So I have been trying to use Agent mode instead of IDE mode but the problem is that the agent does not see my custom rules (user rules?) which are in .cursorrules file in each project.
This was not a problem in IDE mode because the agent could see the custom rules from the project. But now it just considers my users home directory to be its starting directory so it doesn’t see my rules which are in the projects themselves.
User Rules are global preferences defined in Cursor Settings → Rules that apply across all projects.
That’s great. But I don’t want to configure them in the IDE. I want to use a file / files like .cursorrules so that I can keep my rules centralized.
I tried creating rules/rule.mdcs for each rule in the .cursor folder at the user’s home directory and weird things are happening:
The cursor settings inside Cursor IDE pick them up and they are listed under Rules/Skills/Subagents → Rules
When I launch the Agents window and ask the agent if he sees them he says no
If I add a new rule from the IDE the agent sees it
This is holding me back from using the Agents mode, which I think is what Cursor wants me to do. I’m confused by why this is not simpler to setup. I cant use the Agent if I cant pass it custom rules as files.
Hey, good request. A few things overlap here, so I’ll go step by step.
About .cursorrules in projects
Agents Window uses a different approach for working directories. For project rules .cursorrules or .cursor/rules/ to be picked up, you first need to open the right project as a workspace in Agents Window. Without that, the agent runs from the home directory and won’t see project rules. That’s expected behavior.
About ~/.cursor/rules/ in the home directory
This is a known issue with Glass (Agents Window). There’s a confirmed bug where file-backed rules from ~/.cursor/rules/ don’t show up in the Settings UI in Agents Window. They’re supposed to be loaded by the agent at runtime, but there are reports that it doesn’t always work correctly. Related thread: Cursor settings don’t list or reflect active user rules and plugins
The team is aware of it. There’s no timeline yet, but reports help with prioritization.
Current workarounds
User Rules via the UI: Cursor Settings > Rules > add the rule text. These cloud-synced rules work reliably in both Agents Window and the Editor. Not ideal if you prefer a file-based workflow, but it works.
Project-scoped rules: make sure a specific project is opened as a workspace in Agents Window, then .cursor/rules/ from that project should be picked up.
@ mentions: in chat you can manually attach a rule via @ if needed.
A couple questions to help narrow it down
What Cursor version and OS are you on?
When you say the agent says it can’t see the rules, is that the model’s answer to your request, or do you see missing rules in the agent’s actual behavior?
Do your .mdc files include frontmatter with alwaysApply: true?
When you say the agent says it can’t see the rules, is that the model’s answer to your request, or do you see missing rules in the agent’s actual behavior?
The model’s answer. I also notice in the agent’s behavior because it’s using the command line instead of tool calls which is explicitly prohibited in my instructions
Do your .mdc files include frontmatter with alwaysApply: true?
Yes to both
There’s a confirmed bug where file-backed rules from ~/.cursor/rules/ don’t show up in the Settings UI in Agents Window
In my case it’s slightly different:
The Settings (inside Cursor) see the my custom rules (manually added in $HOME/.cursor/rules/<…>.mdc)
Got it, thanks for clarifying. Interesting detail: in a related thread Cursor settings don’t list or reflect active user rules and plugins the bug was the other way around. The Settings UI didn’t show the rules, but the agent still applied them. In your case it’s the opposite. Settings sees them, the agent ignores them.
Request ID: open a new chat in Agents Window, send any message, then open the chat context menu top right corner and pick Copy Request ID.
When you open Agents Window, are you opening a specific project as a workspace, or does the agent start from your home directory?
In the Agents Window chat there’s an Active Rules indicator. Can you check what it shows?
For now, the best workaround is using User Rules via the UI: Cursor Settings > Rules. It’s not the file based workflow, but it works reliably in both the IDE and Agents Window.
The team is aware of this class of rules issues in Glass. Your report helps us pin down the exact boundaries of the bug. Let me know the details for the points above.
When you open Agents Window, are you opening a specific project as a workspace, or does the agent start from your home directory?
So I didn’t know much about Agents window so I just tried it once by launching it fresh from the IDE and just started typing. That does not open a workspace, and that is what brought me here.
Now that you’ve mentioned workspaces I have experimented with opening workspaces in the Agents window and here is the interesting thing:
If I open a folder on my computer then the agent does see the rules (even though there are no .cursorrules in the folder). So it seems to work correctly when the agent is started from a workspace.
It makes it less of a problem, since I’ll probably be starting agents in workspaces.
Is that the way it’s supposed to be used?
In the Agents Window chat there’s an Active Rules indicator. Can you check what it shows?
I dont see that anywhere. I just got the latest update too
Yes, using a workspace in the Agents Window is the main workflow. When you open your project folder, the agent gets the right context and it picks up rules from ~/.cursor/rules/ and from the project. Without a workspace, the agent starts from your home directory and won’t load them. For now, that’s expected behavior.
About the Active Rules indicator, sorry, I misled you. That indicator doesn’t exist right now.
If everything works reliably with a workspace, that’s the right approach. Let me know if anything still feels off.
Maybe have the first step in the UI be “select a workspace” before even showing the text box. I guess that would have made it clear to me I’m supposed to open workspace first.
Also the “detached” mode should also probably also honor the rules even without a workspace.
Just a suggestion, in light of my personal experience.
I’ll start using the Agent window more. Keep up the great work. Always appreciate that you guys are very responsive. It’s quite astounding. And I have a soft spot for Cursor because it was my first AI coding assistant so I always come back to it.