After the latest update - Cursor started spinning up multiple same sub agents that are basically doing the same thing and wasting my credits. The error is persistent and it is not tied to specific command, skill or subagent - it is causing same issues on many different skills where I require the Cursor to spin up the subagents for specific parts of the job. Everything was working flawlessly and as expected before the latest update. Cursor just kept wasting my credits so I had to completely shut down Cursor - as closing the agent and the agent chat was not enough. My credit just kept disappearing as these sub agents were running in the background.
Steps to Reproduce
Create a skill to spawn subagents for specific parts of the job. It keeps spinning up multiple sub agents for absolutely the same stuff and wasting credits.
Hi @Ognjen_Simic, thanks for the report, and sorry about the credits this consumed.
After a recent update, your auditor subagents were able to launch further auditors of their own, each repeating the same audit step. That’s what produced the stack of identical subagents. It isn’t caused by your setup, and we’ve let the team know.
I’ve made a change on our side that should return you to the previous behavior. Quit Cursor completely (Cmd+Q, then end any remaining Cursor processes in Activity Monitor) and reopen it.
Two quick tips:
To stop subagents already running, click the “N Working” pill above the chat input and choose Stop All. Closing the chat does not stop them.
In your subagent definitions under .cursor/agents/, add a line like “Do not launch any subagents. Do the audit yourself and return the result.”
Let me know if it happens again after the restart, along with a Request ID from the main chat (three-dot menu, Copy Request ID).
The issue that let your auditor subagents keep launching copies of themselves is fixed in Cursor 3.24.9 and later, so please update to the latest version when you get a chance.
Subagents now stay within the normal nesting limit: a subagent started by the main agent can still launch one more, but that one can’t launch any further. Keeping the “Do not launch any subagents” line in your auditor definitions is still worthwhile, since it stops them from using that one extra level.
If you see a stack of duplicate subagents again after updating, reply here with a Request ID from the main chat (“…” menu, then Copy Request ID) and I’ll take a look.
