From 59bc52f5278098b494fdefca5c6de0323aa2c282 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Dotta <bippadotta@protonmail.com>
Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2026 09:27:20 -0600
Subject: [PATCH] cursor adapter: do not default to read-only ask mode

---
 packages/adapters/cursor-local/src/index.ts   |  2 +-
 .../cursor-local/src/server/execute.ts        |  2 +-
 .../__tests__/cursor-local-execute.test.ts    | 62 ++++++++++++++++++-
 3 files changed, 62 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/packages/adapters/cursor-local/src/index.ts b/packages/adapters/cursor-local/src/index.ts
index 01eabfbd..15bbb9d5 100644
--- a/packages/adapters/cursor-local/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/adapters/cursor-local/src/index.ts
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ Core fields:
 - instructionsFilePath (string, optional): absolute path to a markdown instructions file prepended to the run prompt
 - promptTemplate (string, optional): run prompt template
 - model (string, optional): Cursor model id (for example auto or gpt-5.3-codex)
-- mode (string, optional): Cursor execution mode passed as --mode (plan|ask). Defaults to ask when omitted.
+- mode (string, optional): Cursor execution mode passed as --mode (plan|ask). Leave unset for normal autonomous runs.
 - command (string, optional): defaults to "agent"
 - extraArgs (string[], optional): additional CLI args
 - env (object, optional): KEY=VALUE environment variables
diff --git a/packages/adapters/cursor-local/src/server/execute.ts b/packages/adapters/cursor-local/src/server/execute.ts
index 39f94d7a..ad2f02e2 100644
--- a/packages/adapters/cursor-local/src/server/execute.ts
+++ b/packages/adapters/cursor-local/src/server/execute.ts
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ export async function execute(ctx: AdapterExecutionContext): Promise<AdapterExec
   );
   const command = asString(config.command, "agent");
   const model = asString(config.model, DEFAULT_CURSOR_LOCAL_MODEL).trim();
-  const mode = normalizeMode(asString(config.mode, "ask"));
+  const mode = normalizeMode(asString(config.mode, ""));
 
   const workspaceContext = parseObject(context.paperclipWorkspace);
   const workspaceCwd = asString(workspaceContext.cwd, "");
diff --git a/server/src/__tests__/cursor-local-execute.test.ts b/server/src/__tests__/cursor-local-execute.test.ts
index 27638695..70776ac2 100644
--- a/server/src/__tests__/cursor-local-execute.test.ts
+++ b/server/src/__tests__/cursor-local-execute.test.ts
@@ -96,8 +96,8 @@ describe("cursor execute", () => {
       expect(result.errorMessage).toBeNull();
 
       const capture = JSON.parse(await fs.readFile(capturePath, "utf8")) as CapturePayload;
-      expect(capture.argv).toContain("--mode");
-      expect(capture.argv).toContain("ask");
+      expect(capture.argv).not.toContain("--mode");
+      expect(capture.argv).not.toContain("ask");
       expect(capture.paperclipEnvKeys).toEqual(
         expect.arrayContaining([
           "PAPERCLIP_AGENT_ID",
@@ -120,4 +120,62 @@ describe("cursor execute", () => {
       await fs.rm(root, { recursive: true, force: true });
     }
   });
+
+  it("passes --mode when explicitly configured", async () => {
+    const root = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "paperclip-cursor-execute-mode-"));
+    const workspace = path.join(root, "workspace");
+    const commandPath = path.join(root, "agent");
+    const capturePath = path.join(root, "capture.json");
+    await fs.mkdir(workspace, { recursive: true });
+    await writeFakeCursorCommand(commandPath);
+
+    const previousHome = process.env.HOME;
+    process.env.HOME = root;
+
+    try {
+      const result = await execute({
+        runId: "run-2",
+        agent: {
+          id: "agent-1",
+          companyId: "company-1",
+          name: "Cursor Coder",
+          adapterType: "cursor",
+          adapterConfig: {},
+        },
+        runtime: {
+          sessionId: null,
+          sessionParams: null,
+          sessionDisplayId: null,
+          taskKey: null,
+        },
+        config: {
+          command: commandPath,
+          cwd: workspace,
+          model: "auto",
+          mode: "ask",
+          env: {
+            PAPERCLIP_TEST_CAPTURE_PATH: capturePath,
+          },
+          promptTemplate: "Follow the paperclip heartbeat.",
+        },
+        context: {},
+        authToken: "run-jwt-token",
+        onLog: async () => {},
+      });
+
+      expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
+      expect(result.errorMessage).toBeNull();
+
+      const capture = JSON.parse(await fs.readFile(capturePath, "utf8")) as CapturePayload;
+      expect(capture.argv).toContain("--mode");
+      expect(capture.argv).toContain("ask");
+    } finally {
+      if (previousHome === undefined) {
+        delete process.env.HOME;
+      } else {
+        process.env.HOME = previousHome;
+      }
+      await fs.rm(root, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
 });