Remote-SSH fails to reconnect after server process dies - stale PID file not cleaned up

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1

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

When the remote cursor-server process terminates unexpectedly (OOM, killed by
system, etc.), subsequent connection attempts fail with “Failed to install
server within the timeout.” The extension detects a stale PID file and
attempts to connect to the dead process rather than starting a new server
instance.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Connect to a remote host via Remote-SSH
  2. Remote server process gets killed (e.g., by OOM killer, system process
    reaper, or manual termination)
  3. Attempt to reconnect to the same host
  4. Connection times out repeatedly after 30 seconds

Expected Behavior

The extension should detect that the process referenced in pid.txt is no longer running, clean up stale files, and start a fresh server instance.

Operating System

Linux

Version Information

Version Info:

  • Cursor version: 2.4.21
  • VSCode version: 1.105.1
  • Commit: dc8361355d709f306d5159635a677a571b277bc0
  • Remote-SSH extension: 1.0.38
  • Client OS: macOS (Darwin arm64)
  • Remote OS: Linux

Does this stop you from using Cursor

Yes - Cursor is unusable

6

Hey @Justin_Fargnoli !

Thanks a lot for raising this. :folded_hands: We’ve merged a fix that should be available in 1.0.39 of the Remote SSH extension.