Run Cursor cloud agents on your own machine

Create the VM#

On your computer (pick another name if my-cursor is taken):

ssh exe.dev new --name=my-cursor

Give the VM your repository#

On your computer, attach the repository to the VM through the GitHub integration, with yours in place of acme/app:

ssh exe.dev integrations add github --name app --repository acme/app --attach vm:my-cursor

If you already have an integration for the repository, attach that one instead: ssh exe.dev integrations attach <name> vm:my-cursor.

Install the Cursor CLI#

On the VM (ssh my-cursor.exe.xyz):

curl https://cursor.com/install -fsS | bash
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
agent --version

It prints a version such as 2026.10.22-27dcf5f. The installer puts agent in ~/.local/bin, which new shells already have on their PATH.

Clone the repository#

Set GITHUB_REPO to yours. The insteadOf rule sends git's traffic for that repository through the integration, while the checkout's origin stays the github.com address Cursor matches tasks against:

GITHUB_REPO=acme/app
git config --global url."https://github.int.exe.xyz/$GITHUB_REPO.git".insteadOf "https://github.com/$GITHUB_REPO.git"
mkdir -p ~/repos
git clone "https://github.com/$GITHUB_REPO.git" ~/repos/"${GITHUB_REPO#*/}"
git -C ~/repos/"${GITHUB_REPO#*/}" config --get remote.origin.url

It prints https://github.com/acme/app.git. Agents commit, so give git a name and an email, yours:

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email you@example.com

Sign in to Cursor#

NO_OPEN_BROWSER=1 agent login

It prints a https://cursor.com/loginDeepControl?... link and waits. Open the link on your computer, sign in, and approve. Then check:

agent about

User Email shows your Cursor account.

Run the worker#

A small script starts the worker named after the VM, with every checkout in ~/repos as a place agents can work. systemd runs it, and starts it again whenever it exits. The unit's PATH puts ~/.local/bin first, so the agents' commands find tools installed there:

cat > ~/.local/bin/cursor-worker <<'EOF'
#!/bin/bash
# Runs the Cursor worker, named after this VM, for every git checkout in ~/repos.
set -euo pipefail
dirs=()
for d in "$HOME"/repos/*/; do
  [ -d "$d.git" ] && dirs+=(--worker-dir "${d%/}")
done
if [ ${#dirs[@]} -eq 0 ]; then
  echo "cursor-worker: no git checkouts in ~/repos" >&2
  exit 1
fi
exec "$HOME/.local/bin/agent" worker --name "$(hostname)" "${dirs[@]}" start
EOF
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/cursor-worker

sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/cursor-worker.service > /dev/null <<'EOF'
[Unit]
Description=Cursor Cloud Agents worker (My Machines)
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
User=exedev
WorkingDirectory=/home/exedev
Environment=PATH=/home/exedev/.local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/snap/bin
ExecStart=/home/exedev/.local/bin/cursor-worker
Restart=always
RestartSec=15

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now cursor-worker
sleep 10
journalctl -u cursor-worker -n 20 --no-pager

The log says Worker is now running, then Name: my-cursor and the directory. To check what Cursor sees (your account, the repository the worker registered, and whether Cursor finds the worker):

agent worker debug

On the VM, between tasks:

agent update
sudo systemctl restart cursor-worker
agent --version

Start with the worker's log and Cursor's own checks:

journalctl -u cursor-worker -n 50 --no-pager
agent worker debug

Authentication required for worker mode. The VM isn't signed in to Cursor. Run NO_OPEN_BROWSER=1 agent login again; the service retries every 15 seconds and connects on its own once you approve.

The machine isn't in the picker. Check that agent about shows the same account as the app, and that the log says Worker is now running. Then check the checkout's origin:

git -C ~/repos/app config --get remote.origin.url

It must be https://github.com/.... If it is https://github.int.exe.xyz/..., set it back with git remote set-url origin https://github.com/acme/app.git, add the insteadOf rule from "Clone the repository", and restart the worker.

worker=my-cursor is registered on your machine but for a different repository. The VM has no checkout of the repository the task is for. Add it as in "Add another repository".

The worker can't reach Cursor. It needs outbound HTTPS to api2.cursor.sh and api2direct.cursor.sh. A VM whose egress policy is integrations can't reach them: ssh exe.dev egress my-cursor on your computer shows the policy.

Clone, fetch, or push fails. Check that the VM reaches the repository through the integration:

git ls-remote https://github.int.exe.xyz/acme/app.git | head -1

An error means the integration isn't attached to this VM, or names another repository. A push refused with a 403 means the integration is read-only.

Please tell me who you are. Git has no identity for the agents' commits. Set user.name and user.email as in "Clone the repository".