Cursor Cli MCP The non-interactive mode cannot be used

Bug Reports
1

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor CLI

Describe the Bug

When Cli is used non-interactively, if mcp is called, it will not take effect. But it takes effect in interactive mode. Is it because the execution instructions can be confirmed in interactive mode? cursor-agent mcp list also shows ready

Steps to Reproduce

Configure the correct mysql mcp in the project’s.cursor/ mcp.json and use it normally in the cursor IDE. Interactive use through CLI is also correct, but when using curve-agent-p to “query how many pieces of data there are in a certain table”, it either does not respond or calls mcp

Expected Behavior

using -p should return the same result as entering the interactive mode

Screenshots / Screen Recordings

termail.jpg
termail.jpg557×736 62.4 KB

Operating System

MacOS

Current Cursor Version (Menu → About Cursor → Copy)

CLI version：2025.11.06-8fe8a63

Version: 2.0.77 (Universal)

Submission: 1.99.3

Date: ba90f2f88e4911312761abab9492c42442117cf0

Electron: 2025-11-13T 23:10:43.113z

ElectronBuildId: 37.7.0

Chromium: undefined

Node.js: 138.0.7204.251

V8: 22.20.0

OS: 13.8.258.32-electron.0

Does this stop you from using Cursor

Sometimes - I can sometimes use Cursor

2

Hey, thanks for the report. This is a known limitation, MCP approvals aren’t fully implemented yet for cursor-agent in non-interactive/headless mode.

Try this workaround:

cursor-agent -p "your prompt" --approve-mcps --force

Using the --approve-mcps and --force flags together should work in non-interactive mode.

Let me know if these flags work for you.

1 Like
3

It is effective to use --approve-mcps and --force flags simultaneously. It’s just that the same “prompt” takes twice as long as the interactive one in non-interactive situations. I only tested one prompt