Terminal
Cursor runs shell commands directly in your terminal. Your Run Mode controls when commands run, when Cursor asks, and when terminal commands enter the sandbox.
Sandbox
The sandbox runs terminal commands in a restricted environment that blocks unauthorized file access and network activity. For platform requirements, network modes, environment variables, and sandbox.json configuration, read Run Modes > Sandboxing.
Troubleshooting
Some shell themes (for example, Powerlevel9k/Powerlevel10k) can interfere with the inline terminal output. If your command output looks truncated or misformatted, disable the theme or switch to a simpler prompt when Cursor runs.
Disable heavy prompts for Cursor sessions
Use the CURSOR_AGENT environment variable in your shell config to detect when
Cursor is running and skip initializing fancy prompts/themes.
# ~/.zshrc - disable Powerlevel10k when Cursor runsif [[ -n "$CURSOR_AGENT" ]]; then # Skip theme initialization for better compatibilityelse [[ -r ~/.p10k.zsh ]] && source ~/.p10k.zshfi# ~/.bashrc - fall back to a simple prompt in Cursor sessionsif [[ -n "$CURSOR_AGENT" ]]; then PS1='\u@\h \W \$ 'fi