I’m facing a problem with opening projects. When I open them via CLI or the Windows “Open with” option, the rules aren’t found. However, if I open the cursor in a new window and select the project directly from the interface, it works fine.
I’ve noticed others on this forum have encountered the same issue. The cursor mentioned that they resolved it, but I’m still experiencing the problem.
Steps to Reproduce
Close all instances of Cursor.
From Windows Explorer, right-click on a project folder or file.
Select “Open with Cursor”. Alternatively, run cursor . from the CLI inside the project directory.
Expected Behavior
Cursor should open the project and load all rules correctly, identical to when the project is opened from File → Open… in the Cursor interface.
Operating System
Windows 10/11
Current Cursor Version (Menu → About Cursor → Copy)
Project-specific rules defined in the .cursor/rules directory are correctly loaded and applied when created after the initial opening of a project folder.
However, after closing and reopening the same folder, Cursor no longer recognizes or loads these rules, making them inaccessible through the Cursor Settings UI or Add Context UI and preventing “always apply” rules from functioning.
Steps to Reproduce
Steps:
Create a new, empty folder on your system.
Open this folder in Cursor (File > Open Folder…).
Go to Cursor Settings > Project tab.
Under “Project Rules,” create a new rule named agent-identity.
Set the rule’s content to: Your name is Bob Wilson.
Ensure the “Always apply this rule” checkbox is checked.
Start a new chat. Notice the GUI correctly shows the agent-identity rule has been automatically loaded.
Ask the AI: What is your full name?
Observe the correct response based on the rule (e.g., “My full name is Bob Wilson”).
Close the Cursor window entirely.
Re-open Cursor and the same project folder.
Start a new chat conversation.
After reopening the project, the .cursor/rules are completely ignored.
The agent-identity rule is not automatically loaded into new chats.
The “Project Rules” section in Settings is empty.
The rule is missing from the Add Context > Rules menu.
The AI gives a generic answer to “What is your full name?”, indicating it is unaware of the rule.
Expected Behavior
When the project is reopened, Cursor should recognize the .cursor directory.
The agent-identity rule should be automatically loaded into new chats.
The rule should be visible in Cursor Settings > Project.
The rule should be available to add manually from the Add Context > Rules menu.
Asking “What is your full name?” should again result in the AI responding, “My full name is Bob Wilson.”
Interestingly, if you manually add the rule file (.cursor/rules/agent-identity.txt) to the chat using @file, Cursor makes a tool call to load its content, which is different from the seamless integration expected of a project rule.
Screenshots / Screen Recordings
Operating System
Windows 10/11
Current Cursor Version (Menu → About Cursor → Copy)
This bug was already present in 1.5, and is still present in 1.7 version.
I expect it to be triggered by my environment. Otherwise everyone would have already complained. In the only thing special I can think of about my environment is that I am using Cursor via an Enterprise Plan. And my company cursor settings and policy is very strict and restrictive.
I have discover reading Rules not found - Bug Reports - Cursor - Community Forum
that the problem explained above is only trigger is I re-open cursor using the command line “cursor” command or with a “right-click” on the folder.
If I open a project using “Open Folder” from cursor, the rules are correctly loaded