# Cursor Chat Fails with “Invalid Time Zone: Etc/Unknown” on macOS (Remote SSH) **URL:** \ **Category:** Bug Reports\ **Tags:** macos, chat, ssh\ **Created:** [April 22, 2026, 7:12am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-chat-fails-with-invalid-time-zone-etc-unknown-on-macos-remote-ssh/158679 "2026-04-22T07:12:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anas\_Badaha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7feea3/32.png) [@Anas\_Badaha](https://forum.cursor.com/u/Anas_Badaha)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2026, 7:12am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-chat-fails-with-invalid-time-zone-etc-unknown-on-macos-remote-ssh/158679/1 "2026-04-22T07:12:05Z")
### Where does the bug appear (feature/product)? Cursor IDE ### Describe the Bug I am seeing a reproducible Cursor chat failure on macOS with the following error: Request ID: b919c14f-d363-47ea-94bb-3b2de447ce3f [internal] Invalid time zone specified: Etc/Unknown aae: [internal] Invalid time zone specified: Etc/Unknown at rK\_ (vscode-file://vscode-app/Applications/Cursor.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:28926:24637) at nK\_ (vscode-file://vscode-app/Applications/Cursor.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:28926:23543) at dK\_ (vscode-file://vscode-app/Applications/Cursor.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:28927:6487) at h8u.run (vscode-file://vscode-app/Applications/Cursor.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:28927:11285) at async xDn.runAgentLoop (vscode-file://vscode-app/Applications/Cursor.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:41235:11960) at async W1d.streamFromAgentBackend (vscode-file://vscode-app/Applications/Cursor.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:41305:12151) at async W1d.getAgentStreamResponse (vscode-file://vscode-app/Applications/Cursor.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:41305:18486) at async N3e.submitChatMaybeAbortCurrent (vscode-file://vscode-app/Applications/Cursor.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:29033:16809) at async Object.Va [as onSubmit] (vscode-file://vscode-app/Applications/Cursor.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:40288:4233) at async vscode-file://vscode-app/Applications/Cursor.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js:40287:100561 What I verified: macOS timezone settings are valid launching Cursor with TZ=Etc/UTC still fails remote host timezone checks return UTC The issue occurs when starting a new chat This appears to match the confirmed Cursor bug related to Etc/Unknown, but in my case, both local and remote timezone checks appear valid. ### Steps to Reproduce Just installed the latest version: 3.1.17, and started a new chat. ### Operating System MacOS ### Version Information Version: 3.1.17 VSCode Version: 1.105.1 Commit: fce1e9ab7844f9ea35793da01e634aa7e50bce90 Date: 2026-04-19T19:33:58.189Z Layout: editor Build Type: Stable Release Track: Default Electron: 39.8.1 Chromium: 142.0.7444.265 Node.js: 22.22.1 V8: 14.2.231.22-electron.0 OS: Darwin arm64 25.4.0 ### Does this stop you from using Cursor Yes - Cursor is unusable ---
**Author:** ![mohitjain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/mohitjain/32/100229_2.png) [@mohitjain](https://forum.cursor.com/u/mohitjain)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2026, 10:38am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-chat-fails-with-invalid-time-zone-etc-unknown-on-macos-remote-ssh/158679/7 "2026-04-22T10:38:04Z")
Hi Anas! This is a known bug on our side — a few other users have reported the same error on [Windows](https://forum.cursor.com/t/my-cusor-cant-work/158280) and [Docker/Linux](https://forum.cursor.com/t/general-error-using-ai-in-chat-panel/158234) environments. Cursor’s server doesn’t properly validate the timezone string sent from the client, so when the system reports “Etc/Unknown”, it crashes instead of falling back to UTC. Since you’re using **Remote SSH** , the timezone is likely being resolved from the **remote host’s** environment, not your local macOS. Even if `timedatectl` or `date` shows UTC on the remote, the Node.js runtime Cursor uses may resolve it differently if the remote host is missing proper timezone data. A few things to try on the **remote** host: 1. **Install `tzdata`** if it’s a minimal Linux installation: 2. **Set TZ in your remote shell profile** (`~/.bashrc` or `~/.profile`): 3. **Fully restart Cursor** (quit entirely, not just reload window) after making these changes, so the Remote SSH extension host picks up the new timezone. You can verify by opening Developer Tools (`Help > Toggle Developer Tools`) on the remote connection and running in the Console: `new Intl.DateTimeFormat('en-US', { timeZone: Intl.DateTimeFormat().resolvedOptions().timeZone })` If this throws an error, the timezone data still isn’t set up correctly on the remote. A server-side fix is in the works so this won’t crash regardless of what the OS reports. Let me know if any of the above helps! ---
**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:** [June 4, 2026, 11:11am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-chat-fails-with-invalid-time-zone-etc-unknown-on-macos-remote-ssh/158679/10 "2026-06-04T11:11:03Z")
@Anas_Badaha This should be fixed now! Please try again on Cursor 3.6+. ---
**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:** [June 26, 2026, 11:11am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-chat-fails-with-invalid-time-zone-etc-unknown-on-macos-remote-ssh/158679/11 "2026-06-26T11:11:29Z")
This topic was automatically closed 22 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.