Cursor

Cursor: allow all terminal commands (Run Everything, allowlist, sandbox)

How do I let Cursor's agent run commands without asking?

Open Settings > Agents > Approvals & Execution and pick a Run Mode. Run Everything runs every tool call automatically with no sandbox or review; Allowlist runs only the commands you list; Auto-review runs allowlisted calls immediately and sends other shell commands to the sandbox when possible.

The three run modes

  • Auto-review: allowlisted calls run immediately; other shell commands run in the sandbox when possible.
  • Allowlist: actions in your allowlist run without approval; with sandboxing enabled, supported shell commands can run in the sandbox.
  • Run Everything: every tool call runs automatically, with no sandbox or classifier review.

Steer Auto-review with permissions.json

Auto-review reads plain-English instructions from ~/.cursor/permissions.json (global) or .cursor/permissions.json in the project, under allow_instructions and block_instructions.

.cursor/permissions.json

{
  "allow_instructions": ["Running the test suite and the linter is always fine."],
  "block_instructions": ["Every AWS CLI command should go through approval first."]
}

Before you pick Run Everything

Run Everything removes the sandbox, so the agent can reach the network and anything your user account can. Prefer Allowlist or Auto-review on your own machine, and keep Run Everything for disposable environments.

Sources

Cursor: Run modes

More on Cursor

Cursor standards supportAdd MCP servers to CursorCursor rules

Other guides

Claude Code: allow commands without promptsCodex CLI: approval and sandbox modesGemini CLI: YOLO mode, auto_edit and allowing specific shell commandsCursor Privacy Mode: telemetry, training and data retentionClaude Code telemetry and data retention: what is sent and how to turn it offGemini CLI: turn off usage statistics and telemetry

Get the weekly agent stack update

New official MCP servers, spec changes and harness releases, checked against the source. One email a week, no fluff.

Reviewed Oct 6, 2026. Settings change often; the linked vendor docs are the source of truth.