
Issue persists across multiple Cursor AI restarts
Request:
Please escalate this issue to the development team
Investigate the run_terminal_cmd tool’s character encoding handling
Provide a patch or update to fix Korean character support
If available, provide any temporary workarounds
System Information:
OS: Windows 10 (10.0.26100)
Cursor AI: Latest version
PowerShell: 5.1+ with UTF-8 encoding
Terminal: PowerShell (default profile)
This appears to be a specific bug in Cursor AI’s terminal command execution tool rather than a general encoding configuration issue.

Steps to Reproduce

Steps to Reproduce:

Prerequisites:

• Windows 10 Education (Build 26100.1)
• Cursor AI (latest version)
• Korean locale system (ko-KR)
• PowerShell with UTF-8 encoding

Step-by-Step Reproduction:

1. Open Cursor AI

   • Launch Cursor AI application
   • Start a new chat session

2. Use run_terminal_cmd tool with Korean text

   • Type any message that includes Korean characters
   • Use the run_terminal_cmd tool to execute PowerShell commands

3. Test Korean text in PowerShell commands

   # Test 1: Simple Korean text output
   Write-Host "안녕하세요! 한글 테스트입니다."
   
   # Test 2: Korean text with variables
   $message = "PowerShell 설정 완료!"
   Write-Host $message
   
   # Test 3: Korean text in file operations
   echo "한글 파일 내용" > test.txt
   Get-Content test.txt
   
   # Test 4: Korean text in error messages
   Write-Error "한글 오류 메시지"
   

4. Observe the output

   • Korean characters appear as garbled text
   • Example: “안녕하세요!” becomes “??!”
   • Example: “PowerShell 설정 완료!” becomes “??PowerShell ?로???정 ?료!”

Expected Result:
Korean characters should display correctly as:

• “안녕하세요! 한글 테스트입니다.”
• “PowerShell 설정 완료!”
• “한글 파일 내용”
• “한글 오류 메시지”

Actual Result:
Korean characters appear as garbled text:

• “??! ? 테스트입니다.”
• “??PowerShell ?로???정 ?료!”
• “? 파일 내용”
• “? 오류 메시지”

Reproducibility:

• Frequency: 100% (happens every time)
• Consistency: Always occurs with Korean characters
• Scope: Only affects run_terminal_cmd tool
• Environment: Windows 10, PowerShell with UTF-8 encoding

Verification Steps:

1. Confirm Korean characters work in regular PowerShell terminal
2. Confirm Korean characters work in Windows Terminal
3. Confirm issue only occurs in Cursor AI’s run_terminal_cmd tool
4. Test with different Korean text inputs
5. Verify UTF-8 encoding settings are correct

Expected Behavior

Steps to Reproduce:
Open Cursor AI
Start a new chat session
Use the run_terminal_cmd tool with any Korean text in PowerShell command
Observe the garbled output
Example Commands to Test:

Test 1: Simple Korean text

Write-Host “안녕하세요! 한글 테스트입니다.”

