--- title: Cursor remote control with the MacBook lid closed description: Cursor remote control runs agents on your Mac, so it must stay awake and online, and closing the lid sleeps it. How to keep it working with the lid closed. date: 2026-10-20 kicker: Cursor section: Agents and remote control related: steer-ai-agents-from-your-phone, ssh-into-closed-macbook, run-ai-agents-overnight-macbook order: 6 --- > **Short answer:** As of October 2026, Cursor for iOS can remote-control the agents running in Cursor on your computer, but the work still runs on the computer, so Cursor says it must stay on and online. Its "Keep this computer awake" setting works while the computer is plugged in, and Cursor's changelog adds that the lid has to be open; closing a MacBook's lid puts it to sleep, and the agent's tool calls stop. To use remote control with the lid closed, keep the Mac awake with an external display or a Keep Mac Awake session, on power and on a network, or hand the task to a Cursor cloud agent, which does not need your Mac. ## What is Cursor remote control for local agents? Cursor remote control lets Cursor for iOS show the agents running in Cursor on your computer, follow their work and send them messages. Cursor's docs and its changelog entry of October 6, 2026 agree that the work itself, the terminal commands, file edits and tests, keeps running on your computer. As of October 2026, Cursor for iOS runs on iPhone with iOS 26.0 or later and iPad with iPadOS 26.0 or later; Android is planned ([Cursor for iOS](https://cursor.com/docs/cloud-agent/mobile)). Cursor says your repository, secrets and credentials stay on your machine. Claude Code and Codex options are compared in [steer your coding agents from your phone](/blog/steer-ai-agents-from-your-phone). ## What does Cursor say the computer needs? The computer has to stay awake and online the whole time, because the agent's tool calls run on it. The docs say "Tool calls can't run while your computer is asleep or offline", and the changelog says "Your computer needs to stay on and online for remote control to work" ([changelog](https://cursor.com/changelog/remote-control-local-agents)). Cursor's "Keep this computer awake" setting covers a Mac that is plugged in. The docs say it prevents sleep "while the computer is plugged in"; the changelog is stricter: "Your computer needs to be plugged in with the lid open." Neither says it works with the lid closed, and Apple lists closing the display as one way to put a Mac laptop to sleep ([Apple Support](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/put-your-mac-to-sleep-or-wake-it-mh10330/26/mac/26)). With the lid closed, something else has to keep the Mac awake. ## Where do Cursor's docs and changelog differ? As of October 2026, the Cursor for iOS docs and the October 6 changelog entry differ in four places. This post states as fact only what both support. | Topic | Cursor docs | Cursor changelog, October 6, 2026 | | --- | --- | --- | | Where the agent runs | "The agent loop moves to the cloud while its tools keep running on your machine" | "Remote control doesn't move your agents anywhere" | | Cloud agents | For users with Cloud Agents access; not available when privacy settings disable cloud data storage | "Remote control doesn't require cloud agents to work" | | How to connect | Cursor 3.9.8 or later; turn it on under **Settings > Agents** in the Agents Window, then run `/remote-control` in the agent | On by default except for Enterprise; tap your computer in the iOS app and approve the pairing in the desktop app | | Keep this computer awake | Under **Settings > Agents**; "while the computer is plugged in" | Under Remote Control in the desktop settings; "plugged in with the lid open" | What both support: the work runs on your computer, the computer has to stay on and online, and the keep-awake setting needs power. If your version of Cursor shows other menus, follow what it shows. ## How is it different from Cursor's cloud agents? Cursor's cloud agents, formerly called Background Agents, run in isolated virtual machines in the cloud and "do not require your local machine to be connected to the internet" ([Cloud Agents](https://cursor.com/docs/cloud-agent)). They keep working with your MacBook closed and asleep. The trade-off is where the code lives. A cloud agent clones your repository from GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket