How to Install and Run Cursor CLI on Windows

What you need before installing Cursor CLI

• A Windows user account that can run PowerShell commands
• A Cursor account for interactive login, or CURSOR_API_KEY
• A project folder that Cursor Agent can access
• CodeAgentSwarm if you want the ACP Chat interface and multi-agent supervision

Install Cursor Agent with the official Windows command

Open PowerShell and run Cursor's native Windows installer:

irm 'https://cursor.com/install?win32=true' | iex

Close and reopen PowerShell if the installer changed your PATH. Then verify the installed command:

cursor-agent --version
Get-Command cursor-agent

CodeAgentSwarm can run the same official installer when Cursor Agent is missing. It checks the native cursor-agent.cmd before starting Chat.

Sign in and check authentication

cursor-agent login
cursor-agent status

The login flow connects the CLI to your Cursor account, and Cursor consumes the subscription or usage attached to that account. For a non-interactive environment, provide CURSOR_API_KEY through your normal secret-management process.

Use cursor-agent logout when you need to remove the current login from the machine.

Avoid the agent command conflict with Grok

Do not use agent as a shortcut for Cursor. Another installed CLI can own that command, and Grok is a known example. A successful response from agent --version does not prove that Cursor is installed.

Get-Command cursor-agent
Get-Command agent -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

# Start Cursor explicitly
cursor-agent

Start Cursor ACP Chat in CodeAgentSwarm

Select Cursor Agent when creating a Chat. CodeAgentSwarm launches cursor-agent acp over stdio, completes the ACP handshake and streams text and tool calls into the conversation.

You can use Agent, Plan or Ask when the session exposes those modes, choose available models, answer permission requests and cancel an active response. Project and user MCP servers are read from .cursor/mcp.json.

For the complete feature flow, read the Cursor Agent CLI ACP guide. To organize several Windows sessions, continue with the Cursor Agent swarm guide.

Fix common Cursor CLI problems on Windows

• cursor-agent is not recognized: reopen PowerShell after installation and run Get-Command cursor-agent. If it is still missing, rerun the official installer.
• The wrong agent opens: confirm you typed cursor-agent, not agent. Use Get-Command to see which executable Windows resolved.
• Authentication fails: run cursor-agent status, then repeat cursor-agent login or check CURSOR_API_KEY.
• History Chat times out: run cursor-agent update. Older ACP versions may not advertise loadSession.
• MCP tools are missing: check the project or user .cursor/mcp.json and restart the session after correcting it.

The Cursor CLI conversation history guide explains why resume is conditional. Plan and usage details are in Cursor CLI pricing and usage.