Project-level cursor rules are never loaded in Windows 11

[scupit]

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

When a project is opened via the cursor command and a directory is specified, project-level rules .cursor/rules/*.mdc are never loaded (and are never recognized in settings).

However, rules work every time if you open cursor without specifying a path. For example:

• cursor path\to\project --disable-extensions: Rules are never loaded.
• cursor --disable-extensions: Rules always load/register properly.

Steps to Reproduce

Execute these steps from the command line:

1. Create a new folder.
2. cd into it.
3. Run cursor . --disable-extensions
4. Create a new rule called test-rule via the Cursor settings → Rules & Memories → Project Rules → Add rule UI. This will create the file .cursor/rules/test-rule.mdc.
5. Make sure the rule is set to “always apply”. Add any contents to the rule.
6. Add a simple file to the project (I usually test with a main.py containing print("testing")).
7. Open a new chat with the simple file as context, and run any prompt. Since this is the first time we opened the project, the rule may or may not work. Sometimes rules are applied for projects I open for the first time (after I add the first rule), but they may also fail to work at all.
8. Close all instances of cursor.
9. Open the same project again with cursor . --disable-extensions
10. Navigate to the project rules in settings. You’ll see that none of the rules have loaded, none are applied in the chats, and they aren’t available under the @Rules menu in any chat.
11. Close all instances of cursor.
12. Now run the cursor --disable-extensions command on its own without specifying a directory.
13. Again, check the project rule settings and try opening a new chat. In both cases, you’ll see the project rules are properly loaded and applied.

Expected Behavior

When I have project-level cursor rules defined in a project, I expect them to:

• Show up in the Cursor settings → Rules & Memories → Project Rules → Add rule UI.
• Appear as options in the @Rules menu in chat.
• Appear as “rules” via the @ menu in chat - not just as MDC files to edit.
• Properly and automatically apply to context when applicable (either when marked as alwaysApply: true, or when one of the files in context matches the glob specified in a rule file).

Screenshots / Screen Recordings

Operating System

Windows 10/11

Current Cursor Version (Menu → About Cursor → Copy)

Version: 1.5.5 (user setup)
VSCode Version: 1.99.3
Commit: 823f58d4f60b795a6aefb9955933f3a2f0331d70
Date: 2025-08-25T17:40:25.290Z
Electron: 34.5.8
Chromium: 132.0.6834.210
Node.js: 20.19.1
V8: 13.2.152.41-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26100

Additional Information

On MacOS, rules always work properly for me. This issue is Windows-specific. It has also been happening since at least v1.3.7.

• Request ID with rules not loading (cursor .): 601baf66-1f71-4903-bce8-d32d6f383eb8
• Request ID with rules properly loading and automatically applied in the chat: 28aed6f0-652c-4c7f-a985-b616dae5ad3b

Additional context:

• This issue occurs on all drives (i.e. I encounter the same issue for projects on both my C:\ and D:\ drive).
• After checking in Process Monitor, it seems like the rule files are always read in some capacity on cursor startup, even in the case where they aren’t registered by the UI or chats. However, when the rules are being applied properly, there is another (second) read step on startup for the rule files. Maybe that’s relevant somehow.

Here’s an example rule file from my local project .cursor/rules/another-rule.mdc:

---
alwaysApply: true
---
# Always write descriptive comments

When writing code, make sure to write descriptive comments for all functions, variables, and classes.

I have also tried:

• Full cursor reinstall and reconfigure. This involved fully uninstalling Cursor from my system, fully removing all its data folders, then reconfiguring it using a profile I exported from my macbook. Here are the folders I removed before reinstalling cursor:
  • $env:USERPROFILE\AppData\Roaming\Cursor
  • $env:USERPROFILE\AppData\Local\Programs\cursor
  • $env:USERPROFILE\.cursor

Does this stop you from using Cursor

Sometimes - I can sometimes use Cursor

[ctincristi (Cristi Constantin)]

I get the same behavior. For the same git project, project rules work on macOS but not Windows.