Glass UI: session bar shows "working" dot-matrix instead of orange "awaiting confirmation" dot when a subagent needs an allow/confirm

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Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE — Glass UI (session bar)

Describe the Bug

When a subagent pauses and waits for the user to confirm an action (e.g. an “Allow” prompt for a command or tool call), the session bar does not switch its status indicator to the orange dot that signals “waiting on you”. Instead it keeps displaying the animated dot-matrix indicator, which means “working / in progress”.

Impact: if you have switched to a different session, there is no visual signal that the paused session needs your input. You can’t tell it’s blocked and waiting for an “Allow”, so you can’t jump in and unblock it — the subagent stalls indefinitely until you happen to open that session and notice the confirmation prompt.

Suggested fix: when any (sub)agent in a session is blocked awaiting user confirmation, the session’s indicator in the session bar should switch to the orange “awaiting confirmation” dot (the same state used when the main agent asks for confirmation), rather than continuing to show the animated “working” dot-matrix.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Start a session where the agent spawns a subagent that will perform an action requiring confirmation (a command/tool call that triggers an “Allow” prompt).
  2. While that subagent is waiting for the “Allow” confirmation, switch to a different session.
  3. Look at the paused session’s indicator in the session bar.

Expected Behavior

The paused session should show the orange “awaiting confirmation” dot in the session bar, clearly indicating it is blocked and waiting for user input — so it can be spotted and unblocked from another session.

Operating System

MacOS

Version Information

Cursor 3.9.16

Does this stop you from using Cursor?

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

6

Hey there!
It’s a known bug we’re tracking. When a subagent pauses for an Allow/confirm, the session row keeps the animated “working” indicator instead of switching to the needs-attention state, so a blocked subagent is easy to miss when you’re viewing another session.

While we work on fixing the indicator itself, two settings will let you catch a blocked subagent right away (both under Cursor Settings → General):

  1. Completion Sound - we recently extended this to also chime when a subagent is blocked waiting for approval, so you’ll hear it even while you’re in a different session.
  2. System Notifications - you’ll get a desktop notification (and a dock badge) when a subagent needs attention, which is handy when Cursor isn’t focused.

If your workflow allows it, you can also add the commands your subagents run to your Auto-run allowlist (Cursor Settings → Agents → Auto-run) so they don’t pause for approval in the first place.

I’ll update here as the indicator fix progresses.