I have trouble getting rules to be added to the context. The only rule I ever see show up in the tooltip in agent window (screenshot below) is the one rules file with alwaysApply: true .
I have yet to see any other rules file referenced, this despite having multiple rules with globs: **/* as well as that single alwaysApply rules file directly instructing cursor to read another rules file:
---
description: salk_toolkit repo start
alwaysApply: true
---
salk_toolkit is abbreviated as stk
**ALWAYS** follow salk_toolkit.mdc when:
- Reading or examining files in this repository
- Making changes to code in this repository
with salk_toolkit.mdc starting: — globs: **/* —
For context: I have a workspace with multiple repositories with rather distinct rules, so I need the rules to be applied on a per-repo basis, so alwaysApply: True is not a great solution. I would expect globs: **/* to apply whenever any file in that repository is read (or, at minimum, edited).
Am I doing something wrong, or is maybe the tooltip just bugged?
I ran into the same thing. Rules are actually applied when files the globs match are read, the tooltip just won’t show you. Just in case, here are a few ways you can check:
If you think a glob rule should apply to a file, try adding that file to the chat directly using @. After you do that, the rule should show up in the tooltip.
Try writing a dumb but noticeable rule like “At the end of every response, ALWAYS recommend a new type of bread in two sentences”. Then send a message and check the response - it’ll be pretty obvious whether or not it applies.
Also - even with the explicit @ the .mdc file does not show up in the context.
As for putting .cursor/rules into subfolders, I would run into the same issue: alwaysApply rules are always attached, even if in subfolders, and other rules would not be attaching just like right now. So it would not solve the issue.
So it really feels the whole rule inclusion system is fundamentally broken, at least for me. I’m just wondering if I’m the only one….
As for version, exact same state as you, except on Linux (Ubuntu 22.04). Version: 2.1.39 VSCode Version: 1.105.1 Commit: 60d42bed27e5775c43ec0428d8c653c49e58e260 Date: 2025-11-27T02:30:49.286Z Electron: 37.7.0 Chromium: 138.0.7204.251 Node.js: 22.20.0 V8: 13.8.258.32-electron.0 OS: Linux x64 6.8.0-88-generic
This does not sound like an OS issue though.
I tried with your “Bread recommendation” prompt and now, after explicitly including @salk_toolkit it indeed recommends new bread types, even though the tooltip still does not show it as included. But this happens only when explicitly @-ing the file, not when asking about things in that repo.
(Side note: the bread recommendations are really funny. Might keep that prompt in for a while just for the entertainment value)
Hahaha, glad you like the bread prompt too! It makes me laugh every time.
At this point I think you should just file a bug report. Even if we have other workaround ideas (which I don’t), it should’ve worked by now. Good luck! Hopefully it gets fixed quick
I’ve been using Cursor for about 6 months now and in my experience, project rules (and memories) have like… 1% chance of actually being adhered to by the models. I don’t know if this is something intrinsic in the models or if Cursor just isn’t handling them in the context very well. I ended up making a command called /rules which reminds it to read the rules as well as directly stating some of the most important ones. This leads to the chance of rules being ignored to be only about 50% which is a hell of an improvement, but still pretty depressing.
