Sub-agent approval buttons shown in 3 places (inline, status line, drill-in pop-up) get out of sync

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1

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE — Agent / Multitask sub-agents

Describe the Bug

When a sub-agent needs approval, the Allow button appears in three places simultaneously:

  1. Inline in the conversation, in the sub-agent “box”.
  2. In a sub-agent status line above the prompt input box (shows when approval is needed).
  3. In a half-screen drill-in pop-up of the sub-agent session, opened by clicking the status line.

These three surfaces are not kept in sync:

  • Approving in surface 1 (inline box) still shows an Allow button in surface 2 (status line). It eventually disappears, but with a confusing, prolonged delay.
  • Sometimes opening surface 3 (pop-up) does not show the tool/command needing approval at all — the approval is “hidden” in surface 1 or 2, and vice-versa.

Impact

It is unclear which surface is authoritative, you cannot always locate the command awaiting approval, and stale Allow buttons invite double-approvals or confusion about whether a command actually ran.

Related: Background subagent can get stuck when permission prompt disappears…

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Start an Agent session that spawns a background sub-agent (Multitask).
  2. Have the sub-agent request approval for a shell command / tool.
  3. Observe the Allow button appears in all three surfaces (inline box, status line above prompt, and the drill-in pop-up).
  4. Approve via the inline box; note the status line still shows Allow for a prolonged delay.
  5. Alternatively, click the status line to open the pop-up and note it sometimes does not show the command awaiting approval.

Expected Behavior

The three surfaces should reflect a single source of truth and update immediately/consistently. Approving in any one surface should clear the others at once, and the drill-in pop-up should always show the command currently awaiting approval.

Operating System

MacOS

Version Information

Version: 3.7.19 (arm64)
OS: macOS 26.5.1 (build 25F80)

Does this stop you from using Cursor?

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

Happy to provide a screen recording if that would help.

7

Thanks for the detailed writeup, Omry. Sorry about the bug. It is a confirmed bug.

When a sub-agent needs approval, the same Allow control is rendered across a few surfaces (inline card, status line, and drill-in panel), and they don’t always refresh together. That’s why a stale Allow lingers after you approve elsewhere, and why the drill-in panel sometimes shows “Running” without the command that’s waiting.

For now, the most reliable place to approve is the inline card in the main conversation thread. It stays accurate, so if a sub-agent looks stuck on “Running,” approve from there.