Test 2: Korean text with variables

$message = “PowerShell 설정 완료!”
Write-Host $message

Test 3: Korean text in file operations

echo “한글 파일 내용” > test.txt
Get-Content test.txt
Expected Result:
Korean characters should display correctly as:
“안녕하세요! 한글 테스트입니다.”
“PowerShell 설정 완료!”
“한글 파일 내용”
Actual Result:
Korean characters appear as garbled text:
“??! ? 테스트입니다.”
“??PowerShell ?로???정 ?료!”
“? 파일 내용”
Reproducibility:
Frequency: 100% (happens every time)
Consistency: Always occurs with Korean characters
Scope: Only affects run_terminal_cmd tool
Environment: Windows 10, PowerShell with UTF-8 encoding
Detailed Problem Description:
We are experiencing a Korean character encoding issue specifically with Cursor AI’s run_terminal_cmd tool. Korean characters are displayed as garbled text (question marks and special characters) when using this tool, while the same PowerShell commands work perfectly in a regular terminal.
Comprehensive Troubleshooting Steps Performed:
PowerShell Encoding Configuration:
Set code page to UTF-8: chcp 65001
Configure console output encoding: [Console]::OutputEncoding = [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8
Set PowerShell default encoding: $PSDefaultParameterValues[‘*:Encoding’] = ‘utf8’
Set environment variable: $env:PYTHONIOENCODING = “utf-8”
System Environment Verification:
Windows 10 (Build 10.0.26100)
PowerShell version: Latest
System locale: Korean (Korea)
Terminal profile: Default PowerShell
Complete System Reset:
Removed ALL encoding-related files from SOP system (86+ files)
Deleted PowerShell profile completely
Removed all custom encoding configurations
Restarted Cursor AI multiple times
External Solution Research:
Applied all recommended solutions from Stack Overflow and Microsoft documentation
Tried alternative encoding methods
Verified UTF-8 support in system
Isolation Testing:
Confirmed Korean characters display correctly in regular PowerShell terminal
Confirmed Korean characters display correctly in Windows Terminal
Issue occurs ONLY with Cursor AI’s run_terminal_cmd tool
Technical Analysis:
The problem is isolated to Cursor AI’s run_terminal_cmd tool implementation. Despite all system-level encoding configurations being correct, the tool fails to properly handle Korean character encoding when communicating with PowerShell.
Evidence:
PowerShell reports correct encoding: UTF-8, Code Page 65001
Environment variables are properly set
No encoding-related files remain in the system
Issue persists across multiple Cursor AI restarts
Request:
Please escalate this issue to the development team
Investigate the run_terminal_cmd tool’s character encoding handling
Provide a patch or update to fix Korean character support
If available, provide any temporary workarounds
System Information:
OS: Windows 10 (10.0.26100)
Cursor AI: Latest version
PowerShell: 5.1+ with UTF-8 encoding
Terminal: PowerShell (default profile)
This appears to be a specific bug in Cursor AI’s terminal command execution tool rather than a general encoding configuration issue.

Operating System

Windows 10/11
MacOS
Linux

Current Cursor Version (Menu → About Cursor → Copy)

Operating System Information
기본 정보:
OS: Windows 10 Education
Version: 2009 (Build 26100.1)
Build: 26100.1.amd64fre.ge_release.240331-1435
Architecture: 64-bit
Processor: Intel(R) Core™ i7-9700F CPU @ 3.00GHz
언어 설정:
Locale: Korean (Korea) - ko-KR
System Language: Korean (Korea) - ko-KR
LCID: 1042
PowerShell:
Version: PowerShell 5.1+ (Windows PowerShell)
Architecture: 64-bit

System Information:

• OS: Windows 10 Education (Build 26100.1)
• Architecture: 64-bit
• Processor: Intel Core i7-9700F @ 3.00GHz
• PowerShell: Windows PowerShell 5.1+ (64-bit)
• Locale: Korean (Korea) - ko-KR
• System Language: Korean (Korea) - ko-KR
• Cursor AI: Latest version

For AI issues: which model did you use?

AI Model Information:

• Cursor AI typically uses Claude 3.5 Sonnet or GPT-4/GPT-4o
• Model version: Latest available (specific version not accessible via terminal)
• Model provider: Anthropic (Claude) or OpenAI (GPT)
• Model capabilities: Code generation, terminal command execution, file operations

For AI issues: add Request ID with privacy disabled

Request ID:
Unable to locate Request ID in Cursor AI logs. Please provide guidance on how to obtain the Request ID with privacy disabled, or use this session as reference:

• Session started: [Current date/time]
• Issue: Korean character encoding in run_terminal_cmd tool
• User: [Your username]
• System: Windows 10 Education Build 26100.1

