Why My Cursor v0.49 Froze Constantly and How I Stabilized It for Smooth AI Coding

I was really excited to update to Cursor v0.49 for features like generated rules and MCP image support. But during important coding sessions, the IDE kept freezing. After some investigation, I discovered fixes that brought back stability and let me actually use these new tools.

The Core Problem: Freezing and Unreliable Agent Responses

Right after updating, I hit a frustrating pattern. Every time I entered a prompt, the agent would freeze mid-generation. I had to restart, risking lost chat history. This happened about 20% of the time, especially with complex commands involving terminal workflows or images. For example, when I tried sending screenshots with the new MCP tool, the image appeared in the UI but never reached the LLM. Total dead end.

My Step-by-Step Troubleshooting Process

Here’s how I solved the freezing issues:

• First, I used the improved terminal control: The renamed “Move to background” option (previously “Pop-out”) let me edit commands before running them. This prevented hangs from watch-mode processes like test runners.
• Then, I adjusted MCP configurations: To fix image support, I added this to my mcp.json file to ensure screenshots actually reached the LLM:{"tool": "screenshot_desktop", "config": {"format": "png", "include_ui": true}} Without this tweak, images just stalled in the interface.
• Finally, I sped things up with global ignores: I excluded noisy directories like build outputs in user settings. This simple change made agent responses noticeably faster.

Key Insights for Maximizing New Features

Once stable, the new features became incredibly useful. The /Generate Cursor Rules command saved me hours when used directly in chats. The built-in diff view also made reviewing agent changes effortless. One heads-up: when using pricier models like Gemini 2.5 Pro, keep an eye on costs—I now track usage to avoid surprises.

Working through these fixes turned Cursor v0.49 into my go-to for AI coding. What started as frustration ended with me coding smoothly again.