# Cursor: cloud agents with subscriptions, custom modes, isolated subagent VMs, and /goal

> Cursor cloud agents can now subscribe to event sources (PRs, Slack threads, scheduled triggers) and drive work to completion autonomously. Custom modes lock a skill as the agent's persistent context. Subagents run on isolated virtual machines with clean project copies. The /goal command gives agents long-lived objectives. Steering follow-ups no longer interrupt the current tool call.

| | |
|---|---|
| **Tool** | Cursor |
| **Version** | — |
| **Kind** | announcement |
| **Published** | 2026-08-19 |
| **Observed** | 2026-08-21 |
| **Significance** | 4/5 |
| **Breaking** | no |
| **Categories** | feature, capability |

## What changed


- **Subscriptions**: cloud agents can subscribe to PRs, Slack threads, or scheduled schedules; automatically subscribe to PRs they create and drive to completion (fix CI, address bot comments). Slack: `@cursor check back in an hour and keep going until that feedback is in`.
- **Custom modes**: any skill can be pinned as a persistent chat mode via `/` + skill name + `⌥⏎` / `Alt+Enter` or "Use as Mode".
- **Subagents on their own VMs**: each subagent gets an isolated project copy with clean context in its own cloud environment.
- **/goal**: set a long-lived objective that the agent works towards until fully complete. Pair with a custom mode or `/loop`.
- **Steering improvements**: follow-up messages queue for the next tool call boundary instead of interrupting mid-action.


## Sources

- [blog_rss](https://cursor.com/changelog/08-19-26) — retrieved 2026-08-21


## Community

_No curated reactions recorded. Facts and community takes are kept in separate layers
and never blended._

---
Canonical: https://changelogs.info/cursor/cursor-cloud-agents-with-subscriptions-custom-modes-isolated-subagent-vms-and-go
Entity: https://changelogs.info/cursor
Event ID: `evt_2026-08-19_cursor_cloud-agents-and-cursor-harness-improvements`
Licence: event synthesis © changelogs.info, CC BY 4.0. Linked sources belong to their vendors.