Shell and Python work when I run them manually in Cursor’s integrated CMD, but the Agent’s run-terminal-command tool does not return usable stdout/stderr (often empty output, ~0 ms, exit 0). Agent-driven Python and scripts are therefore unreliable even though the integrated terminal is fine. Enabling Legacy Terminal Tool does not fix it. This machine also cannot use PowerShell due to policy. I would like to know if that could be related and whether cmd.exe can be forced for Agent runs.
Product / feature: Cursor IDE — Agent / Composer terminal command execution (shell commands invoked by the agent).
What works vs what fails:
Integrated terminal (manual, CMD): Normal output for echo, where python, python --version, python -c “print(‘ok’)”.
Agent terminal tool: Empty stdout/stderr, ~0 ms, exit 0. In one check, a workspace probe file write also did not appear despite exit 0, which suggests silent failure or broken capture, not a missing Python install.
Legacy Terminal Tool: Enabled in settings, but no change — the issue persists.
Environment:
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26100.
Workspace: local folder under D:…\REDACTED (full path omitted in this public post).
Integrated terminal: CMD; manual usage works.
PowerShell: Not usable on this machine (organizational / execution policy restrictions). I am not claiming PowerShell is the proven root cause — I am asking Cursor to confirm whether Agent tooling depends on PowerShell on Windows and whether cmd.exe can be selected instead.
Legacy Terminal Tool: Enabled under Settings → Chat → Inline Editing & Terminal. The problem still reproduces: empty agent capture, ~0ms, exit 0.
Cursor version:
Version: 2.6.22 (system setup)
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: c6285feaba0ad62603f7c22e72f0a170dc8415a0
Date: 2026-03-27T15:59:31.561Z
Build Type: Stable
Release Track: Default
Electron: 39.8.1
Chromium: 142.0.7444.265
Node.js: 22.22.1
V8: 14.2.231.22-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26100
Additional context — PowerShell disabled by policy:
Does the Agent terminal pipeline on Windows require PowerShell, directly or indirectly? If Agent runs always try to spawn PowerShell and it is blocked by policy, could that produce empty stdout/stderr, ~0 ms, and exit 0 while integrated CMD still works?
If PowerShell is required today, is there a supported setting to force Agent or automation terminal to cmd.exe (for example default profile, terminal.integrated.automationProfile.windows, or another official option)? If not, please document the dependency or add a fallback when PowerShell is unavailable.
Steps to reproduce:
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Open the workspace (path redacted here).
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In integrated CMD, run echo test, then python --version, then python -c “print(‘ok’)” — output appears (see log below).
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In Agent chat, ask the agent to run the same commands via the terminal tool.
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Observe: integrated terminal is OK; the agent tool shows empty output, ~0ms, exit 0, with Legacy Terminal enabled.
Expected behavior: The agent terminal tool should return the same stdout/stderr and realistic timing as the integrated terminal, with correct exit codes when commands fail.
Actual behavior (agent tool, observed): I attempted something like: cd /d “D:…\REDACTED” && echo AGENT_PROBE_1 && python --version && python -c “print(‘agent-probe-ok’)” (cwd redacted). The pattern was: exit code 0, empty stdout/stderr, ~0 ms, which is not plausible for shell plus Python. A follow-up PowerShell WriteAllText probe to a file such as _agent_tool_probe.txt under the workspace also reported exit 0 and empty capture, but the file was not present afterward.
