How to set local/private model in cursor IDE/CLI

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3

Hey, thanks for the report.

I need a bit more info to understand what’s going on:

  1. What endpoint are you using? Is it a local address (localhost/127.0.0.1) or a public URL?
  2. What model name are you entering in the settings?
  3. What subscription plan are you on? (Free/Pro/Business)
  4. What Cursor version are you using? (Menu > About Cursor > Copy)

Key notes about BYOK:

  • Local models don’t work directly. Cursor sends requests through its backend to build prompts, so local addresses (localhost, LAN IP) aren’t reachable. You need a public HTTPS endpoint. You can use ngrok or a similar tunnel: Unable to use LM Studio with override
  • BYOK doesn’t work on the Free plan. You need Pro or higher.
  • Recent model validation. Cursor started validating model names on the client side, which blocks some custom models. This is a known issue and the team is working on a fix: Custom Model problems

Share your config details and we’ll figure out what exactly is wrong.