Cursor Profile Manager

A lightweight Windows GUI utility to manage and launch multiple isolated Cursor IDE instances on the same codebase. Each profile uses its own user-data directory, maintaining separate login sessions, extensions, settings, and AI chat history.

Version 2.0+ introduces native integration with Agent Story, a local MITM proxy and React dashboard to monitor, record, and inspect all Cursor AI requests, prompts, and streaming LLM payloads.

Overview

Each profile gets its own folder under %USERPROFILE%\.cursor-profiles\ (override with CURSOR_PROFILES_DIR). That lets several Cursor windows open the same project at once without sharing account credentials, extensions, or chat history.

The Profile Manager window title is built dynamically as Cursor Profile Manager vversion so it is distinct from a Cursor IDE window editing this repo. Multiple manager windows may run at once — each launch opens a new instance.

Website

Public marketing site: https://jpolvora.github.io/cursor-profile-manager/

Static source lives in site/. GitHub Actions (.github/workflows/pages.yml) deploys on push to master when site/** or that workflow file changes. README-only pushes do not redeploy the site.

Maintainer enablement (one-time): Repo Settings → Pages → Build and deployment → Source: GitHub Actions. After the first green workflow run, the URL above serves the site.

Screenshots

Main window

Profile list with per-row Actions (Start, Focus, Close, Folder, Edit, Del), theme selector, and footer status (version, Check for updates, Cursor install info).

Add Profile

Create a profile with a custom user-data directory, optional default project folder, and notes. Sign in to a different Cursor account the first time that profile launches.

Check for updates

Footer Check for updates compares your local # App-Version marker with GitHub master. When versions match, you can still force reinstall from GitHub.

Benefits

• Multiple Cursors on one codebase — parallel work in separate windows.
• Separate accounts — work vs. personal, or different clients (sign in once per profile).
• Custom user-data dirs — pick any folder per profile.
• Parallel AI assistance — independent agent/chat context per instance.
• Multiple windows per profile — start the same profile more than once when needed.

Quick start

Clone this repository and run the PowerShell script:

.\cursor-profile-manager.ps1

Or double-click cursor-profile-manager.bat.

Desktop Shortcut (launches with the Cursor icon, hiding the background console):

.\install-desktop-shortcut.ps1

Re-run the shortcut installer if you move the folder to automatically repair the path.

Features

Feature	Description
Isolated Profiles	Add, edit, and delete profiles. Each profile runs with its own --user-data-dir (fully isolating extensions, themes, login sessions, and chat logs).
Agent Story Integration (v2)	Capture and inspect Cursor AI traffic (system prompts, user questions, tool calls, and streaming responses) with an embedded MITM proxy and React dashboard.
Automatic Routing	Proxied profiles automatically configure Chromium arguments, Node.js proxy environment variables, and settings.json HTTP proxy values.
Project Context Mapping	Writes a startup context marker (cursor-profile-manager.context.json) and registers the process PID with Agent Story to map TCP request sessions to the correct project workspace (avoids Unassigned telemetry).
Live Process Tracking	Monitors running instances using Windows WMI process start/exit events and a 2-second fallback timer. Shows live window count and active status in the grid.
Parallel Execution	Start multiple instances/windows for the same profile or run multiple different profiles concurrently on the same project folders.
Theme Customization	Light mode, Dark mode, or System default (dynamically tracks Windows color customization settings via registry changes).
Tray and startup options	Optional Close/minimize to tray sends the window to the notification area when you click minimize or close (X); tray menu Show Window / Exit (Exit confirms if Agent Story proxy is running). Start with Windows registers in the current-user Run key.
In-App Auto-Updates	One-click footer button comparing local code version markers against GitHub master. Updates all local script assets in-place on confirmation.
Cursor Installer Helper	Checks for Cursor installation path and CLI executable on PATH. Prompts to download and install if missing.
Safe Deletion	Prevents folder deletion if any window for the profile is still active.

