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If Cursor is not following your rules, check three things in order: whether the rule’s trigger matches the request, whether it is stored in a location the active Cursor surface reads, and whether the feature you are using supports rules. A rule saved in a project does not necessarily apply to every request or every Cursor feature.
1. The rule’s type or trigger does not match the task
Cursor project rules are .mdc files in .cursor/rules. Each rule has an activation type, so the file’s presence alone does not mean Cursor will include it in every interaction. Cursor’s Rules documentation describes four types:
| Rule type | When it applies | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Always | Included in model context. | Confirm this is the intended behavior for the rule. |
| Auto Attached | Included when referenced files match the configured glob. | Check that the pattern matches the actual file involved in the request. |
| Agent Requested | Available for the Agent to select. | Give the rule a clear description so the Agent can determine when it is relevant. |
| Manual | Included only when explicitly mentioned using @ruleName. |
Invoke the rule by name when you need it. |
Cursor’s rules FAQ specifically advises checking an Agent Requested rule’s description and an Auto Attached rule’s file pattern. See the Rules FAQ.
Check the activation setting
Open Cursor Settings > Rules, or inspect the rule’s .mdc frontmatter, and verify its type. If you expect a rule to apply automatically to a particular file, compare its glob with that file’s actual path. If you chose Manual, mention the rule by name in the request.
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2. The rule is in a different file or scope than the active surface reads
Cursor has several instruction locations, and they are not interchangeable. Project rules live in .cursor/rules and can be scoped to files; the documentation also describes nested .cursor/rules directories for subfolders. User Rules are global plain text configured in Cursor Settings. The root-level .cursorrules file remains supported in the documented guidance but is deprecated in favor of Project Rules. Cursor’s rules page describes AGENTS.md as a simple root-level alternative without the metadata and per-rule scoping available in .cursor/rules.
Nested AGENTS.md support is version-sensitive: Cursor’s AGENTS.md documentation labels it as planned for v1.6. Do not assume nested files work in every installed version.
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Check the project root and rule location
Make sure the intended project is open and the rule is inside that project’s root or the appropriate nested location. Identify whether the instruction is a global User Rule, a project .mdc rule, root-level AGENTS.md, or legacy .cursorrules; each has different scope and activation behavior.
Account for IDE and CLI differences
Cursor says its CLI agent supports the same rules system as the IDE and reads root-level AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md alongside .cursor/rules. If the IDE and CLI behave differently, verify the workspace root and the instruction filenames the surface is expected to load. See Cursor CLI documentation.
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3. The feature you are testing does not use rules
Cursor’s rules documentation says rules apply to Chat and Inline Edit, but do not impact Cursor Tab or other AI features. That means a correctly configured rule can have no effect in a feature outside the documented scope. See What are Rules?
Test in Chat or Inline Edit
Try the same instruction in Chat or Inline Edit. In Chat, use @Cursor Rules to explicitly apply project rules, and check the Agent sidebar’s active-rule display to see whether the instruction reached the current context. Cursor describes these options in its Rules FAQ.
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Run through these checks in order
- Identify the feature: note whether the behavior occurs in Chat, Inline Edit, Cursor Tab, or the CLI.
- Locate the instruction: find the relevant project
.cursor/rules/*.mdc, User Rule in settings, root-levelAGENTS.md, or legacy.cursorrules. - Verify its trigger: check the rule type; compare an Auto Attached glob with the target file path; add a description to an Agent Requested rule; or explicitly invoke a Manual rule.
- Confirm it reached Chat: use
@Cursor Ruleswhen appropriate and inspect the active-rule display in the Agent sidebar. - Make the instruction actionable: Cursor recommends focused, specific rules, splitting large concepts into composable rules, and keeping each rule under 500 lines. This is a product recommendation, not a measured failure threshold. See Rules best practices.
- Gather details if the checks do not explain it: record your Cursor version, rule file and frontmatter, target file path, feature used, and a reproducible prompt. The documentation does not establish a universal repair or a current known defect.
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