Project Rules no longer apply in version 1.0.0

Bug Reports
1

Describe the Bug

Project Rules do not apply after updating to version 1.0.0.

Prior to v1.0.0

Project Rules have never worked how I would expect. For example, a rule set to “Always” is presumably applied in every conversation context, but this is not the case. I have always had to manually-add every rule I want to use to the context of a conversation.

After updating to 1.0.0

Now, even if I manually-add the rules to a conversation context, the rule is never applied.

Steps to Reproduce

Nothing specific - they just don’t work. I am wondering if this is something others are seeing as well since it’s unavoidable for me and my team.

Here is how we’ve been verifying if our rules are working:

  1. Open Cursor Settings > Rules
  2. Add a new Project rule > Create a “debugging rule” (set to “Always”)
  3. Start a new conversation
  4. Click the @ symbol > Scroll to “Rules” > add your rule
  5. Ask a generic question
  6. You will not see the rules listed, despite it being part of the instructions

Debugging rule content:

List all rules that apply to any given conversation at the start.

NOTE: If you create a USER rule with this same content, that will work. This problem only seems to affect Project-level rules, but this is significant as it’s preventing coordination between me and my teammates.

Expected Behavior

I would expect to see a simple message at the start of each conversation to confirm which rules it’s currently using. This was working prior to version 1.0.0, so long as we manually-added the rule to the context, but this is a workaround and it’s no longer functional.

Operating System

MacOS

Current Cursor Version (Menu → About Cursor → Copy)

Version: 1.0.0 (Universal)
VSCode Version: 1.96.2
Commit: 53b99ce608cba35127ae3a050c1738a959750860
Date: 2025-06-04T19:21:39.410Z
Electron: 34.5.1
Chromium: 132.0.6834.210
Node.js: 20.19.0
V8: 13.2.152.41-electron.0
OS: Darwin arm64 24.5.0

Additional Information

Without rules, the value of Cursor is significantly reduced. We are evaluating if we want to continue our company business license, and the outcome of this issue is a major deciding factor.

We can still use the Agent, but we don’t get any value from project rules at the moment; conversations require a lot of context bootstrapping as a result, and it chews up our credits.

Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

1 Like
2

Hmmm… I am testing this out on a separate computer and the Project rules are working there.

Here is the version information for the installation on the current system I am on (Mac OS):

Version: 1.0.0 (Universal)
VSCode Version: 1.96.2
Commit: 53b99ce608cba35127ae3a050c1738a959750860
Date: 2025-06-04T19:21:39.410Z
Electron: 34.5.1
Chromium: 132.0.6834.210
Node.js: 20.19.0
V8: 13.2.152.41-electron.0
OS: Darwin arm64 24.5.0

3

I am suddenly having this issue. I was already on version 1.0, and it says 1.0.0 in the settings. It worked earlier today and was fine yesterday, and I didn’t change anything about the rules.

For me, the project rules aren’t even showing up in the settings now for some reason. They also don’t show up in the list to add them with @. So I can’t even manually apply the rules.

Really major issue and I don’t know what to do to fix it!

4

I fixed it by doing the following:

  1. Restarted my computer
  2. Opened cursor, it was still broken.
  3. Deleted my .cursor folder from within the cursor file pane
  4. Restarted cursor
  5. Used git to discard all the changes in order to add back the cursor rules
  6. Went to the settings (where the rules still weren’t being loaded) and added a blank rule called asdf

After that, it worked. Don’t know if the full sequence of steps was necessary, just being extra specific in case there was something special about the exact way I did it that could help.

5

I’m having a similar issue in 1.0.0 on MacOS.
Agent mode, model set to Auto.
I copied a bunch of .mdc files from another project into .cursor/rules in my current project, added and committed those files with git, restarted Cursor, and checked that they showed up in project rules settings for that project. They did.