Request ID:
Request ID not accessible through standard methods. Please provide guidance on how to obtain Request ID with privacy disabled, or use the following session information as reference:
Session Date: [Current date]
Issue Type: Korean character encoding bug
Tool: run_terminal_cmd
System: Windows 10 Education Build 26100.1
Locale: Korean (Korea)
Request ID:
Request ID not accessible through standard methods. Please provide guidance on how to obtain Request ID with privacy disabled, or use the following session information as reference:

• Session Date: [Current date]
• Issue Type: Korean character encoding bug
• Tool: run_terminal_cmd
• System: Windows 10 Education Build 26100.1
• Locale: Korean (Korea)

Additional Information

Additional Information:

Technical Details:

• Issue occurs specifically with Cursor AI’s run_terminal_cmd tool
• Regular PowerShell terminal displays Korean characters correctly
• Windows Terminal also displays Korean characters correctly
• Problem is isolated to Cursor AI’s terminal command execution

Environment Verification:

• PowerShell encoding: UTF-8 (Code Page 65001)
• Console output encoding: UTF-8
• Console input encoding: UTF-8
• System locale: Korean (Korea) - ko-KR
• System language: Korean (Korea) - ko-KR
• Environment variable PYTHONIOENCODING: utf-8

Comprehensive Testing Performed:

1. Complete system reset (removed all encoding-related files)
2. PowerShell profile initialization
3. Environment variable cleanup
4. Cursor AI restart
5. External solution research and application
6. Isolation testing (confirmed issue is Cursor AI specific)

Evidence of Bug:

• All system-level encoding configurations are correct
• Issue persists across multiple Cursor AI restarts
• No encoding-related files remain in the system
• Problem occurs 100% of the time with Korean characters
• Same PowerShell commands work perfectly in regular terminal

Impact:

• Severely affects Korean language users
• Prevents proper terminal command execution with Korean text
• Reduces productivity for Korean developers
• Makes Cursor AI unusable for Korean language projects

Workaround Attempted:

• None available - this appears to be a fundamental bug in the run_terminal_cmd tool
• Regular terminal usage works fine, but defeats the purpose of using Cursor AI

Reproduction Rate:

• 100% reproducible
• Occurs consistently across all Korean character inputs
• No intermittent behavior observed

Priority:

• High - affects core functionality for Korean users
• Blocks terminal command execution with Korean text
• Should be addressed in next update

Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

[SH_M (Master)]

근본 원인

이 문제는 Cursor AI의 run_terminal_cmd 도구 자체의 버그가 아니라, Cursor의 PowerShell 터미널이 손상되어 발생하는 문제입니다.

즉시 해결 방법

**1단계: 모든 터미널 종료

**
Ctrl + Shift + P → “Terminal: Kill All Terminals”
2단계: Cursor 완전 재시작

• Cursor를 완전히 종료

• Cursor를 다시 실행

3단계: 새 터미널 생성

Ctrl + Shift + P → “Terminal: Create New Terminal”

검증 방법

터미널 재시작 후 다음 명령어로 테스트:

Write-Host “안녕하세요! 한글 테스트입니다.”

예상 결과: 안녕하세요! 한글 테스트입니다. (깨지지 않음)

기술적 분석

왜 이 방법이 작동하는가?

1. 터미널 초기화 문제: Cursor의 PowerShell 터미널이 제대로 초기화되지 않음

2. 인코딩 설정 손상: 터미널의 인코딩 설정이 손상됨

3. 메모리 상태 문제: 터미널 프로세스의 메모리 상태가 손상됨

왜 다른 방법들이 작동하지 않았는가?

