# Cursor can't list branches of some repos **URL:** \ **Category:** Bug Reports\ **Tags:** github, cloud-agents\ **Created:** [March 4, 2026, 12:47pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-cant-list-branches-of-some-repos/153564 "2026-03-04T12:47:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pato](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/pato/32/100299_2.png) [@pato](https://forum.cursor.com/u/pato)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 12:47pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-cant-list-branches-of-some-repos/153564/1 "2026-03-04T12:47:54Z")
### Where does the bug appear (feature/product)? Background Agent (GitHub, Slack, Web, Linear) ### Describe the Bug I’m trying to to dispatch cloud agents but they’re failing since they can’t list branches of repos within my organisation (I’m admin and I’ve recently allowed access to all repos of the org) when requesting for the branches `/api/background-composer/get-repository-branches` I get a 401 with a ERROR\_GITHUB\_APP\_NO\_ACCESS and “Failed to create installation access token for installation (redacted)” I’ve uninstalled and installed again the Github App but still no luck. Could someone help? ### Steps to Reproduce I open the Cursor Agent dashboard, select a repo and when I try to select a branch, none are available ### Expected Behavior I open the Curso Agent dashboard, select a repo I should be able to pick the base branch for the cloud agent to start ### Operating System MacOS ### Version Information (should be irrelevant since I’m talking about the web UI) Version: 2.6.0-pre.33.patch.0 (Universal) VSCode Version: 1.105.1 Commit: 3a1ff150ed66f295af45ae38f28f6afaa05a4770 Date: 2026-02-23T23:34:26.530Z Build Type: Stable Release Track: Default Electron: 39.4.0 Chromium: 142.0.7444.265 Node.js: 22.22.0 V8: 14.2.231.22-electron.0 OS: Darwin arm64 25.3.0 ### Does this stop you from using Cursor Yes - Cursor is unusable ---
**Author:** ![deanrie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/deanrie/32/1263_2.png) [@deanrie](https://forum.cursor.com/u/deanrie)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 12:56pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-cant-list-branches-of-some-repos/153564/3 "2026-03-04T12:56:02Z")
Hey, thanks for the report. This is a known issue. The GitHub installation token on our backend can sometimes expire or not match, so Cloud Agents can’t access org repos even after reinstalling the GitHub App. A few other users have reported the same thing: - [Cloud Agents cannot load default branch during environment setup and lose write access to GitHub despite correct App installation and org permissions](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cloud-agents-cannot-load-default-branch-during-environment-setup-and-lose-write-access-to-github-despite-correct-app-installation-and-org-permissions/153180) - [Failed to determine repository default branch](https://forum.cursor.com/t/failed-to-determine-repository-default-branch/152319) To help us debug this on the backend, could you share: 1. The installation ID from the error (you mentioned it was redacted. We need it to find the issue on our side) 2. The request ID from one of the failed attempts (from the URL on [cursor.com/agents](http://cursor.com/agents)) 3. Does this affect all repos in your org, or only some? Unfortunately, there’s no reliable workaround right now. Reinstalling the GitHub App sometimes temporarily fixes specific repos, but like you noticed, it’s inconsistent. I’ll post an update here as soon as we have more info. ---
**Author:** ![pato](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/pato/32/100299_2.png) [@pato](https://forum.cursor.com/u/pato)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 1:05pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-cant-list-branches-of-some-repos/153564/5 "2026-03-04T13:05:35Z")
Hey Dean, 1. 72765963 2. x-vercel-id: fra1::iad1::wn8gz-1772629228715-6130e9b23b6c 3. it was only affecting some but now it affects all of them (perhaps due to uninstalling and installing again) Is this something you can clear on your side? This is now blocking all our cloud agents from picking up tasks ---
**Author:** ![pato](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/pato/32/100299_2.png) [@pato](https://forum.cursor.com/u/pato)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 5:09pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-cant-list-branches-of-some-repos/153564/6 "2026-03-04T17:09:07Z")
So now it is able to list branches in the repos it couldn’t before but then ones that it could are now not working ☹ Any way we can just clear it all now? I’ve given the app full access to the org’s repos so this shouldn’t ever change ---
**Author:** ![cgiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8797f3/32.png) [@cgiles](https://forum.cursor.com/u/cgiles)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2026, 5:50am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-cant-list-branches-of-some-repos/153564/7 "2026-03-06T05:50:32Z")
Hey @deanrie 👋 I’m getting this as well so thought I’d share another example to help debug: - Installation ID: 72138448 - x-vercel-id: yul1::iad1::5tqmg-1772775968721-aa2a6277dd0c - Seems to only be affecting one (our main monorepo with a fair number of branches compared to minimal for others) It’s currently blocking us from being able to use cloud agents so would appreciate your help working towards the root cause. ---
**Author:** ![fm360](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8baadc/32.png) [@fm360](https://forum.cursor.com/u/fm360)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 11:02am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-cant-list-branches-of-some-repos/153564/8 "2026-03-10T11:02:46Z")
Hi! I have the same problem. On the onboard page ([https://cursor.com/onboard](https://cursor.com/onboard)), I get the error message “Error loading default branch” and in the response of “api/background-composer/get-repository-branches”, the status code 401 and error “ERROR\_GITHUB\_NO\_USER\_CREDENTIALS” is displayed. Incidentally, GITHUB is not correct in my case, as we use GitLab (Github is not connected), but perhaps this can be ignored. This thread could be related → [Failed to determine repository default branch - #8 by ahar](https://forum.cursor.com/t/failed-to-determine-repository-default-branch/152319/8) The repositories are also not fully loaded; only a few are displayed in the drop-down list, but when you click on “Refresh”, /api/dashboard/fetch-all-installation-repos (POST) returns “405 Method Not Allowed” after a while… searching dynamically is not working. I hope that’s not due to the sheer number of repositories. ---
**Author:** ![fm360](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8baadc/32.png) [@fm360](https://forum.cursor.com/u/fm360)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 11:30am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-cant-list-branches-of-some-repos/153564/9 "2026-03-10T11:30:39Z")
**Body Response get-repository-branches** ```json { "error": { "message": "Error", "details": [ { "error": "ERROR_GITHUB_NO_USER_CREDENTIALS", "details": { "title": "Failed to get service account access token", "detail": "Failed to get service account access token for any user.", "additionalInfo": {}, "buttons": [], "planChoices": [] }, "isExpected": true } ] } } ``` ---
**Author:** ![BrunoVelasco23](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/brunovelasco23/32/102726_2.png) [@BrunoVelasco23](https://forum.cursor.com/u/BrunoVelasco23)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2026, 3:00am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-cant-list-branches-of-some-repos/153564/10 "2026-03-22T03:00:30Z")
Same here. I do have the app successfully installed under the org ![Screenshot 2026-03-22 at 00.00.14](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/original/3X/9/b/9b85ad15decb3393873a846e6d40a3b8b628e6dd.png) ```json { "error": { "message": "Error", "details": [ { "error": "ERROR_GITHUB_APP_NO_ACCESS", "details": { "title": "Failed to create installation access token for installation 117691292", "detail": "An unknown GitHub error occurred when generating an installation token.", "additionalInfo": {}, "buttons": [], "planChoices": [] }, "isExpected": true } ] } } ``` ---
**Author:** ![system](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/system/32/99069_2.png) [@system](https://forum.cursor.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2026, 3:00am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-cant-list-branches-of-some-repos/153564/11 "2026-04-13T03:00:47Z")
Closed on April 13, 2026, 3:00am UTC This topic was automatically closed 22 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.