Usage

1. Launch the Manager: Run cursor-profile-manager.ps1 or use the Desktop shortcut.
2. Add a Profile: Click the Add Profile button in the toolbar. It automatically suggests isolated folders under %USERPROFILE%\.cursor-profiles\.
3. Configure Defaults: Optionally choose a default project directory (Cursor will open this workspace on startup). Optionally set Window mode: Default (Cursor decides), Classic IDE (--classic), or Agents Window (--glass). Classic and Agents Window require a recent Cursor 3.x desktop build; older builds ignore unknown flags.
4. Launch Cursor: Click Start ▶ (or double-click the row). This spawns Cursor with --user-data-dir pointing to your profile folder (and --classic / --glass when Window mode is set).
5. Multiple Windows: Click Start ▶ again on the same running profile to open additional windows sharing that profile's session and extensions.
6. Actions: Use Focus to bring the active windows to the front, Close to terminate all instances of a profile, Folder to open the user-data directory in File Explorer, and Edit / Del to modify profile info.
7. Trace AI Interactions (v2):
   • Edit a profile and check Run proxied.
   • Choose Proxy type: Default (MITM capture + dashboard on port 8080) or Alternative (pass-through discovery log on port 8081 — logs every host Cursor connects to without decrypting TLS).
   • Toggle Start Agent Story on the manager toolbar to start the local MITM proxy (port 8080) and dashboard (port 3001/5173) for Default profiles.
   • For Alternative profiles, the pass-through proxy starts automatically on Start (port 8081); logs go to agent-story\server\pass-through-proxy.log. Analyze with npm run analyze-pass-through-log in agent-story\server.
   • Click Open dashboard to launch the React web app (http://localhost:5173/).
   • Click Clean DB to wipe the local Agent Story SQLite database (all captured interactions) and restart with a fresh database if Agent Story was running.
   • Start your proxied profile. Note: Ensure all existing Cursor windows for that profile are closed before launching proxied, as environment variables and settings apply at startup.
   • Work with Cursor's chat or Cmd+K as usual and watch raw prompts and stream details appear instantly on the dashboard.
8. Tray and startup (toolbar): Enable Close/minimize to tray to hide the manager in the notification area when you minimize or click the window close (X) button. Right-click the tray icon for Show Window (restore) or Exit (fully quit; confirms if the Agent Story proxy is running). Enable Start with Windows to launch at sign-in (starts in the tray when close/minimize-to-tray is also enabled). On Windows 11, new tray icons may appear under the ^ overflow chevron first.

Technical details

How it works

Behind the scenes, the manager invokes:

Cursor.exe --user-data-dir "<profile-dir>" --new-window [--classic|--glass] [project-path]

By using separate user-data directories (instead of Cursor's --profile flag), all configurations, caches, extensions, and OAuth credentials remain completely independent. When Window mode is Classic IDE or Agents Window, Start appends --classic or --glass (never both). Default adds neither flag. These flags need a recent Cursor 3.x desktop build.

Network Proxy Mechanism

When a profile is launched with proxying enabled:

1. Chromium Proxy: Appends --proxy-server, --proxy-bypass-list (localhost + Git hosts), and --ignore-certificate-errors so AI traffic is captured while Git and local services bypass the MITM.
2. Node Agent Proxy: Sets HTTP_PROXY, HTTPS_PROXY, ALL_PROXY, NO_PROXY (Git + localhost bypass hosts), and NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=0 so agent subprocesses route Cursor API calls through Agent Story without blocking on capture work (Windows env keys are case-insensitive, so these satisfy Node clients that read lowercase names too).
3. Settings Injection: Automatically configures "http.proxy", "http.proxyStrictSSL": false, "http.proxySupport": "override", and "http.electronFetch": true in <profile-dir>\User\settings.json so extension and agent HTTP clients route through the proxy (matches Cursor's default proxy mode).
4. Runtime argv.json: On every Start, writes proxy-server, proxy-bypass-list, and (default MITM only) ignore-certificate-errors to <profile-dir>\argv.json so Electron/Node subprocesses inherit the current proxy port — fully quit and relaunch Cursor after toggling RunProxied or proxy type so running processes pick up changes.
5. PID Grouping: Writes a temporary <user-data-dir>\cursor-profile-manager.context.json file and registers the process PID with Agent Story via POST /api/profile-sessions/register so that TCP traffic captured by the proxy maps cleanly to the project name.

Agent Story forwards intercepted Cursor API traffic immediately; capture and profile resolution run in the background so agent chat streams are not delayed.

Runtime Detection

Profiles are scanned by looking at active Cursor.exe command lines via CIM Win32_Process.

