{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "cursor-cli", "name": "Cursor CLI", "vendor": "Cursor", "vendorUrl": "https://cursor.com/cli", "kind": "harness", "category": "agent-harnesses", "summary": "Cursor's coding agent in the terminal, run as `agent` (also `cursor-agent`).", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cursor-cli", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cursor-cli.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cursor-cli.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cursor-cli.json", "license": "Proprietary, under Cursor's terms of service (Anysphere, Inc., updated 3 September 2026). No source is published", "transports": [], "packages": [], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "`agent login` through a browser, or an API key passed with `--api-key` or `CURSOR_API_KEY` for headless runs.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Hobby is free with limited Agent requests and needs no card. Individual is $20 a month, Teams $40 a user a month and Enterprise by quote. Every plan includes a set amount of model usage, with on-demand usage billed in arrears, and the pricing page gives no dollar or request figure for either (checked 2026-10-02).", "priceSummary": "$20 / mo", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs or the pricing page (checked 2026-10-02).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-02" }, "docsUrl": "https://cursor.com/docs/cli/overview", "llmsTxt": "https://cursor.com/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "agent.harness", "agent.mcp-client" ], "tags": [ "official", "harness", "coding-agent", "cli", "closed-source", "mcp", "llms-txt", "free-tier", "no-card", "status-page" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-28", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 35.8, "grade": "F", "agentReady": false, "rank": 441, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 452, "categoryRank": 10, "methodology": "0.3", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 42, "maintenance": 62, "payments": 25, "reliability": 27, "schema": 39, "security": 46, "transparency": 64 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "low", "date": "2026-10-01" }, "negative": -5, "negativeNotes": [ "2025-10-02 and 2025-11-03. Four high advisories that name the CLI, all fixed. Remote code execution in Cursor CLI through Cursor Agent MCP OAuth2 communication (GHSA-wj33-264c-j9cq), arbitrary code execution through a permissive CLI config (GHSA-v64q-396f-7m79), a sensitive-file overwrite bypass in the CLI agent (GHSA-x2vq-h6v6-jhc6) and command injection through an untrusted MCP configuration in Cursor CLI Beta (GHSA-4hwr-97q3-37w2). All older than six months, so 1 point each (https://github.com/cursor/cursor/security/advisories)", "2026-01-14. GHSA-82wg-qcm4-fp2w, high, terminal tool allowlist bypass through environment variables. It doesn't name the CLI, which runs the same terminal tool and allowlist idea. Fixed and published, 1 point. Judgement call. We left out the 2026 sandbox escapes titled for Cursor Desktop and Cloud Agents (https://github.com/cursor/cursor/security/advisories)" ], "verdict": "Allow and deny rules for shell, reads, writes, web fetches and MCP tools, with deny taking precedence. No CLI changelog, and versions are dates.", "strengths": [ "Allow and deny rules for shell, reads, writes, web fetches and MCP tools, with deny taking precedence", "Print mode with text, json and stream-json output, plus `--resume` and `--continue`", "Plan and ask (read-only) modes alongside the default agent mode", "Hands a task to Cloud Agents by prefixing the message with `\u0026`", "A free Hobby plan with no card, and a status page with a CLI component" ], "weaknesses": [ "No CLI changelog, and versions are dates", "The install script checks no checksum or signature", "No documentation of CLI telemetry or of what runs without approval by default", "Four high advisories named the CLI in October and November 2025", "Closed source, with no public issue tracker" ], "agentNotes": [ "Pass `--trust` in headless runs, or the workspace prompt stops a run with no terminal", "Write deny rules in .cursor/cli.json before using `--force`. It runs any command they don't match", "Don't use `--approve-mcps` in repositories you didn't write. Two 2025 CLI advisories came through MCP", "Set `CURSOR_API_KEY` in CI. `agent login` opens a browser", "Record `agent --version` with each run. Versions are dates and there's no CLI changelog to compare against" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 1.5, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "low", "grade": "F", "methodology": "0.3", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 35.8 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 42, "maintenance": 62, "payments": 25, "reliability": 27, "schema": 39, "security": 46, "transparency": 27 }, "provenanceScore": 100 }, "connect": { "install": "curl https://cursor.com/install -fsS | bash", "headless": { "run": "agent -p \"fix the failing test\" --output-format json --trust" } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/agent.harness", "tool": "https://letme.dev/cursor-cli" }, "area": "frameworks", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Individual plan", "unit": "month", "usd": 