Dashboard Settings crashes for Legacy Privacy Mode users

[Baihu_Dong]

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

Dashboard Settings crashes for older accounts using Privacy Mode (Legacy).

When opening Dashboard Settings (or clicking “Apply” from the Student page), the page briefly loads and then displays “Something went wrong”.

Browser Network shows that the request

POST /api/background-composer/get-background-composer-user-settings

returns HTTP 400 with the following message:

“Cloud agent is not supported in Privacy Mode (Legacy). Switch to Privacy Mode to use cloud agents.”

After switching to the new Privacy Mode in the Cursor desktop application, Dashboard Settings works normally.
This issue also prevented me from applying for the Student Plan because clicking “Apply” redirected me to the crashing Dashboard Settings page.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Sign in with an older Cursor account that still uses Privacy Mode (Legacy).
2. Open Cursor · Students.
3. Click “Apply”, or directly open https://cursor.com/dashboard/settings.
4. The page flashes briefly and then displays “Something went wrong”.

The browser Network tab shows that:

POST /api/background-composer/get-background-composer-user-settings

returns HTTP 400.

Expected Behavior

Dashboard Settings should load normally.

If Privacy Mode (Legacy) is incompatible with Background Composer or Cloud Agent, the UI should prompt the user to switch to the new Privacy Mode instead of crashing the entire Settings page.

Screenshots / Screen Recordings

Operating System

Windows 10/11

Version Information

Version: 3.8.11 (user setup)
VS Code Extension API: 1.105.1
Commit: e56ad3440df06d22ca7501e65fd518e905486ef0
Date: 2026-06-18T01:40:18.333Z
Layout: editor
Build Type: Stable
Release Track: Default
Electron: 40.10.3
Chromium: 144.0.7559.236
Node.js: 24.15.0
V8: 14.4.258.32-electron.0
xterm.js: 6.1.0-beta.256
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26200

Additional Information

Request:

POST /api/background-composer/get-background-composer-user-settings

Response:

{
“error”: {
“message”: “Error”,
“details”: [
{
“error”: “ERROR_BAD_REQUEST”,
“details”: {
“detail”: “Cloud agent is not supported in Privacy Mode (Legacy). Switch to Privacy Mode to use cloud agents.”
}
}
]
}
}

This appears to be a frontend compatibility issue for older accounts still using Privacy Mode (Legacy).

Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

[Baihu_Dong]

[deanrie]

Hey, thanks for the detailed report. The network log and the exact error message really help.

This is a bug on our side. The settings read request on that page get-background-composer-user-settings goes through the same gate as Cloud Agents, and Cloud Agents aren’t available under Privacy Mode Legacy by design since there’s no server-side storage. Because of that, instead of showing a clean feature unavailable state, the whole Settings page crashes, and it also blocks applying for the Student Plan. That shouldn’t happen, I’ve reported it internally.

Your workaround is correct. Switching from Privacy Mode Legacy to the new Privacy Mode with storage in the Cursor desktop app fixes Settings loading and unblocks the Student apply flow. Cloud Agents and Background Composer still won’t work under Legacy, that’s expected, but viewing settings and applying for Students shouldn’t be blocked.

I can’t share an ETA for the fix yet. If there’s an update, I’ll reply in the thread.

[Baihu_Dong]

Thanks for the detailed follow-up and for reporting this internally.

The explanation makes sense, and the workaround worked for me after switching Privacy Mode.

Looking forward to future updates—excited to see Cursor keep improving.

[deanrie]

Glad the workaround did the trick and Student apply is unblocked now.

We’ve already opened a ticket for the Settings crash, so the fix is being tracked. I can’t share an ETA yet, but I’ll post an update here as soon as I have one.

Thanks for the detailed report with the network logs and the exact error message. That really helped us narrow it down.