Cursor Settings > Agents > Run Mode - keeps reverting to “Auto-review”
I first noticed this behavior on June 30. I always run on Allowlist, and keep a close eye on commands. The editor started running commands without approval, and one of these commands resulted in a database being deleted. Since then I have changed the setting back to Allowlist at least 10 times when commands start running without approval. Each time the setting has somehow reverted to Auto-review. Sometimes this will happen multiple times within one session in a single project.
Steps to Reproduce
I do not know what is causing the reversion. I use plan mode, agent mode, ask mode, debug mode and auto-generated commit messages during my daily workflow. I notice my settings revert approximately once per day or slightly less of normal IDE use.
Your Allowlist setting isn’t failing to save. When the agent asks to run a terminal command, the approval card includes an Enable Auto-review checkbox that’s ticked by default. Clicking Run (or pressing Enter) while it’s ticked sets your Run Mode to Auto-review and keeps it there. So each time a command is approved without unticking that box, the mode changes again, which is why it looks like it reverts every day or so.
To keep it on Allowlist:
On the next command approval card, open the Auto-review options menu and choose Stop suggesting Auto-review. That removes the prompt entirely.
Go to Settings > Agents > Approvals & Execution and set Run Mode back to Allowlist.
Unchecking the box once before you click Run also stops Cursor from pre-checking it, if you’d rather keep the prompt around.
A note on safety: Run Modes are best-effort guardrails rather than a hard boundary, so keeping Allowlist selected is the right setup for your workflow. It’s also worth keeping local databases and other agent-reachable work under version control or backups as a safety net for anything unexpected.
We’re taking a look at how this prompt behaves. You can read more about the run modes here: Run Modes.
Literally such an annoying and frustrating UX pattern.
I rely on Allowlist specifically because I want tight control over terminal commands, so having an approval prompt default to enabling Auto-review feels unsafe and easy to miss.
I use Cursor every day and really value the product, but lately it feels like some updates are making important controls harder to notice or easier to accidentally override. I’d strongly suggest that Auto-review should never be pre-selected by default, especially for users who have explicitly chosen Allowlist.
Hi @patrisor , just going to give a bit more color here:
You can click “Don’t show again” and you’ll never be suggested to move into Auto-review again
We were very conscious in how we designed this because Auto-review is safer for most people who are on Allowlist today and simply click Run on every command without thinking of the consequences. Of course I understand that is NOT you, but that’s why you can turn the nudge off!