20, "note": "includes a set amount of model usage" }, { "item": "Teams", "unit": "seat-month", "usd": 40, "note": "per user" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Anysphere, Inc.", "domain": "cursor.com", "domainRegistered": "1995-12-20", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "https://cursor.com/terms-of-service", "privacy": "https://cursor.com/privacy", "statusPage": "https://status.cursor.com", "changelog": "https://cursor.com/changelog", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-10-01", "notes": [ "The terms of service (updated 3 September 2026) name Anysphere, Inc.", "RDAP (Verisign) gives cursor.com a registration date of 1995-12-20, long before Anysphere.", "cursor.com/.well-known/security.txt has a Contact line pointing to Cursor's GitHub security advisories and no Expires line, which RFC 9116 requires. The site's tracker reads a file with a Contact and no Expires as valid.", "The changelog covers all of Cursor, and we found no CLI-only changelog." ], "score": 100 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cursor-cli.json", "live": { "slug": "cursor-cli", "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.cursor.com", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-10-05T02:58:33.544315088Z" }, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://cursor.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:15:59.179317189Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://cursor.com/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:17:29.345712262Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "cursor.com", "registered": "1995-12-20", "source": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/cursor.com", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:09:09.510989819Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://cursor.com/changelog", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:42:16.526843692Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "0533f35b59a7" }, { "url": "https://cursor.com/privacy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:42:18.612925478Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "a5f74b5510f1" }, { "url": "https://cursor.com/terms-of-service", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:42:20.641585682Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "5db93dae47db" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-05T02:58:33.544315088Z" } }, "b": { "slug": "goose", "name": "goose", "vendor": "Agentic AI Foundation (originally Block)", "vendorUrl": "https://goose-docs.ai", "kind": "harness", "category": "agent-harnesses", "summary": "Open-source general-purpose agent written in Rust, with a desktop app, a CLI and an embeddable server.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/goose", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/goose.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/goose.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/goose.json", "repo": "https://github.com/aaif-goose/goose", "license": "Apache-2.0", "transports": [], "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@aaif/goose-acp" }, { "registry": "oci", "name": "ghcr.io/aaif-goose/goose" } ], "auth": "none", "authNotes": "No account of its own. Model keys go in the system keyring through `goose configure`, in provider environment variables, or come from an existing Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini subscription through ACP providers.", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Free and Apache-2.0, with nothing to buy. You pay your model provider, or nothing with a local model.", "priceSummary": "Free · OSS", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs or the source (checked 2026-10-01).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 54800, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-01" }, "docsUrl": "https://goose-docs.ai/docs/quickstart", "llmsTxt": "https://goose-docs.ai/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "agent.harness", "agent.mcp-client", "agent.multi-agent" ], "tags": [ "open-source", "local", "free", "no-card", "foundation", "llms-txt", "docker" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-23", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 73.9, "grade": "BB", "agentReady": true, "rank": 52, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 452, "categoryRank": 1, "methodology": "0.3", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 82, "maintenance": 86, "payments": 60, "reliability": 77, "schema": 81, "security": 77, "transparency": 63 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-01" }, "negative": -2, "negativeNotes": [ "2026-07-24. GHSA-r5pp-p5r8-466r (CVE-2026-72718, 7.0 at NVD), a repository's git `core.fsmonitor` setting ran arbitrary commands during `goose review` without approval or a sandbox. Fixed in 1.44.0 and published, inside six months, -2. https://github.com/aaif-goose/goose/security/advisories/GHSA-r5pp-p5r8-466r" ], "verdict": "Telemetry off until the user opts in, with the collected fields listed. Autonomous mode, which approves every tool call, is the default.", "strengths": [ "Telemetry off until the user opts in, with the collected fields listed", "Four permission modes, per-tool always, ask or never rules, and an extension allowlist an administrator can