iOS app: "Couldn't start agent" when starting new agent — works on desktop, fails on mobile

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1

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor for iOS

Describe the Bug

When I try to start a new agent from the Cursor iOS app, I get:

Couldn’t start agent. Couldn’t load branches for this repository. Try again.

The same account and repository work fine when starting agents from the desktop browser (cursor.com/agents). I can also start on desktop and continue the session on my phone — follow-ups, inbox, streaming all work. The failure is specific to creating a new agent from the iOS app.

I’m using a My Machines worker (agent worker start) on a remote Linux VM. The worker itself is healthy — agents run correctly when started from desktop and when I use the worker direct link in a browser.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Run agent worker start on a Linux VM (repo checkout with Git remote)
  2. On iPhone, open the native Cursor iOS app (fresh install)
  3. Sign in with the same account used on desktop
  4. Tap New agent
  5. Select repo
  6. Try to send a message (branch selection appears to be required internally)

Result: Error — “Couldn’t load branches for this repository. Try again.”

Expected Behavior

The iOS app should load branches for (at minimum main) and allow starting a new agent, the same way the desktop web UI does.

Operating System

Linux

Version Information

Version: 3.10.17
VS Code Extension API: 1.125.0
Commit: c89f45b831621cdc5e951694db44fecd8fab1150
Date: 2026-07-05T06:39:45.228Z
Layout: IDE
Build Type: Stable
Release Track: Default
Electron: 40.10.3
Chromium: 144.0.7559.236
Node.js: 24.15.0
V8: 14.4.258.32-electron.0
xterm.js: 6.1.0-beta.256
OS: Darwin arm64 25.5.0

Cursor for iOS V1.2.0 (38381)

Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

6

Hi @Joshua_Cortez!

Thanks for the report.

Have you made sure the GitHub application configured at https://cursor.com/dashboard/integrations has access to the repo you’re trying to start an agent for?

https://cursor.com/agents is a bit more resillient to this when using a private worker, but the Mobile app isn’t yet (we have an issue filed for this).

8

Hi @Colin thanks for staying on top of this!

I have cursor github integration for my account. But the repo I’m working on is owned by someone else who’s the admin.

I actually got it to work until yesterday (i.e., starting a new cursor agent from my mobile operating on a remote Linux VM). The only change was that I shut down the tmux session and started a new one, and then I couldn’t start a new cursor agent anymore from mobile.