R016 ManualCursorRule

Applies to: Cursor rules (.mdc)
Severity: Info (−1 per finding, max −30)
Summary: A Cursor rule is in Apply Manually mode and is included only when @-mentioned.
Flags: Cursor .mdc rules only: frontmatter present, alwaysApply not true, globs empty, description empty.
Measured false-positive rate: 0% (0 of 7) and 0% (0 of 7), two judges, ruleset v2; rule unchanged since. Methodology

Before

---
description:
globs:
alwaysApply: false
---
- Use tabs.

---
description: Formatting rules for C# files
globs: **/*.cs
alwaysApply: false
---
- Use tabs.

To apply it automatically, set alwaysApply: true, add globs, or add a description.

Cursor decides when to include a rule from three frontmatter fields: alwaysApply, globs, and description.

Mode	Frontmatter	Included	Finding
Always Apply	`alwaysApply: true`	In every chat session	No finding
Apply Intelligently	`description` set, `alwaysApply: false`	When the agent judges the description relevant	No finding
Apply to Specific Files	`globs` set, `alwaysApply: false`	When a file in context matches a glob	No finding
Apply Manually	`alwaysApply: false`, no `description` or `globs`	Only when @-mentioned in chat	R016 (Info)