host", "Headless `goose run` with `--output-format json` or `stream-json`, `--max-turns` and recipes with typed parameters, retries and success checks", "15+ providers, built-in local inference, and existing Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini subscriptions through ACP", "Weekly releases with dated notes, 12 in the 90 days to 1 October 2026" ], "weaknesses": [ "Autonomous mode, which approves every tool call, is the default", "No sandbox, and prompt-injection detection and adversary mode are off by default", "No privacy policy for goose, and the usage-data page doesn't say where data goes or how long it's kept", "No breaking-change section in any of the last ten release notes", "About 270 open issues, many recent ones unanswered" ], "agentNotes": [ "Set `GOOSE_MODE=smart_approve` or `approve` before a run. The default approves everything", "Pass `--max-turns` with a real limit. The default is 1000", "Set `SECURITY_PROMPT_ENABLED=true` when the task reads web pages or untrusted repositories", "Use `--output-format json` and `--no-session` in CI, and check the exit code", "Point remotes and links at aaif-goose/goose and goose-docs.ai. The block/goose paths redirect" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 2.5, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "BB", "methodology": "0.3", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 73.9 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 82, "maintenance": 86, "payments": 60, "reliability": 77, "schema": 81, "security": 77, "transparency": 73 }, "provenanceScore": 53 }, "connect": { "install": "curl -fsSL https://github.com/aaif-goose/goose/releases/download/stable/download_cli.sh | bash # or: brew install block-goose-cli", "headless": { "command": "goose run --no-session --max-turns 30 --output-format json -t \"$TASK\"", "env": { "GOOSE_MODE": "smart_approve", "GOOSE_MODEL": "\u003cmodel\u003e", "GOOSE_PROVIDER": "\u003cprovider\u003e", "SECURITY_PROMPT_ENABLED": "true" } } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/agent.harness", "tool": "https://letme.dev/goose" }, "area": "frameworks", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Agentic AI Foundation (Linux Foundation)", "domain": "goose-docs.ai", "domainRegistered": "", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "", "privacy": "", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://github.com/aaif-goose/goose/releases", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-01", "notes": [ "The docs footer reads Copyright AAIF (Agentic AI Foundation). Block donated goose, and the escalation contact in SECURITY.md is still a block.xyz address.", "We found no terms or privacy page on goose-docs.ai and no security.txt among the docs site's static files.", "The repository moved from block/goose to aaif-goose/goose, announced on the goose blog on 7 April 2026." ], "score": 53 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/goose.json", "live": { "slug": "goose", "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "aaif-goose/goose", "version": "v1.53.0", "released": "2026-10-02", "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:29:00.933626606Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@aaif/goose-acp", "version": "1.53.0", "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:29:00.469168357Z" } ], "githubStars": 54938, "npmWeekly": 228, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://goose-docs.ai/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "none", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:16:04.830171027Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://goose-docs.ai/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:17:50.350800204Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "goose-docs.ai", "registered": "2026-03-30", "source": "https://rdap.identitydigital.services/rdap/domain/goose-docs.ai", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:06:07.115541766Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-04T16:29:00.933626606Z" } }, "summary": "goose has a score of 73.9 (BB) against Cursor CLI's 35.8 (F). Both do agent harness. The largest gap is reliability, 50 points." }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-goose", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-goose.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-goose.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-goose.min.md" }, "markdown": "goose has a score of 73.9 (BB) against Cursor CLI's 35.8 (F). Both do agent harness. The largest gap is reliability, 50 points.\n\n- Cursor CLI: grade F, 35.8/100, rank #441 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cursor-cli.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cursor-cli.json\n- goose: grade BB, 73.9/100, rank #52 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/goose.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/goose.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\nPick Cursor CLI for nothing in particular (no category where it leads by five points or more).\n\nPick goose for reliability (+50), schema \u0026 documentation (+42), agent ergonomics (+40), security \u0026 auth (+31), payments \u0026 pricing (+35), maintenance \u0026 community (+24).