When using Cursor’s AI coding assistant, running terminal commands (such as npx playwright test, npm run dev, or any long-running process) in the foreground causes the UI to hang or become unresponsive until the command completes. This forces the user to manually push each command to the background to continue working or interacting with the assistant.
Steps to Reproduce:
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Use the AI assistant to propose a terminal command that takes more than a few seconds (e.g., npx playwright test).
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Allow the command to run in the foreground.
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Observe that the UI is blocked and no further actions can be taken until the command finishes.
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Manually backgrounding the command resolves the issue, but this must be done every time.
Expected Behavior:
The assistant should automatically background long-running or potentially blocking terminal commands, or provide a setting to do so by default. The UI should remain responsive, and users should not have to manually intervene for every command.
Actual Behavior:
The UI blocks on every long-running command, requiring manual intervention to background the process and restore usability.
Impact:
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Reduces productivity and smoothness of the AI-assisted workflow.
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Causes confusion for new users who may not realize why the UI is unresponsive.
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Increases friction for test-driven and iterative development.
Suggested Solution:
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Automatically background commands that are likely to block (e.g., test runs, dev servers).
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Provide a user setting to always background terminal commands.
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Detect and warn users when a command is likely to block the UI.