Cursor Auto-review's classify error is a timeout, not a risk call

If Cursor's agent keeps stopping plain read-only calls with "An error occured while classifying this action. Please review manually.", ask your team admin to allow Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite. Cursor staff mohitjain said at 10:19 AM ET that the message "means Auto-review’s safety check timed out, not that it judged the call risky," and that Auto-review runs on that model. "Without it every check uses a slower fallback that times out."

• Who: Mostly teams whose admins restrict which models members can use.
• Fix now: Allow Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite under Team Settings > Models.
• Also: Put routine read-only commands on the team's Terminal Command Allowlist.
• Status: Staff call it "an issue we’re tracking."

What changed#

At 4:27 AM ET, Sethi_Aditya reported the error on read-only Shell and MCP calls in Agent mode, with 29 redacted samples from 6 chats between Sep 28 and Oct 14. The blocked payloads were small, a median of 438 characters. Approving one didn't carry over, so the same call could be blocked again minutes later. Until today's reply there was no explanation, because the error gives no reason.

Why it matters#

A reasonless prompt on every read trains people to click approve without reading. The user put it plainly: "After dozens of reasonless prompts, I approve by habit, which defeats the purpose of Auto-review."

How to use it#

1. Admins: in Team Settings > Models, allow Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite. Staff say "It’s only used for Auto-review, so it won’t show up as a coding model."
2. Admins: add safe read-only commands to the Terminal Command Allowlist under Team Settings > Security & automation > Auto-Run Controls, which skips the check for them.
3. Everyone: delete any user rule that tries to pre-approve calls. Staff say the check "treats chat text as something to evaluate," so such a rule reads as steering it. Put standing permissions in allow_instructions in your permissions.json instead.

Copyable note for your admin:

Cursor Auto-review keeps timing out on read-only calls ("An error occured while classifying this action"). Cursor staff say Auto-review runs on Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite and falls back to a slower model that times out when it's blocked. Could you allow Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite in Team Settings > Models? It's only used for Auto-review.

Good to know#

• The fix is on the admin side. If your team doesn't restrict models, this may not be your cause; post a Request ID in the thread.
• Staff passed along the user's other points: approvals not carrying over, a missing approval card when away, and the misspelled "occured."
• This thread is about Cursor's editor. Grok Bot's own Auto-review cards weren't part of it.

What to watch#

A fix that stops the fallback from timing out, and whether approvals start carrying over.