paperclip/doc/plans/2026-02-23-cursor-cloud-adapter.md

Cursor Cloud Agent Adapter — Technical Plan

Overview

This document defines the V1 design for a Paperclip adapter that integrates with Cursor Background Agents via the Cursor REST API.

Primary references:

• https://docs.cursor.com/background-agent/api/overview
• https://docs.cursor.com/background-agent/api
• https://docs.cursor.com/background-agent/api/webhooks

Unlike claude_local and codex_local, this adapter is not a local subprocess. It is a remote orchestration adapter with:

1. launch/follow-up over HTTP
2. webhook-driven status updates when possible
3. polling fallback for reliability
4. synthesized stdout events for Paperclip UI/CLI

Key V1 Decisions

1. Auth to Cursor API uses Authorization: Bearer <CURSOR_API_KEY>.
2. Callback URL must be publicly reachable by Cursor VMs:
   • local: Tailscale URL
   • prod: public server URL
3. Agent callback auth to Paperclip uses a bootstrap exchange flow (no long-lived Paperclip key in prompt).
4. Webhooks are V1, polling remains fallback.
5. Skill delivery is fetch-on-demand from Paperclip endpoints, not full SKILL.md prompt injection.

---

Cursor API Reference (Current)

Base URL: https://api.cursor.com

Authentication header:

• Authorization: Bearer <CURSOR_API_KEY>

Core endpoints:

Endpoint	Method	Purpose
/v0/agents	POST	Launch agent
/v0/agents/{id}	GET	Agent status
/v0/agents/{id}/conversation	GET	Conversation history
/v0/agents/{id}/followup	POST	Follow-up prompt
/v0/agents/{id}/stop	POST	Stop/pause running agent
/v0/models	GET	Recommended model list
/v0/me	GET	API key metadata
/v0/repositories	GET	Accessible repos (strictly rate-limited)

Status handling policy for adapter:

• Treat CREATING and RUNNING as non-terminal.
• Treat FINISHED as success terminal.
• Treat ERROR as failure terminal.
• Treat unknown non-active statuses as terminal failure and preserve raw status in resultJson.

Webhook facts relevant to V1:

• Cursor emits statusChange webhooks.
• Terminal webhook statuses include ERROR and FINISHED.
• Webhook signatures use HMAC SHA256 (X-Webhook-Signature: sha256=...).

Operational limits:

• /v0/repositories: 1 req/user/min, 30 req/user/hour.
• MCP not supported in Cursor background agents.

---

Package Structure

packages/adapters/cursor-cloud/
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
└── src/
    ├── index.ts
    ├── api.ts
    ├── server/
    │   ├── index.ts
    │   ├── execute.ts
    │   ├── parse.ts
    │   ├── test.ts
    │   └── webhook.ts
    ├── ui/
    │   ├── index.ts
    │   ├── parse-stdout.ts
    │   └── build-config.ts
    └── cli/
        ├── index.ts
        └── format-event.ts

package.json uses standard four exports (., ./server, ./ui, ./cli).

---

API Client (src/api.ts)

src/api.ts is a typed wrapper over Cursor endpoints.

interface CursorClientConfig {
  apiKey: string;
  baseUrl?: string; // default https://api.cursor.com
}

interface CursorAgent {
  id: string;
  name: string;
  status: "CREATING" | "RUNNING" | "FINISHED" | "ERROR" | string;
  source: { repository: string; ref: string };
  target: {
    branchName?: string;
    prUrl?: string;
    url?: string;
    autoCreatePr?: boolean;
    openAsCursorGithubApp?: boolean;
    skipReviewerRequest?: boolean;
  };
  summary?: string;
  createdAt: string;
}

Client requirements:

• send Authorization: Bearer ... on all requests
• throw typed CursorApiError with status, parsed body, and request context
• preserve raw unknown fields for debugging in error metadata

---

Adapter Config Contract (src/index.ts)

export const type = "cursor_cloud";
export const label = "Cursor Cloud Agent";

V1 config fields:

• repository (required): GitHub repo URL
• ref (optional, default main)
• model (optional, allow empty = auto)
• autoCreatePr (optional, default false)
• branchName (optional)
• promptTemplate
• pollIntervalSec (optional, default 10)
• timeoutSec (optional, default 0)
• graceSec (optional, default 20)
• paperclipPublicUrl (optional override; else PAPERCLIP_PUBLIC_URL env)
• enableWebhooks (optional, default true)
• env.CURSOR_API_KEY (required, secret_ref preferred)
• env.CURSOR_WEBHOOK_SECRET (required if enableWebhooks=true, min 32)

Important: do not store Cursor key in plain apiKey top-level field. Use adapterConfig.env so secret references are supported by existing secret-resolution flow.

