WSL extensions broken in 2.5.0-pre.16.patch.1 - 'must be of file-scheme' error

Support Bug Reports
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1

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

Cursor Bug Report: WSL Extension Loading Failure

Summary

Cursor 2.5.0-pre.16.patch.1 fails to load built-in extensions (including Git Base, Emmet, JSON Language Features, and others) when connected to WSL. The extension host receives vscode-remote:// URIs instead of file:// paths, causing all affected extensions to fail activation.

Environment

  • Cursor Version: 2.5.0-pre.16.patch.1
  • OS: Windows (connecting to WSL)
  • WSL Distro: Ubuntu
  • Architecture: x64

Related Issue

During initial WSL connection attempts, Cursor failed to patch the launcher script because it was looking for code and code.cmd files that no longer exist:

2026-01-29 09:48:37.599 [error] Failed to patch code.sh launcher: Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory, open 'c:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Programs\cursor\resources\app\bin\code'

The resources\app\bin\ directory only contains cursor, cursor.cmd, cursor-tunnel.exe, and code-tunnel.exe — the code and code.cmd files are missing. Creating symlinks (code → cursor, code.cmd → cursor.cmd) resolved the WSL connection issue but did not fix extension loading.

Primary Error

Multiple built-in extensions fail to activate with the same root cause — the extension loader receives vscode-remote:// URIs when it requires file:// scheme paths:

Activating extension 'vscode.git-base' failed: Cannot load URI: 'vscode-remote://wsl%2Bubuntu/home/<user>/.cursor-server/bin/6a660d2ce321a7b8cb168c733bb17a388c2b8660/extensions/git-base/dist/extension.js', must be of file-scheme.

Cascade Failures

Because Git Base fails to load, dependent extensions also fail:

Cannot activate the 'Git' extension because its dependency 'Git Base' failed to activate
Cannot activate the 'GitHub' extension because its dependency 'Git Base' failed to activate
Cannot activate the 'anysphere.cursor-retrieval' extension because its dependency 'Git' failed to activate
Cannot activate the 'anysphere.cursor-agent-exec' extension because its dependency 'Git' failed to activate

Full List of Affected Extensions

All of these fail with the same “must be of file-scheme” error:

  • vscode.git-base
  • vscode.emmet
  • vscode.extension-editing
  • vscode.markdown-language-features
  • vscode.configuration-editing
  • vscode.json-language-features
  • vscode.npm
  • vscode.debug-auto-launch
  • vscode.merge-conflict
  • anysphere.cursor-agent
  • anysphere.cursor-polyfills-remote
  • anysphere.cursor-mcp
  • anysphere.cursor-shadow-workspace

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Install Cursor 2.5.0-pre.16.patch.1 on Windows
  2. Connect to WSL (Ubuntu)
  3. Open Developer Tools (Ctrl+Shift+I) → Console tab
  4. Observe extension activation errors

Expected Behavior

Extensions should load successfully when connected to WSL. The extension host should resolve vscode-remote:// URIs to local file:// paths before attempting to load extension entry points.

Workaround Attempted

  • Created symlinks for missing code and code.cmd files (resolved WSL connection, not extension loading)
  • Removed and reinstalled ~/.cursor-server in WSL (no effect)
  • Disabled/re-enabled extensions (no effect)
  • Full uninstall/reinstall of Cursor (issue persists)

Root Cause Analysis

The WSL remote extension host appears to be passing unresolved vscode-remote://wsl%2Bubuntu/... URIs to the extension loader instead of first resolving them to local filesystem paths (file:///home/<user>/.cursor-server/...). This suggests a regression in the URI resolution layer of the remote extension host.

Console Log Excerpt

workbench.desktop.main.js:38661 Activating extension 'anysphere.cursor-agent' failed: Cannot load URI: 'vscode-remote://wsl%2Bubuntu/home/<user>/.cursor-server/bin/6a660d2ce321a7b8cb168c733bb17a388c2b8660/extensions/cursor-agent/dist/main', must be of file-scheme.

workbench.desktop.main.js:38661 Activating extension 'vscode.git-base' failed: Cannot load URI: 'vscode-remote://wsl%2Bubuntu/home/<user>/.cursor-server/bin/6a660d2ce321a7b8cb168c733bb17a388c2b8660/extensions/git-base/dist/extension.js', must be of file-scheme.

workbench.desktop.main.js:38661 Cannot activate the 'Git' extension because its dependency 'Git Base' failed to activate

workbench.desktop.main.js:38661 Cannot activate the 'GitHub' extension because its dependency 'Git Base' failed to activate

workbench.desktop.main.js:38661 Cannot activate the 'anysphere.cursor-retrieval' extension because its dependency 'Git' failed to activate

workbench.desktop.main.js:38661 Cannot activate the 'anysphere.cursor-agent-exec' extension because its dependency 'Git' failed to activate

workbench.desktop.main.js:38661 Activating extension 'anysphere.cursor-polyfills-remote' failed: Cannot load URI: 'vscode-remote://wsl%2Bubuntu/home/<user>/.cursor-server/bin/6a660d2ce321a7b8cb168c733bb17a388c2b8660/extensions/cursor-polyfills-remote/dist/main', must be of file-scheme.

