Signing in to Cursor on a brand-new laptop, a developer finds their personal style preferences already shaping Agent's replies, though the cloned repository holds no such rule. What explains it?

The principle — User rules entered in Cursor Settings are stored on your Cursor account rather than on the machine, and they sync across the devices you sign in on.

Why the key is correct — Signing in on the new laptop brought the account's rules with it, so Agent had them before a line of the repository was read. The same mechanism explains the reverse puzzle: a rule written months ago keeps shaping output while the codebase holds no trace.

Why the others are wrong — Migration tooling moves local editor settings, and account rules sit outside profile exports. Agent does not replay earlier conversations into new sessions, because models retain no memory between completions. And a dashboard-pushed rule would be a team rule, a different source entirely.

Remember this — Personal rules follow the account; check Customize before searching the repository.

Sources — Cursor's Rules documentation.