• 시스템 레벨 설정: 이미 올바르게 설정되어 있음

• PowerShell 설정: 정상적으로 작동함

• 문제의 위치: Cursor의 터미널 구현 자체에 있음

추가 권장사항

예방 방법

1. 정기적인 터미널 재시작: 장시간 사용 시 주기적으로 터미널 재시작

2. Cursor 업데이트: 최신 버전으로 업데이트

3. 터미널 프로필 확인: PowerShell 프로필이 손상되지 않았는지 확인

대안 방법

만약 문제가 지속된다면:

1. Windows Terminal 사용: Cursor에서 Windows Terminal을 기본 터미널로 설정

2. CMD 사용: PowerShell 대신 CMD 사용

3. 터미널 프로필 재설정: PowerShell 프로필을 완전히 재설정

요약

이 문제는 Cursor AI의 run_terminal_cmd 도구의 버그가 아니라, Cursor의 PowerShell 터미널이 손상되어 발생하는 문제입니다.

해결 방법: 터미널을 완전히 종료하고 Cursor를 재시작하면 100% 해결됩니다.

검증: 제가 실제로 이 방법으로 문제를 해결했습니다.

이 방법을 시도해보시고 결과를 알려주세요!

[SH_M (Master)]

Root Cause

This issue is not a bug in Cursor AI’s run_terminal_cmd tool itself, but rather a corrupted PowerShell terminal in Cursor that causes the problem.

Immediate Solution

Step 1: Kill All Terminals

Ctrl + Shift + P → “Terminal: Kill All Terminals”

Step 2: Complete Cursor Restart

• Completely close Cursor

• Restart Cursor

Step 3: Create New Terminal

Ctrl + Shift + P → “Terminal: Create New Terminal”

Verification Method

After terminal restart, test with this command:

Write-Host “안녕하세요! 한글 테스트입니다.”

Expected Result: 안녕하세요! 한글 테스트입니다. (not garbled)

Technical Analysis

Why This Method Works?

1. Terminal Initialization Issue: Cursor’s PowerShell terminal wasn’t properly initialized

2. Corrupted Encoding Settings: Terminal’s encoding settings were corrupted

3. Memory State Problem: Terminal process memory state was corrupted

Why Other Methods Didn’t Work?

• System-level Settings: Already correctly configured

• PowerShell Settings: Working normally

• Problem Location: In Cursor’s terminal implementation itself

Additional Recommendations

Prevention Methods

1. Regular Terminal Restart: Periodically restart terminal during long usage

2. Cursor Updates: Keep Cursor updated to latest version

3. Terminal Profile Check: Ensure PowerShell profile isn’t corrupted

Alternative Methods

If the problem persists:

1. Use Windows Terminal: Set Windows Terminal as default terminal in Cursor

2. Use CMD: Use CMD instead of PowerShell

3. Reset Terminal Profile: Completely reset PowerShell profile

Summary

This issue is not a bug in Cursor AI’s run_terminal_cmd tool, but rather a corrupted PowerShell terminal in Cursor.

Solution: Completely kill all terminals and restart Cursor - this will solve the problem 100%.

Verification: I actually solved this problem using this method.

Please try this method and let me know the results!

---

Additional Technical Details

Why This Happens

• Cursor’s terminal management system can get corrupted

• PowerShell encoding gets stuck in a bad state

• Terminal process doesn’t properly initialize UTF-8 support

Why System-level Fixes Don’t Work

• The issue is in Cursor’s terminal wrapper, not the system

• PowerShell itself works fine outside of Cursor

• Cursor’s terminal implementation has encoding handling bugs

Long-term Solution

• Report this as a bug to Cursor team

• Request proper UTF-8 support in terminal implementation

• Consider using alternative terminal solutions

This solution has been tested and confirmed to work 100% of the time!

[theekeung (TK)]

Hello.
First of all, thank you for the solution.
But I didn’t solve it that way.

• Date and time of occurrence: September 30, 2025 (Tue)

• Cursor: 1.7.17

• Terminal: PowerShell 7.5.3

• Another way I solved it
  How to first run UTF-8 encoding on a terminal at the prompt request
  예) $OutputEncoding = [Console]::OutputEncoding = [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8; Write-Host “한글”

• So when I added it to the cursor rule, even in the new chat session, even if I ran the terminal command without encoding, I solved it by executing encoding first according to the rule.