workbench.desktop.main.js:38661 Activating extension 'vscode.emmet' failed: Cannot load URI: 'vscode-remote://wsl%2Bubuntu/home/<user>/.cursor-server/bin/6a660d2ce321a7b8cb168c733bb17a388c2b8660/extensions/emmet/dist/node/emmetNodeMain', must be of file-scheme.

workbench.desktop.main.js:38661 Activating extension 'vscode.extension-editing' failed: Cannot load URI: 'vscode-remote://wsl%2Bubuntu/home/<user>/.cursor-server/bin/6a660d2ce321a7b8cb168c733bb17a388c2b8660/extensions/extension-editing/dist/extensionEditingMain', must be of file-scheme.

workbench.desktop.main.js:38661 Activating extension 'vscode.markdown-language-features' failed: Cannot load URI: 'vscode-remote://wsl%2Bubuntu/home/<user>/.cursor-server/bin/6a660d2ce321a7b8cb168c733bb17a388c2b8660/extensions/markdown-language-features/dist/extension', must be of file-scheme.

workbench.desktop.main.js:38661 Activating extension 'vscode.configuration-editing' failed: Cannot load URI: 'vscode-remote://wsl%2Bubuntu/home/<user>/.cursor-server/bin/6a660d2ce321a7b8cb168c733bb17a388c2b8660/extensions/configuration-editing/dist/configurationEditingMain', must be of file-scheme.

workbench.desktop.main.js:38661 Activating extension 'vscode.json-language-features' failed: Cannot load URI: 'vscode-remote://wsl%2Bubuntu/home/<user>/.cursor-server/bin/6a660d2ce321a7b8cb168c733bb17a388c2b8660/extensions/json-language-features/client/dist/node/jsonClientMain', must be of file-scheme.

workbench.desktop.main.js:38661 Activating extension 'vscode.npm' failed: Cannot load URI: 'vscode-remote://wsl%2Bubuntu/home/<user>/.cursor-server/bin/6a660d2ce321a7b8cb168c733bb17a388c2b8660/extensions/npm/dist/npmMain', must be of file-scheme.

workbench.desktop.main.js:41441 Cannot activate the 'Git' extension because it depends on the 'Git Base' extension, which is not loaded. Would you like to reload the window to load the extension?

workbench.desktop.main.js:38661 Activating extension 'anysphere.cursor-mcp' failed: Cannot load URI: 'vscode-remote://wsl%2Bubuntu/home/<user>/.cursor-server/bin/6a660d2ce321a7b8cb168c733bb17a388c2b8660/extensions/cursor-mcp/dist/main', must be of file-scheme.

workbench.desktop.main.js:38661 Activating extension 'anysphere.cursor-shadow-workspace' failed: Cannot load URI: 'vscode-remote://wsl%2Bubuntu/home/<user>/.cursor-server/bin/6a660d2ce321a7b8cb168c733bb17a388c2b8660/extensions/cursor-shadow-workspace/dist/extension', must be of file-scheme.

workbench.desktop.main.js:38661 Activating extension 'vscode.debug-auto-launch' failed: Cannot load URI: 'vscode-remote://wsl%2Bubuntu/home/<user>/.cursor-server/bin/6a660d2ce321a7b8cb168c733bb17a388c2b8660/extensions/debug-auto-launch/dist/extension', must be of file-scheme.

workbench.desktop.main.js:38661 Activating extension 'vscode.merge-conflict' failed: Cannot load URI: 'vscode-remote://wsl%2Bubuntu/home/<user>/.cursor-server/bin/6a660d2ce321a7b8cb168c733bb17a388c2b8660/extensions/merge-conflict/dist/mergeConflictMain', must be of file-scheme.

workbench.desktop.main.js:41441 Cannot activate the 'GitHub' extension because it depends on the 'Git Base' extension, which is not loaded. Would you like to reload the window to load the extension?

### Steps to Reproduce
Install Cursor 2.5.0-pre.16.patch.1 on Windows
Open PowerShell as Administrator and create symlinks (required to connect to WSL at all):

powershell   cd "C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Programs\cursor\resources\app\bin\"
   New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Path "code" -Target "cursor"
   New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Path "code.cmd" -Target "cursor.cmd"

Open Cursor and connect to WSL (Ubuntu)
Open Developer Tools: Ctrl+Shift+I → Console tab
Observe "must be of file-scheme" errors for multiple extensions





### Operating System
Windows 10/11

### Version Information
Cursor 2.5.0-pre.16.patch.1 on Windows







### Does this stop you from using Cursor
Yes - Cursor is unusable
4

Hey, thanks for the report. This is a known issue with URI scheme handling in the WSL remote extension host, the team is aware.

The issue is that extensions are getting unresolved vscode-remote:// URIs instead of file:// paths. This is a regression in this pre-release version.

Temporary workaround: Roll back to the stable version (2.4.x) until a fix is out. Your symlink fix for code.cmd was correct for connecting to WSL, but the main URI resolution issue needs a patch on our side.

Your report with logs and the root cause analysis is super helpful, thanks. Let me know if rolling back to stable helps.

5

Thanks for the quick response Dean. I rolled back to 2.4.22 and back up and running!

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