---

Paperclip Callback + Auth Flow (V1)

Cursor agents run remotely, so we cannot inject local env like PAPERCLIP_API_KEY.

Public URL

The adapter must resolve a callback base URL in this order:

1. adapterConfig.paperclipPublicUrl
2. process.env.PAPERCLIP_PUBLIC_URL

If empty, fail testEnvironment and runtime execution with a clear error.

Bootstrap Exchange

Goal: avoid putting long-lived Paperclip credentials in prompt text.

Flow:

1. Before launch/follow-up, Paperclip mints a one-time bootstrap token bound to:
   • agentId
   • companyId
   • runId
   • short TTL (for example 10 minutes)
2. Adapter includes only:
   • paperclipPublicUrl
   • exchange endpoint path
   • bootstrap token
3. Cursor agent calls:
   • POST /api/agent-auth/exchange
4. Paperclip validates bootstrap token and returns a run-scoped bearer JWT.
5. Cursor agent uses returned bearer token for all Paperclip API calls.

This keeps long-lived keys out of prompt and supports clean revocation by TTL.

---

Skills Delivery Strategy (V1)

Do not inline full SKILL.md content into the prompt.

Instead:

1. Prompt includes a compact instruction to fetch skills from Paperclip.
2. After auth exchange, agent fetches:
   • GET /api/skills/index
   • GET /api/skills/paperclip
   • GET /api/skills/paperclip-create-agent when needed
3. Agent loads full skill content on demand.

Benefits:

• avoids prompt bloat
• keeps skill docs centrally updatable
• aligns with how local adapters expose skills as discoverable procedures

---

Execution Flow (src/server/execute.ts)

Step 1: Resolve Config and Secrets

• parse adapter config via asString/asBoolean/asNumber/parseObject
• resolve env.CURSOR_API_KEY
• resolve paperclipPublicUrl
• validate webhook secret when webhooks enabled

Step 2: Session Resolution

Session identity is Cursor agentId (stored in sessionParams). Reuse only when repository matches.

Step 3: Render Prompt

Render template as usual, then append a compact callback block:

• public Paperclip URL
• bootstrap exchange endpoint
• bootstrap token
• skill index endpoint
• required run header behavior

Step 4: Launch/Follow-up

• on resume: POST /followup
• else: POST /agents
• include webhook object when enabled:
  • url: <paperclipPublicUrl>/api/adapters/cursor-cloud/webhooks
  • secret: CURSOR_WEBHOOK_SECRET

Step 5: Progress + Completion

Use hybrid strategy:

• webhook events are primary status signal
• polling is fallback and transcript source (/conversation)

Emit synthetic events to stdout (init, status, assistant, user, result).

Completion logic:

• success: status === FINISHED
• failure: status === ERROR or unknown terminal
• timeout: stop agent, mark timedOut

Step 6: Result Mapping

AdapterExecutionResult:

• exitCode: 0 on success, 1 on terminal failure
• errorMessage populated on failure/timeout
• sessionParams: { agentId, repository }
• provider: "cursor"
• usage and costUsd: unavailable/null
• resultJson: include raw status/target/conversation snapshot

Also ensure result event is emitted to stdout before return.

---

Webhook Handling (src/server/webhook.ts + server route)

Add a server endpoint to receive Cursor webhook deliveries.

Responsibilities:

1. Verify HMAC signature from X-Webhook-Signature.
2. Deduplicate by X-Webhook-ID.
3. Validate event type (statusChange).
4. Route by Cursor agentId to active Paperclip run context.
5. Append heartbeat_run_events entries for audit/debug.
6. Update in-memory run signal so execute loop can short-circuit quickly.

Security:

• reject invalid signature (401)
• reject malformed payload (400)
• always return quickly after persistence (2xx)

---

Environment Test (src/server/test.ts)

Checks:

1. CURSOR_API_KEY present
2. key validity via GET /v0/me
3. repository configured and URL shape valid
4. model exists (if set) via /v0/models
5. paperclipPublicUrl present and reachable shape-valid
6. webhook secret present/length-valid when webhooks enabled

Repository-access verification via /v0/repositories should be optional due strict rate limits. Use a warning-level check only when an explicit verifyRepositoryAccess option is set.

