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Cursor CLI default model reverts to Auto

Source: Troubleshooting reference

Symptom: bash install/cursor.sh check fails on exploreSubagentModel, or jq -r .exploreSubagentModel ~/.cursor/cli-config.json is default after a Cursor or agent start. permissions.allow may shrink to Shell(ls).

Confirm:

Terminal window
jq '{exploreSubagentModel,permissions}' ~/.cursor/cli-config.json
bash ~/dotfiles/install/cursor.sh check

Root cause: ~/.cursor/cli-config.json is app-owned at runtime. The installer merge-pins Explore to Composer 2.5 and unique-appends Shell(*); the running app rewrites those keys. Parent selectedModel is intentionally left alone.

Fix: bash ~/dotfiles/install/cursor.sh sync-cli. That restores Explore and Shell(*) without changing the parent chat picker.