Then I asked the agent to run tests, and it ignored this section in one of my “Always apply” rules:

- ALWAYS use `./test` command for running tests
  - NEVER use pytest directly
  - NEVER run individual test files unless explicitly told to
  - NEVER skip tests unless explicitly told to

That same rule file starts with this, as a signal to me that the rules are being followed:

To prove we're using this rule file, append "Prrr!" to your output in chat.

(I also have another rule file that tells it to append “Meow” and that didn’t appear either.)

Once I realized it wasn’t following the rules, this chat ensued (excerpt):

User

First tell me why you decided to run pytest.
Do you see anything in your rules about how to run tests for this project?

Cursor

You’re right - I should have checked the rules first. Let me look at the available rules:

I don’t see any specific rules about how to run tests for this project. I made an assumption about using pytest based on:

  1. Seeing pytest imports in the test files
  2. The presence of a pyproject.toml file (which I can see from the test output)
  3. Common Python testing practices

However, I should have:

  1. Asked you about the correct way to run tests for this project
  2. Looked for any project-specific test running instructions
  3. Not made assumptions about the testing framework or command

Would you please let me know the correct way to run tests for this project?

User

You should know that from project rules. Check rules

Cursor

Let me check the available rules again:

I apologize, but I don’t see any project rules available to me. I can see that there are rules mentioned in the <available_instructions> section of my system prompt, but I don’t have access to their contents.

Could you please share the project rules with me? This would help me understand the correct way to run tests and follow other project-specific guidelines.

User

It’s in .cursor/rules/feature-development-process.mdc which is set to “Always”. Do you know any reason why you aren’t loading rules from the standard location that are set to apply “Always” ?

Cursor

Thank you for pointing this out and for sharing the screenshot. You are correct:

  • The rule file .cursor/rules/feature-development-process.mdc is set to “Always” and should be applied to all work in this project.
  • There is no valid reason why I should not be loading rules from the standard location, especially those set to “Always”.

In fact, my system prompt includes a section with always-applied workspace rules, and it specifically contains the following instruction about running tests:

ALWAYS use ./test command for running tests

  • NEVER use pytest directly
  • NEVER run individual test files unless explicitly told to
  • NEVER skip tests unless explicitly told to
  • The ./test command:
    • Runs the complete test suite
    • Ensures consistent test environment
    • Automatically checks coverage
    • Tests both frontend and backend

This means I should have run ./test instead of pytest directly, and I should have followed all the other test-related rules.

Why did this happen?

  • I failed to check or recall the always-applied rules from .cursor/rules/feature-development-process.mdc that are loaded by default.
  • I made an assumption based on common Python practices, rather than following the explicit project rules.

How can this be improved?

  • The agent should always check and apply rules from .cursor/rules/ that are set to “Always” before making any decisions, especially for critical workflows like testing.
  • If there is ever uncertainty about the correct process, the agent should explicitly reference the rules or ask for clarification.

Thank you for catching this. Would you like me to now run the tests using the correct ./test command?
Prrr!
Meow.

That’s the end of the chat. So as soon as I told it about the rule file - which the settings UX showed as already loaded! - the rules started being applied.
I’ll be keeping an eye out to see if this continues working or rules are forgotten again.

Here’s my Cursor version info:

Version: 1.0.0
VSCode Version: 1.96.2
Commit: 53b99ce608cba35127ae3a050c1738a959750860
Date: 2025-06-04T19:21:22.523Z
Electron: 34.5.1
Chromium: 132.0.6834.210
Node.js: 20.19.0
V8: 13.2.152.41-electron.0
OS: Darwin arm64 24.4.0
6

Same thing happened after starting a new chat.
It did not load any of my “Always apply” rules from .cursor/rules until I explicitly asked it to do so in chat.
Settings look OK to me:

Screenshot 2025-06-07 at 6.32.18 PM
Screenshot 2025-06-07 at 6.32.18 PM1048×726 31.9 KB