# Extension host rg uses --no-ignore --follow and walks symlinks excluded by .cursorignore **URL:** \ **Category:** Bug Reports\ **Tags:** performance\ **Created:** [October 23, 2026, 1:49am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/extension-host-rg-uses-no-ignore-follow-and-walks-symlinks-excluded-by-cursorignore/175844 "2026-10-23T01:49:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rovrevik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/rovrevik/32/124277_2.png) [@rovrevik](https://forum.cursor.com/u/rovrevik)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 1:49am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/extension-host-rg-uses-no-ignore-follow-and-walks-symlinks-excluded-by-cursorignore/175844/1 "2026-10-23T01:49:52Z")
### Where does the bug appear (feature/product)? Cursor IDE ### Describe the Bug The extension host starts ripgrep with `--no-ignore` and `--follow`. `.cursorignore` is not applied. A symlink whose name matches the ignore pattern is followed out of the workspace. The process used about 800% CPU until it was killed. Observed command. The working directory was the workspace root. The parent process was “Cursor Helper (Plugin): extension-host”. `rg --files --hidden --case-sensitive --no-require-git -g ' **/package.json' -g '!** /.git' -g '! **/.svn' -g '!** /.hg' -g '! **/.DS_Store' -g '!** /Thumbs.db' -g '! **/node_modules/**' --no-ignore --follow --no-config --no-ignore-global` `.cursorignore` contained only: `**/_*` The workspace has a symlink named `_home` whose target is the home directory. That name matches `**/_*`. lsof showed rg had a file open under the symlink target, outside the workspace. Activity Monitor showed about 836% CPU and about 49 minutes of CPU time after roughly 6 minutes of wall time. A later sample was about 782% CPU at 7 minutes elapsed. The process did not exit on its own. The `-g` list did not include the `.cursorignore` pattern. `--no-ignore` means rg will not read `.cursorignore`, `.gitignore`, or `.ignore`. ### Steps to Reproduce 1. In a git repo, add a symlink whose name starts with an underscore and points at a large directory such as the home directory. The name used here was `_home`. 2. Add a root `.cursorignore` containing `**/_*` 3. Open the folder in Cursor 3.27.6 on macOS. 4. In Activity Monitor or ps, find rg launched by the Cursor extension host. ### Expected Behavior .cursorignore should exclude that symlink before it is followed. This scan should not drop .cursorignore via --no-ignore, and it should not walk the symlink target. search.followSymlinks and Ignore Symlinks in Cursor Ignore Search should apply to this walk. ### Operating System MacOS ### Version Information Version: 3.27.6 Commit: f7119520544accb8dcf6d27119b9f1963d8ee5a0 Architecture: arm64 OS: macOS 27.0.1 (Build 26A434) ### For AI issues: which model did you use? Not model-specific. The process was started by the extension host, not by an agent tool call. ### For AI issues: add Request ID with privacy disabled None. This was an extension-host rg process, not a chat request. ### Additional Information Related reports of `--follow` on other walks: > [@Disabling follow symlinks is not respected](https://forum.cursor.com/t/disabling-follow-symlinks-is-not-respected/153417): > > Where does the bug appear (feature/product)? Cursor IDE Describe the Bug Cursor rg tool automatically triggers with --follow on symlinks despite search.followSymlinks false on remote settings AND Ignore Symlinks in Cursor Ignore Search set to true, nonetheless cursor trys to run rg with --follow We have very expensive symlinks to remote folders via nfs, so a symlink follow is a nonstarter and effectively fries the entire machine. Steps to Reproduce open any remote-ssh (did not try local) cu… > [@\[Cursor 2.6\] Waiting for Extension Host](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-2-6-waiting-for-extension-host/154134): > > Where does the bug appear (feature/product)? Cursor IDE Describe the Bug Im always facing an Error: Waiting for Extension Host. Everyday!!! Steps to Reproduce Fix it! Expected Behavior … Operating System Linux Version Information Version: 2.6.14 VSCode Version: 1.105.1 Commit: eb1c4e0702d201d1226d2a7afb25c501c2e56080 Date: 2026-03-08T15:36:54.709Z Build Type: Stable Release Track: Default Electron: 39.6.0 Chromium: 142.0.7444.265 Node.js: 22.22.0 V8: 14.2.231.22-electron.0 OS: Lin… A third thread, “Cursor 2.5+ project rules discovery causes infinite CPU usage in repos with circular symlinks”, describes the same hardcoded `--follow` on rules discovery. The Cursor ignore-file docs say `.cursorignore` blocks Agent, Tab, Inline Edit, and @ mentions. This extension-host file search does not honor it. This invocation is different. It searches for `**/package.json`, passes `--no-ignore` rather than only `--no-ignore-parent`, and uses a short exclude list: `.git`, `.svn`, `.hg`, `.DS_Store`, `Thumbs.db`, `node_modules`. A workspace settings.json file had a `search.exclude` entry for `_*`, but the file did not parse because of a stray byte after the closing brace. This report does not claim that a valid `search.exclude` was ignored. The failure shown here is that `.cursorignore` was not passed to rg, and `--follow` walked the symlink. Cursor staff have said on the related threads that `search.exclude` patterns are appended as `-g` globs, which rg still honors with `--no-ignore`. `search.followSymlinks` set to false does not stop walks that hardcode `--follow`. ### Does this stop you from using Cursor Sometimes - I can sometimes use Cursor ---
**Author:** ![Colin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/colin/32/90452_2.png) [@Colin](https://forum.cursor.com/u/Colin)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 10:40am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/extension-host-rg-uses-no-ignore-follow-and-walks-symlinks-excluded-by-cursorignore/175844/6 "2026-10-23T10:40:22Z")
Hey @rovrevik, That `rg` command line is the extension host’s standard workspace file search, the one extensions use to look for files (here, every `package.json`). Two things shape what you saw. - `--no-ignore` is built into how that extension file search works (it behaves the same in VS Code): it never reads `.gitignore`, `.ignore` or `.cursorignore`. `.cursorignore` controls what Agent, Tab, Inline Edit and @ mentions can access ([ignore file docs](https://cursor.com/docs/reference/ignore-file)), and “Ignore Symlinks in Cursor Ignore Search” only affects how Cursor looks for `.cursorignore` files themselves. Neither one applies to extension scans today. - `--follow` isn’t fixed, though. It comes from `search.followSymlinks`, which defaults to `true`, and this scan uses your value. Since your workspace settings file currently doesn’t parse, put this in your User settings (Command Palette, then Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON)): ```json "search.followSymlinks": false, "files.exclude": { "**/_home": true } ``` Either line on its own keeps this scan out of `_home`. `files.exclude` is the exclude list extension file searches respect (`search.exclude` doesn’t apply to them), but it also hides `_home` from the Explorer, so `search.followSymlinks` alone may suit you better. If you already had `search.followSymlinks` set to `false` in your User settings and this scan still ran with `--follow`, please let us know, since that shouldn’t happen.