[WSL] Remote connection unstable – “Open Folder” infinite loading + extension host never starts (NoResolverFound / transport provider)

Support Bug Reports
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1

Hello,

I’m experiencing a blocking issue when using Cursor with WSL (Windows 11 + Ubuntu). The problem appears to be related to the remote connection / extension host layer rather than the project itself or WSL.

:puzzle_piece: Environment

  • Windows 11

  • WSL2 (Ubuntu)

  • Cursor version: 3.1.17 (also tested with downgrade to 2.x)

  • No apparent networking issues in WSL

:cross_mark: Issue

When opening a project in WSL via Cursor:

  • Connection to WSL is successfully established

  • The Cursor server (cursor-server) responds correctly

  • HOWEVER:

    • “Open Folder” loads indefinitely

    • Files never appear in the explorer

    • The UI stays empty

    • The remote connection keeps reconnecting in a loop

:pushpin: Relevant logs

Key errors observed:

  • No remote extension installed to resolve wsl

  • No Connect transport provider registered

  • The remote extension host took longer than 60s to send its ready message

  • socket close event (code: 1006)

  • Unable to create workbench contribution 'remoteTerminalBackend' (already registered)

:magnifying_glass_tilted_left: Observations

  • HTTP connection to 127.0.0.1 works (cursor-server is running)

  • WSL networking is working correctly (ip addr OK)

  • The issue seems to occur during remote extension host initialization

:test_tube: Troubleshooting steps already tried

I’ve already attempted the following without success:

  • Full reinstall of Cursor

  • Deleting:

    • ~/.cursor-server

    • %AppData%/Cursor

    • .cursor

  • wsl --shutdown

  • Disabling all extensions

  • Testing with an empty folder

  • Running with cursor --classic

  • Downgrading to Cursor 2.x

  • Verifying WSL networking

  • Opening from WSL terminal using cursor . (sometimes works better but still unstable)

:white_check_mark: What works

  • WSL itself works correctly

  • File navigation in terminal is fine

  • cursor-server is reachable and responds

:red_question_mark: Hypothesis

The issue seems related to:

  • the remote transport layer

  • or the WSL resolver

  • or the remote extension host failing to initialize properly

:folded_hands: Question

Is this a known issue with WSL on recent Cursor versions?
Is there a recommended workaround or stable version to avoid this problem?

Thanks in advance for your help.

4

Hey, this is a known issue. It looks like you have two conflicting WSL extensions installed at the same time: ms-vscode-remote.remote-wsl from the VS Code Marketplace and anysphere.remote-wsl which is Cursor’s native one. The remoteTerminalBackend already registered and No remote extension installed to resolve wsl errors are exactly about this. The resolver gets registered twice and neither one starts correctly.

Try this step by step. This helped a few users in this thread Can't connect to WSL anymore - #14 by pluma

  1. Open the Agents Window (a new agent window) and close any stuck windows.
  2. From the Agents Window, try opening your WSL project again. You should see a popup from anysphere.remote-wsl with an Uninstall & Reload button. Click it. It will remove the conflicting VS Code extension.
  3. If the popup doesn’t show up, open Extensions and manually uninstall ms-vscode-remote.remote-wsl, leaving only anysphere.remote-wsl.
  4. In PowerShell, run wsl --shutdown.
  5. Restart Cursor and connect to WSL again.

If the app window is fully locked up and the Extensions pane won’t load, you can remove the VS Code WSL extension via the Cursor CLI: cursor --list-extensions then cursor --uninstall-extension ms-vscode-remote.remote-wsl.

Let me know if this worked. If not, send a screenshot of the Extensions tab (installed and recommended) and the output of cursor --list-extensions from your terminal.