File-backed / agent-editable User Rules (parity with project `.cursor/rules`)

Ideas Feature Requests
1

Feature request for product/service

Cursor IDE

Describe the request

Problem
User Rules are the global Agent instruction surface (all projects). Today they appear to live only in the product UI / account sync — not as a normal file agents can read and edit. Project rules already have a clean, versionable home (<repo>/.cursor/rules/*.mdc). Global skills also have file homes under ~/.cursor/. User Rules are the odd layer out.

I run many repos and prefer to direct the agent from chat: “update my global rules.” For Claude Code I had a global markdown file (~/.claude/CLAUDE.md) the agent could edit. In Cursor I must open Customize → Rules and paste manually. That breaks an agent-first workflow and makes global preferences hard to version-control in my own git.

Request (any of these would solve it)

  1. Preferred: Load User Rules from a documented file path (e.g. ~/.cursor/USER_RULES.md or ~/.cursor/rules/*.mdc with always-apply semantics), so agents and humans can edit the same source of truth.
  2. Or: Expose a supported CLI / MCP / settings API to get/set User Rules text without the GUI.
  3. Or: Document an official export/import + on-disk cache path that stays in sync with the UI (and is safe for tools to update).

Why it matters

  • Cross-repo communication preferences (absolute paths, no opaque acronyms, “don’t send me Settings click-tours”) must apply everywhere — not only in one project’s AGENTS.md.
  • Power users already treat project rules as git-tracked contracts; global rules deserve the same.
  • Forum threads already note ~/.cursor/rules is not loaded as User Rules; please make global file-backed rules a first-class feature.

Current workaround
I keep a versioned mirror in a project repo and paste into Customize → Rules by hand. That works but should not be required.

Environment
Windows 11, Cursor Agent/Chat, multi-repo personal workshop.

Related forum context (optional links if useful):

Operating System (if it applies)

Windows 10/11

1 Like
User Based Cursor Rules