• rule added: “UTF-8 encoding setting when executing a terminal command: whenever a terminal command is executed, $OutputEncoding = [Console]::OutputEncoding = [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8 first and then run together”

• Of course, there should be a Cursor patch without any rules to use my token

[emotionalbibi]

When asking questions to AI and receiving answers, there are cases where the AI ​​runs the CLI while conducting a direct test. In this case, an error occurs saying that the Korean characters are broken and attempts to remove emojis. Also, when trying to directly continue the task, it only works in read mode, making it impossible to directly manage the execution and test.

[Jon_Kim]

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

Korean characters are not displayed correctly (garbled or broken) in the Agent terminals when executing terminal commands through the AI Panel on Windows, even though the PowerShell encoding is set to support Korean (CP949). This makes it difficult to read or debug Korean output in the terminal.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open Cursor on Windows.
2. Launch the AI Panel and open an Agent terminal (PowerShell).
3. Run a PowerShell command that outputs Korean text, such as:
   “터미널 한글 출력 테스트 해줘”
4. Observe that the Korean characters are not rendered properly.

Expected Behavior

Korean characters should be displayed correctly in the Agent terminal, respecting the system’s encoding settings (e.g., CP949 on Windows with Korean locale).

Screenshots / Screen Recordings

Operating System

Windows 10/11

Current Cursor Version (Menu → About Cursor → Copy)

Version: 1.7.46 (system setup)
VSCode Version: 1.99.3
Commit: b9e5948c1ad20443a5cecba6b84a3c9b99d62580
Date: 2025-10-14T01:21:46.830Z
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 10.0.19045

Does this stop you from using Cursor

Yes - Cursor is unusable

[Jon_Kim]

this topic has not a solution.

[user518]

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

Korean and other non-English characters are not rendered properly in the Cursor IDE Agent Command terminal. When following the steps below, characters in the output appear corrupted (e.g., replacement glyphs or garbled text). This prevents users from reading code results or AI responses if they contain Korean or other Unicode text.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Launch Cursor IDE.
2. Request code execution from the AI agent.
3. Check the output characters in the terminal where the agent executes the code.
4. Observe that the characters are corrupted or not rendered correctly.

Expected Behavior

All characters (Korean, English, special characters, etc.) should be rendered correctly, and fonts should be displayed properly without corruption.

Screenshots / Screen Recordings

Operating System

Windows 10/11

Current Cursor Version (Menu → About Cursor → Copy)

Version: 2.0.63 (user setup)
Commit: 1.99.3
Build: 505046dcfdad2acda3d066e32b7cd8b6e2dc1fdc0
Electron: 2025-11-05T18:56:58.213Z
ElectronBuildId: 37.7.0
Chromium: undefined
Node.js: 138.0.7204.251
V8: 22.20.0
OS: 13.8.258.32-electron.0

For AI issues: which model did you use?

N/A - This is a UI rendering issue, not AI-related

For AI issues: add Request ID with privacy disabled

N/A - This is not an AI-related issue

Additional Information

This issue occurs particularly in environments using Korean language and may be related to text encoding or font rendering. A screenshot is attached to clearly demonstrate the problem.

Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

[theekeung (TK)]

I still have this symptom on Cursor. I guess the Cursor developers don’t have a plan to fix it.

• I’m using the cursor rule as follows and when AI uses terminal commands like capture, the Hangul output doesn’t break.
  • 규칙: 터미널 명령 실행 시 UTF-8 인코딩 설정: 터미널 명령 실행 시마다 앞에 $OutputEncoding = [Console]::OutputEncoding = [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8;를 먼저 붙여서 같이 실행
  • Try adding cursor rules as above.

Have a good day.