macOS: Open Folder did nothing - fixed by changing the app path

Guides
, ,
1

Bug report details

Where does the bug appear?
Editor, Tab & Chat — Agents window / Open Folder.

Describe the bug
Clicking Open Folder in the Agents window did nothing. The native macOS folder picker never appeared.

Steps to reproduce

  1. Launch the affected installation from /Applications/Cursor.app.
  2. Open the Agents window.
  3. Click Open Folder or press Cmd+O.
  4. Observe that no native macOS folder picker appears.

Expected behavior
The native macOS folder picker should open immediately and allow a local project folder to be selected.

Screenshots / screen recordings
Not attached. The visible symptom is that no dialog appears after the action.

Operating system
macOS 26.3.2, Apple Silicon.

Version information
Cursor 3.12.17, official signed and notarized build.

AI model / Request ID
Not applicable — this is not an AI or model-request issue.

Does this stop you from using Cursor?
Sometimes — Cursor launches, but the affected Agents window cannot open a local folder until the workaround is applied.

I ran into a reproducible issue in Cursor 3.12.17 on macOS 26.3.2 (Apple Silicon): clicking Open Folder in the Agents window did nothing, and the native macOS folder picker never appeared.

What I verified

  • The official app bundle passed both codesign --verify --deep --strict and spctl --assess.
  • The affected process launched from /Applications/Cursor.app with an unexpected --inspect=127.0.0.1:<port> argument.
  • LaunchServices/RunningBoard reported a debugger-related launch state.
  • Unified logs showed:
    • SecTaskLoadEntitlements failed error=85
    • Bad executable (or shared library)
  • Reinstalling the official build to the same /Applications/Cursor.app path did not help.
  • The identical signed and notarized app launched from a different path had no --inspect argument and no entitlement errors.

Workaround that fixed it

  1. Quit Cursor completely.
  2. Keep the existing Cursor user data and configuration.
  3. Move the old /Applications/Cursor.app aside as a backup.
  4. Install the clean official build at ~/Applications/Cursor.app.
  5. Register the new path with LaunchServices:
/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister -f "$HOME/Applications/Cursor.app"
  1. Launch that exact app path.
  2. Verify that the process no longer has --inspect and that the entitlement errors are gone.

After this, Cmd+O immediately opened the native macOS Open Folder dialog, and I successfully opened a real project.

Important caveat

I could not prove what originally created the abnormal path/session launch state. A desktop automation helper was present during part of the investigation, but static and dynamic checks did not show that it directly injected --inspect; stopping it also did not fix the old /Applications path.

The verified conclusion is narrower: in my case, the failure was bound to the old app path/current LaunchServices state, and moving the same official app to a new standard user application path created a clean launch identity.

This workaround avoids disabling Gatekeeper, removing quarantine attributes, re-signing the app, or deleting Cursor user data.

2

Hi there!

We detected that this may be a bug report, so we’ve moved your post to the Bug Reports category.

To help us investigate and fix this faster, could you edit your original post to include the details from the template below?

Bug Report Template - Click to expand

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

  • Editor, Tab & Chat (autocomplete, Composer, in-editor agent)
  • Terminal & commands
  • Models, pricing & API keys (availability, Auto/Max, BYOK/Bedrock)
  • MCP & tools
  • Cloud Agents & Automations (cursor.com/agents, scheduled/event)
  • BugBot & Code Review
  • Cursor CLI
  • Cursor Mobile
  • Remote (SSH / Dev Containers / WSL)
  • Account, billing & login
  • Something else…

Describe the Bug
A clear and concise description of what the bug is.

Steps to Reproduce
How can you reproduce this bug? We have a much better chance at fixing issues if we can reproduce them!

  1. …
  2. …
  3. …

Expected Behavior
What is meant to happen here that isn’t working correctly?

Screenshots / Screen Recordings
If applicable, attach images or videos (.jpg, .png, .gif, .mp4, .mov)

Operating System

  • Windows 10/11
  • MacOS
  • Linux

Version Information

  • For Cursor IDE: Menu → About Cursor → Copy
  • For Cursor CLI: Run agent about in your terminal
IDE:
Version: 2.xx.x
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: ......

CLI:
CLI Version 2026.01.17-d239e66

For AI issues: which model did you use?
Model name (e.g., Sonnet 4, Tab…)

For AI issues: add Request ID with privacy disabled
Request ID: f9a7046a-279b-47e5-ab48-6e8dc12daba1
For Background Agent issues, also post the ID: bc-…

Additional Information
Add any other context about the problem here.

Does this stop you from using Cursor?

  • Yes - Cursor is unusable
  • Sometimes - I can sometimes use Cursor
  • No - Cursor works, but with this issue

The more details you provide, the easier it is for us to reproduce and fix the issue. Thanks!