Inconsistent Application of Rules incl. as @context, "Always" and in Multi-Project

Bug Reports
1

Summary

Rules are not consistently applied after multiple Cursor projects have been open simultaneously. My custom rule (initially configured as “always”) only intermittently gets prefixed to messages (maybe depending on which projects are open at the same time?).

Environment

  • OS: macOS 24.3.0

  • Cursor Version: Latest stable release

  • Setup: Multiple projects open in different windows → But behaviour stays the same when windows are closed

Reproduction Steps

  1. Create a rule file (.mdc) in Project A’s .cursor/rules/ directory

  2. Create a configuration file for the rule with “type”: “always” and “enabled”: true

  3. Open Project A in Cursor, verify the rule is applied to messages

  4. Without closing Project A, open Project B in another window and also create a rule file (.mdc) in Project B’s .cursor/rules/ directory

  5. Continue working in Project B and observe the rule being inconsistently applied

Evidence & Testing

I’ve tested this extensively:

  1. When only my initial project was open, the “always” rule was correctly applied and visible for the agents. They saw it as

<required_instructions>

The following rules should always be followed.

name-of-the-rule

Content of the rule
</required_instructions>

  1. After opening multiple projects, the rule became intermittently visible, which also goes for all other rules in other projects

  2. Within the same conversation session, some messages had the rule context and others didn’t. The agents themselves couldn’t figure out a pattern.

  3. I even tried a configuration file:

json

Apply to rule-name…

{

“type”: “always”,

“enabled”: true

}

Screenshot 2025-04-24 at 14.08.19
Screenshot 2025-04-24 at 14.08.192382×1530 239 KB

Current Behavior

  • “Always” rules only apply intermittently

  • Adding a rule via @ in the chat is ignored even though other contexts via @ are visible for the agents

  • Rules may be prioritized from alphabetically first project

  • Even within the same project window, rule application is inconsistent

  • No error messages or indication which project’s rules are active

Expected Behavior

  • Rules marked as “always” should consistently apply within their project context

  • There should be clear indication of which project’s rules are currently active

  • @rules should be recognised

  • Project-specific rules should remain specific to their window/context

Impact on Workflow

  • Cannot maintain consistent rules

  • Required to constantly restart Cursor or close all other projects

  • Reduces productivity and interrupts thought flow

Related Reports

This appears related to what user @lukasnevosad reported: “Cursor only seems to take .cursor/rules from the first folder alphabetically, this is also where rules are created using the dialogue in Settings. If I create .cursor/rules in the other folders, they seem to be ignored completely.”

Workarounds Attempted

I’ve tried several workarounds:

  • Closing all projects except one project

  • Restarting Cursor between project switches

  • Running multiple Cursor instances

Additional Testing

When I manually attached both my .mdc rule file and its JSON configuration file in chat, Claude could only see the JSON file and not the .mdc file, suggesting possible issues with how rule files are processed.

Suggested Improvements

  1. Allow project-specific rules to remain active in their respective windows

  2. Add visual indicator showing which rule set is currently active

  3. Provide option to prioritize certain projects’ rules

  4. Implement true workspace-level rules that work across projects