MCP access in headless mode

[Dan_S]

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor CLI

Describe the Bug

I cannot get Cursor CLI to speak to the MCP in headless mode

Steps to Reproduce

The MCP server is configured:

$ cursor-agent mcp list
atlassian: ready

I have a .workspace-trusted and an mcp-approvals.json file for this project under the .cursor directory. If I call:

cursor-agent --force -p Get ABC-1234 using the MCP

It works. If I call:

cursor-agent -p Get ABC-1234 using the MCP

It doesn’t work. I get:

It appears the MCP Jira tools are not available or accessible in this environment. The tool execution was rejected, which means I cannot directly retrieve the Jira issue ABC-1234 using the MCP tools.

To help you get the information about ABC-1234, you could:

1. **Access Jira directly** - Log into your Jira instance and search for ABC-1234
2. **Use the web interface** - Navigate to the issue URL if you have it
3. **Check if MCP is properly configured** - The Jira MCP tools may need proper authentication setup

If you have access to the Jira instance through other means or can provide the issue details, I'd be happy to help analyze or work with that information.

Expected Behavior

I get the same output as --force.

Operating System

Linux

Current Cursor Version (Menu → About Cursor → Copy)

$ cursor-agent --version
2025.10.02-bd871ac

Additional Information

Neither I nor Cursor can determine what, if anything, to add to the allow list to enable access, and I don’t want to keep running the agent in force mode.

Does this stop you from using Cursor

Sometimes - I can sometimes use Cursor

[sanjeed5]

Thanks for the report, I’ve passed it on to the team.

[Dan_S]

I have discussed this issue with the Cursor team. It turns out it isn’t a bug; it is just a missing feature. They have not implemented MCP approvals for the CLI yet, so the only solution is to either keep clicking approve in interactive mode or use --force .

There is no ETA on when this feature will be available.