`fetch_rules` tool returns 'No rules found' even when rules exist

Bug Reports
1

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

Error with request ID 1d34a594

Exported on 10/29/2025 at 14:57:10 GMT+2 from Cursor (1.7.54)

User

i’ve got a error with the request id

Cursor

I’ll help you debug the error with request ID <redacted>. Let me fetch the debugging guide for request IDs.

User

why didnt you found the dev-debug-request-id rule?

Cursor

You’re right! I used the wrong key format. Looking at the available rules, I should have used AgenTica Root/dev-debug-request-id instead of just dev-debug-request-id. Let me fetch it correctly:

Found it! The rule file exists but the fetch_rules tool isn’t finding it. Let me read it directly:

Perfect! Now I found it. The fetch_rules tool has an issue finding the rule, but I was able to read it directly.

Now, to help you debug request ID <redacted>, I need some information:

Required:

  1. Environment: Production, Stage, or QA?
  2. Time: When did this error occur?
    • Exact timestamp (e.g., “2025-10-29 14:30:00 UTC”)
    • OR approximate time (e.g., “30 minutes ago”, “around 2pm UTC today”)
    • OR time range (e.g., “between 2pm and 3pm UTC”)

Optional (but helpful):

  • What operation was being performed?
  • Any error messages visible?
  • Is this a Request ID (backend) or History ID (UI)?

Once you provide the environment and time, I’ll generate the deep links for you.

User

how can i fix the fetch rules?

Cursor

This appears to be an issue with the fetch_rules tool itself, not something in your codebase. The tool isn’t properly finding rules even though they exist and are listed.

The issue:

  • Rules are correctly defined in .cursor/rules/
  • They appear in <agent_requestable_workspace_rules>
  • But fetch_rules returns “No rules found” for any rule name

Workaround I’m using:
I can read the rule files directly:

// Instead of fetch_rules, I use:
read_file: .cursor/rules/dev-debug-request-id.mdc

This works perfectly and gives me the full rule content.

Not fixable in your codebase:
The fetch_rules tool is part of Cursor’s IDE implementation, not your project code. You can’t fix it by editing files in your workspace.

If you want to report it:
You could report this to Cursor’s team if it’s causing issues, but since I can work around it with read_file, it doesn’t block me from helping you.

For now:
I can successfully access all your rules using the direct file reading approach, so this won’t impact our work together. When you reference rules or I need them, I’ll just read them directly from .cursor/rules/.

Should we get back to debugging your request ID <redacted>? I just need the environment and time information.

// Instead of fetch_rules, I use:
read_file: .cursor/rules/dev-debug-request-id.mdc

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Have rules defined in .cursor/rules/*.mdc with alwaysApply: false
  2. Rules appear in <agent_requestable_workspace_rules> list
  3. Call fetch_rules with rule name like “project/rule”
  4. Returns “No rules found”

Expected Behavior

ai fetch_rule should work and provide instructions to ai

Operating System

MacOS

Current Cursor Version (Menu → About Cursor → Copy)

Version: 1.7.54
VSCode Version: 1.99.3
Commit: 5c17eb2968a37f66bc6662f48d6356a100b67be0
Date: 2025-10-21T19:07:38.476Z (1 wk ago)
Electron: 34.5.8
Chromium: 132.0.6834.210
Node.js: 20.19.1
V8: 13.2.152.41-electron.0
OS: Darwin arm64 25.0.0

For AI issues: which model did you use?

claude-4.5-sonet

Does this stop you from using Cursor

Sometimes - I can sometimes use Cursor

2

Hey, thanks for the report. This is a confirmed issue, the fetch_rules tool doesn’t retrieve rules with alwaysApply: false, even when they’re correctly configured in .cursor/rules/.

We’ve seen similar reports from other users where the tool consistently returns empty results despite the rules being present.

Could you update to the latest version and let me know if the issue still persists?