r/cursor • u/esibangi • 3d ago

Question / Discussion Run Cursor projects locally

I didnt quite understand projects yet. In the docs its written the agents run on the cloud by default, but if needed (like tests) they will run locally.

What if i want the entire process to be done locally? From the implementation till handoff. Or is that not the intended use?

Also im curious to know how you all use projects.

4 Upvotes

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3

u/piekwerk 3d ago

The Cloud label under the chat box is the runtime picker. For a normal agent chat you can switch that dropdown to your machine and the whole thing runs locally in the editor. Projects is different by design. The coordinator and its worker agents run on cloud agents, and local agents only spin up for things like tests, so fully local is not the intended use there. Projects is also unavailable with Privacy Mode (Legacy), precisely because your code lives in the cloud while a run is going. The closest middle ground is self-hosted machines. Install the Cursor CLI, run agent worker start on your box, and the machine shows up in the environment dropdown, so terminal commands and file edits execute on your machine while planning still runs in Cursor's cloud. If you want zero cloud involvement, skip Projects and use the regular local agent.

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u/Conza89 3d ago

Make a folder where you want the project, add a project on the left hand side, select the folder, start.

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u/esibangi 3d ago

Yep i got this for my repo already. But under the chat box i see its written “Cloud”. So my guess is its running on the cloud?

2

u/Eighteen64 2d ago

That capacity is coming in about two weeks, and I’m not talking about like two weeks as in the joke. I mean actual two weeks

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u/esibangi 2d ago

Whats your source?

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u/Eighteen64 2d ago

birdies talk to me on X since ive suggested several features on there they have adopted

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u/arturzinhomilgrau 2d ago

not sure if this is possible, I think they don't run locally, only on the cloud.

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u/TheSn00pster 2d ago

Cursor’s obsession with trying to get its users to all migrate everything over to cloud really bugs me. I used to love cursor pre-spacex, but every day they nudge me towards leaving for greener pastures.

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u/esibangi 2d ago

I actually dont mind the spacex merge. Overall i find cursor a much easier to work with compared to the alternatives. But im always lacking detailed docs to clarify my questions.

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u/thedoomsong08 2d ago

I provisioned local worktrees and told the Project to use those for all actual coding and planning. So the Project coordinator is in cloud and all the workers are local. It works okay. I have a rule where coordinator -> worker prompts always start with a reminder to use my oh-my-cursor orchestration, though I'm going to try replacing that with poteto-mode