Cursor RTL - Extension

Smart multi-language RTL support for Cursor AI Chat, Agents Window and Plan files. Uses a purpose-built algorithm that detects text direction per element - Hebrew, Arabic and Persian text is automatically right-aligned, while English text stays left-aligned. Mixed-language conversations just work.

Documentation

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Screenshots

Chat

Before	After

Plan

Before	After

Questions

Before	After

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Features

• Smart multi-language algorithm - detects text direction per element using weighted RTL/LTR scoring, so Hebrew, Arabic and Persian content is right-aligned while English-heavy content stays left-aligned
• One-click Enable/Disable via Command Palette
• Status Bar indicator showing current RTL patch state (ON / OFF / UPDATE NEEDED)
• Automatic update detection when Cursor updates overwrite main.js
• Extension update checks with release-page and VSIX download shortcuts
• Auto re-apply option to silently re-apply after Cursor updates
• Markdown table support for mixed RTL/LTR table content, including Plan files
• Plan editor support for Cursor's TipTap/ProseMirror-based .plan.md editor
• Agents Window support including the agent conversation and side Plan view
• Transactional patching with automatic backup and rollback on failure
• Cross-platform support for Windows, macOS, and Linux

Commands

Command	Description
Cursor RTL: Enable RTL Support	Backup main.js, apply RTL patch, copy the loader script
Cursor RTL: Disable RTL Support	Restore main.js from backup, remove the loader script
Cursor RTL: Check Status	Show whether the RTL patch is currently active
Cursor RTL: Re-apply After Update	Re-apply patch after a Cursor update overwrote it
Cursor RTL: Check for Extension Updates	Check GitHub releases for a newer extension version

Status Bar

• RTL: ON - Patch is active
• RTL: OFF - Patch is not applied
• RTL: UPDATE NEEDED - Cursor was updated, patch needs re-applying

Click the status bar item for a quick-pick menu with available actions.

Settings

Setting	Default	Description
cursorRtl.autoReapply	false	Automatically re-apply RTL patch when Cursor updates overwrite main.js
cursorRtl.showStatusBar	true	Show RTL status indicator in the status bar
cursorRtl.checkForExtensionUpdates	true	Automatically check GitHub releases for Cursor RTL extension updates
cursorRtl.updateCheckIntervalHours	6	How often to check for extension updates while Cursor is open
cursorRtl.updateRemindLaterHours	24	How long to wait before showing the same update again after choosing Remind Later

Installation

1. Download the latest .vsix from the Releases page
2. In Cursor, press Ctrl+Shift+P to open the Command Palette → search for VSIX → select Extensions: Install from VSIX... → choose the downloaded file
3. Look for "RTL: OFF" on the right side of the bottom status bar → click it → select Enable RTL
4. Approve the installation → close and reopen all Cursor windows

Note: If Cursor is installed in a system directory (e.g. C:\Program Files), you may need to run Cursor as Administrator for the patch to apply.

How It Works

What gets modified

This extension modifies two files inside Cursor's app directory:

1. main.js - A single line is inserted after the copyright comment to load the RTL script
2. cursor-rtl-loader.cjs - A small loader is copied alongside main.js; it injects the extension's bundled resources/rtl.js into Cursor workbench windows

The rtl.js styling and direction script stays in the installed extension directory, so it updates with the extension package.

Runtime behavior

The loader runs in Cursor's Electron main process. It watches existing and newly-created browser windows, waits until a window has loaded workbench.html, and then injects rtl.js once for that workbench URL.

Inside the workbench, rtl.js does an initial scan at startup, a few delayed startup scans while Cursor finishes rendering, and then re-scans on relevant DOM mutations, focus changes, and visibility changes. It is not a continuous polling loop.

The direction algorithm assigns an explicit dir="rtl" or dir="ltr" to matching Markdown, chat and composer elements. For mixed text, RTL characters are scored against weighted LTR tokens; code-like tokens such as paths, API names and uppercase identifiers count less than regular English words. Lists and tables use the majority direction of their direct items or cells.

Plan files and the Agents Window side Plan view use Cursor's TipTap/ProseMirror rich-text editor. Because that editor owns and may rewrite its DOM, Plan content also gets generated CSS rules scoped to the active Plan editor instead of relying only on direct dir attributes.

Safety measures

• Timestamped backups: Before any modification, main.js is backed up as main.js.rtl-backup-<timestamp>
• Signature verification: The extension verifies that main.js contains the expected Microsoft copyright comment before patching
• Idempotent operations: Enabling when already enabled does nothing; disabling when not enabled does nothing
• Transactional writes: If patching fails mid-way, the backup is automatically restored
• Dry-run preview: Before enabling, you see exactly which files will be modified

Rollback

To completely undo all changes:

1. Run Cursor RTL: Disable RTL Support from the Command Palette
2. Restart Cursor

This restores the original main.js from the backup and removes the copied loader script.

Known Limitations

• Cursor updates may overwrite main.js, requiring re-application of the patch
• The extension shows a "[Unsupported]" warning in Cursor's title bar (same as any extension that modifies app files, like Custom CSS extensions)
• Requires write permissions to Cursor's app directory (may need Administrator/sudo on some systems)

Supported Cursor Versions

Compatible with Cursor 2.4.37+ (uses app.on('browser-window-created') pattern).

Development

Visual checks can capture and compare the real Cursor UI for RTL layout regressions:

npm run visual:capture
npm run visual:compare

See visual/README.md for the full workflow and privacy notes.

Privacy and Telemetry

Cursor RTL collects telemetry for the sole purpose of improving the extension, understanding failures, and maintaining compatibility with Cursor updates. Telemetry is enabled by default.

The extension may send usage events such as extension startup/shutdown, patch apply/remove/reapply, status checks, update detection, and version availability. These events may include diagnostic environment details such as Cursor version, release channel, patch state, platform, architecture, locale, timezone, hostname, OS username, and home directory. The extension does not intentionally send workspace file contents, editor text, or clipboard contents.

Opt out

Telemetry can be disabled with an advanced environment variable before launching Cursor:

$env:CURSOR_RTL_TELEMETRY_OPTOUT = "1"
& "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\cursor\Cursor.exe"

Persistent opt-out can be configured at the operating system level by setting CURSOR_RTL_TELEMETRY_OPTOUT=1 for the user or machine environment. CURSOR_RTL_DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1 is also supported.

The loader writes a local debug log to cursor-rtl.log in the user's home directory. It is not sent by telemetry, but it may include local extension paths and workbench URLs, so review it before sharing.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Permission denied	Windows: Run Cursor as Administrator. macOS/Linux: Fix file permissions with sudo chown
RTL not working after Enable	Make sure to restart Cursor after enabling
Patch removed after update	Use "Re-apply After Update" or enable cursorRtl.autoReapply setting
Cursor won't start	Run "Disable RTL Support" or manually restore main.js from the backup file

License

Apache 2.0 - see LICENSE for details.