Feature request: Local routines / automations for Cursor
I’d love to see Cursor support lightweight routines or automations that can run on a local machine, similar in spirit to automated agent workflows but without requiring everything to execute in Cursor Cloud Agent.
Context: Cursor Cloud Agent is very useful, but there are cases where it is hard or impractical to fully reproduce a development environment in the cloud. Some projects depend on local services, private networks, hardware, credentials, databases, Docker setups, or other machine-specific configuration that may not be easy to mirror remotely.
In those cases, it would be helpful to define recurring local automations that Cursor can run against the user’s existing local environment. For example, a developer could have Cursor run a routine to inspect an issue, modify code, run the project’s local tests, check formatting, or prepare a change using the already-configured machine.
I’m not suggesting a detailed spec here, but the core request is:
Cursor should support user-defined routines/automations that execute locally, using the local repo and local development environment, as an alternative or complement to Cursor Cloud Agent.
This would make agentic workflows more practical for projects where the local environment is the source of truth.
Part of this workflow is already covered by the My Machines feature for Cloud Agents. It runs the agent loop in the cloud, but all terminal commands, file edits, and tool actions run on your machine through an outbound worker. That means your local repo, dependencies, build cache, private network, Docker, and creds are available to the agent as-is, without recreating the environment in the cloud. You start it with agent worker start, then your machine shows up in the dropdown at cursor.com/agents.
Combined with Automations Automations | Cursor Docs, you can set up scheduled runs that hit your local environment. That’s pretty close to what you’re describing.
Fully local automations without any cloud loop are on our radar as a separate feature, but I can’t share a specific timeline. If My Machines doesn’t cover your use case, tell me what’s missing. That’ll help us understand what gaps are still there.
Hi @deanrie Thank you for sharing the information! I haven’t tried the self-hosted worker. That can tentatively work. And I look forward to the fully local automation too.
@deanrie Cursor IDE today supports Automations for Cloud Agents. Does Cursor team plan to add automations on Cursor IDE? For instance, Codex and Antigravity provide scheduled automation locally. If we can implement even scheduled automation on the local machine, that would be very useful.
Hey, the status hasn’t really changed since May. Fully local automations, including scheduled runs entirely on your machine with no cloud loop, are still on the radar as a separate feature, but I can’t share a specific release timeline yet.
If the key part for your current use case is scheduling, the My Machines + Automations setup covers it. The schedule triggers the run, the agent loop runs in the cloud, and terminal commands, edits, and tools run on your machine via the worker. For most scheduled repo checks, running local tests, and similar tasks, this should be enough.
If you have a specific scenario where a cloud loop won’t work at all, like hard offline use or a policy that blocks any outbound traffic to Cursor, let me know. Those cases help us prioritize.