# Cursor cli limitations **URL:** \ **Category:** Help\ **Tags:** cli\ **Created:** [February 17, 2026, 9:38am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-cli-limitations/152089 "2026-02-17T09:38:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Matan\_Lasry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9a28c/32.png) [@Matan\_Lasry](https://forum.cursor.com/u/Matan_Lasry)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2026, 9:38am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-cli-limitations/152089/1 "2026-02-17T09:38:32Z")
I am using cursor cli on headless mode to implement an automation. Ran into these things that make my life harder: - can’t disable tools calls - doesn’t support JSON schema structured responses - disable thinking - I’ve a custom logic to choose non-thinking models to solve that any idea if some of these bullets going to be address by any chance? thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Matan\_Lasry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9a28c/32.png) [@Matan\_Lasry](https://forum.cursor.com/u/Matan_Lasry)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2026, 9:42am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-cli-limitations/152089/3 "2026-02-17T09:42:43Z")
### Describe the request I am using cursor cli on headless mode to implement an automation. Ran into these things that make my life harder: can’t disable tools calls doesn’t support JSON schema structured responses disable thinking - I’ve a custom logic to choose non-thinking models to solve that any idea if some of these bullets going to be address by any chance? thanks! ---
**Author:** ![suiramdev](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/suiramdev/32/13227_2.png) [@suiramdev](https://forum.cursor.com/u/suiramdev)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2026, 10:07am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-cli-limitations/152089/5 "2026-02-17T10:07:57Z")
What do you mean by disabling tools calls ? It seems to me that, using `agent [prompt …] –print` tool calls are disabled by default and you need to enable using `--approve-mcps` option / `--yolo` There is a way for you to receive JSON structured responses using `-–output format json` or `stream-json` ---
**Author:** ![suiramdev](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/suiramdev/32/13227_2.png) [@suiramdev](https://forum.cursor.com/u/suiramdev)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2026, 10:08am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-cli-limitations/152089/7 "2026-02-17T10:08:36Z")
This seems like a duplicate from : [Cursor cli limitations(headless) - #2](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-cli-limitations-headless/152090/3) ---
**Author:** ![condor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/condor/32/73148_2.png) [@condor](https://forum.cursor.com/u/condor)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2026, 2:04pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-cli-limitations/152089/8 "2026-02-19T14:04:35Z")
Thanks @suiramdev I’m merging those threads to here. ---
**Author:** ![condor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/condor/32/73148_2.png) [@condor](https://forum.cursor.com/u/condor)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2026, 3:09pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-cli-limitations/152089/9 "2026-02-19T15:09:55Z")
@Matan_Lasry thank you for your post and the questions. For disabling tools you may use `--mode ask` as that works read only and does not modify anything. It may still use some tools like for reading code, etc.. Cursor CLI supports JSON responses but not schema based with `--output-format json` as we do not pass schemas to the AI APIs. For non-thinking models you can select a specific model that is not thinking e.g. `--model sonnet-4.5` (without `-thinking`) though note that some models depending on provider may always have thinking enabled. Does that help? ---
**Author:** ![Matan\_Lasry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9a28c/32.png) [@Matan\_Lasry](https://forum.cursor.com/u/Matan_Lasry)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2026, 12:49am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-cli-limitations/152089/10 "2026-02-21T00:49:17Z")
Yeah, I figured. By the way, non related, but it would be nice to export the cost field from the JSON response like Claude code does. It helps monitor automation costs more accurately