"Failed to initialize the agent execution session" Error

Support Bug Reports
1

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

Agent is completely unusable. Every chat gets stuck on Preparing/Planning, followed by “Failed to initialize the agent execution session.” I completely uninstalled Cursor and deleted its local user data, reinstalled it fresh, and tested using a phone hotspot with the same result. This happens across new chats.

Request IDs:
f419b41c-f9e8-4fb4-aed9-9e2005b3417f
0900f591-a30b-42f4-a1fb-87d9d3d6c283

Steps to Reproduce

Happens whenever I start an agent session in Cursor IDE

Operating System

Windows 10/11

Version Information

Version: 3.20.21 (user setup)
VS Code Extension API: 1.128.0
Commit: f09fca384ceca23f7bf21f9c23655b162641d740
Date: 2026-09-13T19:02:51.781Z
Layout: Agent Window
Build Type: Stable
Release Track: Default
Electron: 42.10.0
Chromium: 148.0.7778.280
Node.js: 24.18.1
V8: 14.8.178.38-electron.0
xterm.js: 6.1.0-beta.291
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26200

Does this stop you from using Cursor

Yes - Cursor is unusable

6

Hey @Mostafa_Shalaby, this looks like your computer’s clock being set ahead of real time - when it’s off by more than a day, our servers reject each request as unauthorized, so a reinstall or different network won’t help.

  1. Open Windows Settings → Time & language → Date & time and check the date is today’s (if it’s showing weeks ahead, that’s it).
  2. Turn on Set time automatically + Set time zone automatically, then Additional settings → Sync now.
  3. Fully quit Cursor (make sure no Cursor processes remain in Task Manager) and reopen.

If the date was already correct or it still hangs, reply with a fresh Request ID and whether it also fails in a regular editor window - I’ll dig in.