• Instances count is the number of --type=renderer processes associated with that user-data directory.
• UI refreshes are triggered by WMI process creation/deletion events (debounced to 500 ms) and a 2-second fallback timer.

Environment variables

Variable	Description
CURSOR_PROFILES_DIR	Root folder for profile subdirectories and the manager metadata (profiles.json, settings.json, launch.log).
CURSOR_BIN	Custom path to the Cursor.exe binary (otherwise auto-detected).
AGENT_STORY_DIR	Path to the Agent Story installation folder (defaults to agent-story\ under the script directory).
AGENT_STORY_UI_URL	Web dashboard URL (default: http://localhost:5173/).
AGENT_STORY_PROXY_URL	MITM proxy listener address (default: http://127.0.0.1:8080).
AGENT_STORY_PASS_THROUGH_PROXY_URL	Pass-through discovery proxy (default: http://127.0.0.1:8081).

Storage Schema

profiles.json

Saved under <CURSOR_PROFILES_DIR>\profiles.json (encoded in UTF-8):

[
  {
    "Id": "f3b18dfa-bbcc-4abc-8def-1234567890ab",
    "Name": "Work-ClientA",
    "UserDataDir": "C:\\Users\\Username\\.cursor-profiles\\Work-ClientA",
    "ProjectPath": "L:\\source\\workspace-a",
    "Notes": "Dedicated work profile for Client A",
    "RunProxied": true,
    "ProxyType": "default",
    "WindowMode": "default",
    "CreatedAt": "2026-06-30T12:00:00"
  }
]

launch.log

Append-only launch diagnostics saved under <CURSOR_PROFILES_DIR>\launch.log. Each Start writes INFO/WARN/ERROR lines with profile name, executable, arguments, PID, and outcome. If a launch fails, the Launch Error dialog shows the last ERROR line and this file path.

settings.json

Saved under <CURSOR_PROFILES_DIR>\settings.json:

{
  "Theme": "default"
}

• default: Dynamically matches the Windows light/dark theme preference.
• light / dark: Locks the interface to light/dark color schemes.

Unit tests

Requires Pester 3.x or later. Run from the repo root:

.\run-tests.ps1

Tests are isolated and run in a temporary sandbox directory, protecting your active profiles and configuration settings.

Agent workflow skills (optional)

This repository can install portable agent skills from workflow-skills into .agents/skills/ (spec→PR workflows, harness audit, etc.). They are for AI-assisted development of this project, not required to run the Profile Manager GUI.

Agent hub	.agents/skills/shared/AGENTS.md
Product agent guide	AGENTS.md (PowerShell conventions + install/update commands)
Local config	.agents/skills/shared/config.json (gitignored; /configure-project)

# Install (interactive) or update tracked skills — requires Node.js / npx
npx --yes github:jpolvora/workflow-skills
npx --yes github:jpolvora/workflow-skills update
npx --yes github:jpolvora/workflow-skills update --include-new

After install or update, ask your agent to run check-harness. Full CLI options: workflow-skills install docs.

Project Structure

File / Folder	Description
cursor-profile-manager.ps1	The main application GUI written in PowerShell and WinForms.
cursor-profile-manager.bat	Silent launcher wrapper that boots the GUI without showing a console window.
install-desktop-shortcut.ps1	Sets up or repairs a Windows Desktop shortcut with the native Cursor icon.
run-tests.ps1	PowerShell test runner for Pester unit testing.
tests/	Directory containing Pester unit tests.
agent-story/	Embedded Node/React proxy and visualization dashboard codebase.
.agents/skills/	Optional installed workflow-skills (managed copies + local shared/ config).
screenshots/	PNG screenshots for documentation.
CHANGELOG.md	Release change log.
AGENTS.md	Technical guidelines for AI coding assistants (product + workflow skills usage).

Notes & Limitations

• OS Support: Windows only. Relies on PowerShell 5.1+ and .NET WinForms.
• Resources: Each profile runs separate Electron rendering processes (~500 MB+ RAM each).
• Extensions: Extensions are downloaded and stored separately in each profile's user-data directory.
• CLI Command: Global terminal calls to cursor command will use your default profile settings. Use the manager to launch secondary instances.

License

MIT