Local Agent: Computer Use tools never appear (sidecar not launched)

[Dario_Della_Noce]

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

In local Cursor IDE Agent chat on Windows, Computer Use desktop tools never appear. Extension cursor.cursor-computer-use activates successfully and cursor-cua-sidecar.exe is installed, but %LOCALAPPDATA%\Cursor\ComputerUse stays empty (no launch token), no sidecar process runs, and the agent tool catalog has no screenshot/click/keyboard tools. Output channel “Cursor Computer Use” stays empty / often not listed until forced open.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open Cursor IDE 3.22.12 on Windows 10 VM.
2. Open a local Agent chat on a workspace.
3. Ask the agent to use Computer Use / control the desktop (e.g. “riprova CU”).
4. Observe: no desktop tools in the agent tool catalog; %LOCALAPPDATA%\Cursor\ComputerUse remains empty; no cursor-cua-sidecar process; Output channel Cursor Computer Use empty or missing from dropdown until forced open.
5. Already tried: full Cursor restart (incl. tray), new Agent chats, ACL cleanup on ComputerUse folder (removed CodexSandboxUsers inheritance).

Expected Behavior

Local Agent should receive Computer Use desktop tools (screenshot/click/keyboard), launch the sidecar with a token under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Cursor\ComputerUse, and allow driving local GUI apps.

Operating System

Windows 10/11

Version Information

Cursor IDE 3.22.12 (Windows)

Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

[deanrie]

Hey, thanks for the detailed report and the list of things you’ve already tried.

Computer Use for a local Agent on Windows controlling your own desktop via screenshots, clicks, and keyboard is currently in a limited staged rollout and isn’t generally available yet. That’s why the extension shows as active and the sidecar file exists on disk, but there are no Computer Use tools, the output channel is empty, and no token gets created under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Cursor\ComputerUse. You can’t enable this manually, and access can differ between sessions or after an update. That matches what you saw, it worked at first and then disappeared. So it’s not your setup and it’s not an ACL issue.

Until the feature rolls out, here are a few options:

• For web apps, Agent has a built-in browser tool for navigation, clicking, and screenshots: Browser | Cursor Docs
• Cloud Agents run on a VM with a full desktop, and Computer Use is available there: Capabilities | Cursor Docs
• You can connect a third-party computer-use MCP server: Model Context Protocol (MCP) | Cursor Docs

I’ve passed your report to the team handling the Windows rollout. If there’s an update on availability, I’ll follow up here.