Cursor Spawns High-CPU Python Processes on Startup Even When No Python Files Are Open and Extensions Are Disabled

Bug Reports
1

Summary:

Cursor launches two Python interpreter processes ([email protected]) that each use almost 100% CPU, even when:
• All Python/Jupyter extensions (including built-ins) are disabled
• settings.json prevents Python usage:

{
  "python.analysis.diagnosticMode": "openFilesOnly",
  "python.analysis.autoSearchPaths": false,
  "python.analysis.useLibraryCodeForTypes": false,
  "jupyter.enabled": false,
  "python.defaultInterpreterPath": "/usr/bin/false"
}

System Info:

  • macOS on Apple Silicon (M2)
  • Cursor version: [your version]
  • Homebrew Python installed at: /opt/homebrew/Cellar/[email protected]/3.13.3

Versions:

  • Version: 0.49.6 (Universal)
  • VSCode Version: 1.96.2
  • Commit: 0781e811de386a0c5bcb07ceb259df8ff8246a50
  • Date: 2025-04-25T04:39:09.213Z (2 wks ago)
  • Electron: 34.3.4
  • Chromium: 132.0.6834.210
  • Node.js: 20.18.3
  • V8: 13.2.152.41-electron.0
  • OS: Darwin arm64 24.4.0

Process Explorer:

image
image1600×934 103 KB