---

UI + CLI

UI parser (src/ui/parse-stdout.ts)

Handle event types:

• init
• status
• assistant
• user
• result
• fallback stdout

On failure results, set isError=true and include error text.

Config builder (src/ui/build-config.ts)

• map CreateConfigValues.url -> repository
• preserve env binding shape (plain/secret_ref)
• include defaults (pollIntervalSec, timeoutSec, graceSec, enableWebhooks)

Adapter fields (ui/src/adapters/cursor-cloud/config-fields.tsx)

Add controls for:

• repository
• ref
• model
• autoCreatePr
• branchName
• poll interval
• timeout/grace
• paperclip public URL override
• enable webhooks
• env bindings for CURSOR_API_KEY and CURSOR_WEBHOOK_SECRET

CLI formatter (src/cli/format-event.ts)

Format synthetic events similarly to local adapters. Highlight terminal failures clearly.

---

Server Registration and Cross-Layer Contract Sync

Adapter registration

• server/src/adapters/registry.ts
• ui/src/adapters/registry.ts
• cli/src/adapters/registry.ts

Shared contract updates (required)

• add cursor_cloud to packages/shared/src/constants.ts (AGENT_ADAPTER_TYPES)
• ensure validators accept it (packages/shared/src/validators/agent.ts)
• update UI labels/maps where adapter names are enumerated, including:
  • ui/src/components/agent-config-primitives.tsx
  • ui/src/components/AgentProperties.tsx
  • ui/src/pages/Agents.tsx
• consider onboarding wizard support for adapter selection (ui/src/components/OnboardingWizard.tsx)

Without these updates, create/edit flows will reject the new adapter even if package code exists.

---

Cancellation Semantics

Long-polling HTTP adapters must support run cancellation.

V1 requirement:

• register a cancellation handler per running adapter invocation
• cancelRun should invoke that handler (abort fetch/poll loop + optional Cursor stop call)

Current process-only cancellation maps are insufficient by themselves for Cursor.

---

Comparison with claude_local

Aspect	claude_local	cursor_cloud
Execution model	local subprocess	remote API
Updates	stream-json stdout	webhook + polling + synthesized stdout
Session id	Claude session id	Cursor agent id
Skill delivery	local skill dir injection	authenticated fetch from Paperclip skill endpoints
Paperclip auth	injected local run JWT env var	bootstrap token exchange -> run JWT
Cancellation	OS signals	abort polling + Cursor stop endpoint
Usage/cost	rich	not exposed by Cursor API

---

V1 Limitations

1. Cursor does not expose token/cost usage in API responses.
2. Conversation stream is text-only (user_message/assistant_message).
3. MCP/tool-call granularity is unavailable.
4. Webhooks currently deliver status-change events, not full transcript deltas.

---

Future Enhancements

1. Reduce polling frequency further when webhook reliability is high.
2. Attach image payloads from Paperclip context.
3. Add richer PR metadata surfacing in Paperclip UI.
4. Add webhook replay UI for debugging.

---

Implementation Checklist

Adapter package

• packages/adapters/cursor-cloud/package.json exports wired
• packages/adapters/cursor-cloud/tsconfig.json
• src/index.ts metadata + configuration doc
• src/api.ts bearer-auth client + typed errors
• src/server/execute.ts hybrid webhook/poll orchestration
• src/server/parse.ts stream parser + not-found detection
• src/server/test.ts env diagnostics
• src/server/webhook.ts signature verification + payload helpers
• src/server/index.ts exports + session codec
• src/ui/parse-stdout.ts
• src/ui/build-config.ts
• src/ui/index.ts
• src/cli/format-event.ts
• src/cli/index.ts

App integration

• register adapter in server/ui/cli registries
• add cursor_cloud to shared adapter constants/validators
• add adapter labels in UI surfaces
• add Cursor webhook route on server (/api/adapters/cursor-cloud/webhooks)
• add auth exchange route (/api/agent-auth/exchange)
• add skill serving routes (/api/skills/index, /api/skills/:name)
• add generic cancellation hook for non-subprocess adapters

Tests

• api client auth/error mapping
• terminal status mapping (FINISHED, ERROR, unknown terminal)
• session codec round-trip
• config builder env binding handling
• webhook signature verification + dedupe
• bootstrap exchange happy path + expired/invalid token

Verification

• pnpm -r typecheck
• pnpm test:run
• pnpm build