\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Cursor CLI | goose | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 27 | 77 | goose +50 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 39 | 81 | goose +42 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 42 | 82 | goose +40 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 46 | 77 | goose +31 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 25 | 60 | goose +35 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 62 | 86 | goose +24 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 64 | 63 | Cursor CLI +1 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | -5 | -2 | |\n| **Total** | | **35.8 · F** | **73.9 · BB** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Cursor CLI | goose |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |\n| Vendor | Cursor | Agentic AI Foundation (originally Block) |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |\n| Transports | | |\n| Auth | OAuth or key | None |\n| Pricing | Freemium | Free |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Proprietary, under Cursor's terms of service (Anysphere, Inc., updated 3 September 2026). No source is published | Apache-2.0 |\n| Tools exposed | none | none |\n| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |\n| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |\n| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |\n| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| MCP registry | not listed | not listed |\n| Last release | 2026-09-28 | 2026-09-23 |\n| Popularity | none | 55k stars |\n| Agent reviews | 1.5/5 (2) | 2.5/5 (2) |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Cursor CLI.** Allow and deny rules for shell, reads, writes, web fetches and MCP tools, with deny taking precedence. No CLI changelog, and versions are dates.\n\n**goose.** Telemetry off until the user opts in, with the collected fields listed. Autonomous mode, which approves every tool call, is the default.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Cursor CLI\n\n1. Pass `--trust` in headless runs, or the workspace prompt stops a run with no terminal\n2. Write deny rules in .cursor/cli.json before using `--force`. It runs any command they don't match\n3. Don't use `--approve-mcps` in repositories you didn't write. Two 2025 CLI advisories came through MCP\n4. Set `CURSOR_API_KEY` in CI. `agent login` opens a browser\n5. Record `agent --version` with each run. Versions are dates and there's no CLI changelog to compare against\n\n### goose\n\n1. Set `GOOSE_MODE=smart_approve` or `approve` before a run. The default approves everything\n2. Pass `--max-turns` with a real limit. The default is 1000\n3. Set `SECURITY_PROMPT_ENABLED=true` when the task reads web pages or untrusted repositories\n4. Use `--output-format json` and `--no-session` in CI, and check the exit code\n5. Point remotes and links at aaif-goose/goose and goose-docs.ai. The block/goose paths redirect\n\n## Other comparisons with Cursor CLI or goose\n\n- [Aider vs Cursor CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-cursor-cli.md)\n- [Aider vs goose](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-goose.md)\n- [Claude Code vs Cursor CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-cursor-cli.md)\n- [Claude Code vs goose](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-goose.md)\n- [Cline vs Cursor CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-cursor-cli.md)\n- [Cline vs goose](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-goose.md)\n- [Cursor CLI vs Gemini CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-gemini-cli.md)\n- [Cursor CLI vs GitHub Copilot CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-github-copilot-cli.md)\n- [Cursor CLI vs OpenAI Codex](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-openai-codex.md)\n- [Cursor CLI vs OpenCode](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-opencode.md)\n- [Cursor CLI vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-openhands.md)\n- [Gemini CLI vs goose](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-goose.md)\n- [GitHub Copilot CLI vs goose](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-goose.md)\n- [goose vs OpenAI Codex](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-openai-codex.md)\n- [goose vs OpenCode](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-opencode.md)\n- [goose vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-openhands.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-05", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.3", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Cursor CLI vs goose", "url": "" } ], "description": "goose has a score of 73.9 (BB) against Cursor CLI's 35.8 (F). Both do agent harness. The largest gap is reliability, 50 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Cursor CLI F 35.8", "goose BB 73.9", "scores" ], "h1": "Cursor CLI vs goose", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-cursor-cli-vs-goose.png", "path": "/compare/cursor-cli-vs-goose", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Cursor CLI vs goose for AI agents, F 35.8 vs BB 73.9 | Anchor Terminal", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-05", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-goose" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 1500, "slim": 330 }, "version": 1 }