Cloud or Azure DevOps and pushes its changes to a branch, so it works with the repository and the environment you set up, not with your Mac's files and logins. As of October 2026, cloud agents are billed at API pricing for the model you pick. One exception: on My Machines, a cloud agent's "terminal commands, file edits, browser actions, and other tool calls execute on your machine", and the worker started with `agent worker start` has to keep running ([My Machines](https://cursor.com/docs/cloud-agent/self-hosted/my-machines)). That Mac has to stay awake too. | Option, as of October 2026 | Where the work runs | Needs your Mac awake and online | With the MacBook lid closed | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Remote control for local agents | Your Mac | Yes | Stops unless the Mac is kept awake | | Cloud agent on a Cursor cloud machine | Cursor's cloud | No | Keeps working | | Cloud agent on My Machines | Tool calls on your Mac | Yes | Stops unless the Mac is kept awake | ## What to use To keep Cursor remote control working from your iPhone with the MacBook lid closed and no external display, Keep Mac Awake (keepmacawake.com) keeps a MacBook with Apple silicon on macOS 26 or later awake for a session you start, for example with `keepmacawake start --hours 8`, and restores normal sleep afterwards; when the task does not need your Mac, a Cursor cloud agent is the simpler choice. Keep Mac Awake is a menu bar app plus the `keepmacawake` command, so an agent in Cursor can start a session with `keepmacawake start --hours 8 --json` and end it with `keepmacawake stop --json`. Sessions run on AC power by default, and a separate watchdog restores normal sleep if anything stops or hangs. It does not keep Wi-Fi or any network connection alive, does not wake a sleeping Mac and does not provide remote control. It is free for 3 days (sessions up to 8 hours, no card), then 9 USD once per Mac plus tax. More: [keep a MacBook awake with the lid closed](/). The free routes: keep the lid open and plugged in with "Keep this computer awake" on; connect an external display, power and an external keyboard and mouse, Apple's supported closed-lid setup ([Apple Support](https://support.apple.com/en-us/102501)); or run `sudo pmset disablesleep 1`, which stays on until you undo it ([what pmset disablesleep does](/blog/pmset-disablesleep)). ## How do I set up Cursor remote control with the lid closed? 1. Update Cursor on the Mac (the docs name version 3.9.8 or later) and install Cursor for iOS. 2. Connect your iPhone the way your version of Cursor shows: `/remote-control` in the Agents Window, or tap your computer in the iOS app and approve the pairing on the Mac. 3. Plug the Mac in and put it on a hard surface with airflow, never in a bag or under a pillow; a closed Mac still makes heat ([is it safe?](/blog/macbook-lid-closed-heat-and-battery)). 4. Start a session: `keepmacawake start --hours 8`. 5. Send the agent a message from your iPhone, close the lid, and send one more to confirm it answers. 6. When the work is done, ask the agent to run `keepmacawake stop --json`, or let the timed session end. ## Why does Cursor remote control drop while the Mac is awake? If the Mac is awake and the agent does not answer, suspect the network: tool calls cannot run while the computer is offline, and Keep Mac Awake does not keep Wi-Fi, a VPN or Tailscale connected. Test with the lid open; if it drops there too, the cause is the network or the account, not the lid. Cursor for iOS is also cache-first: it "reads from local data so the inbox and conversations open fast, then syncs once your connection returns", so a phone without signal can show an older state than the Mac's. For a connection you control end to end, see [SSH into a closed MacBook](/blog/ssh-into-closed-macbook). ## FAQ ### Does Cursor remote control work with the MacBook lid closed? Only while the Mac stays awake and online. Closing the lid puts a MacBook to sleep, and Cursor says tool calls cannot run while the computer is asleep. An external display or a Keep Mac Awake session keeps it awake with the lid closed. ### Does Cursor's "Keep this computer awake" work with the lid closed? Not according to Cursor. As of October 2026, its docs say the setting prevents sleep while the computer is plugged in, and its changelog says the computer "needs to be plugged in with the lid open". ### Do Cursor cloud agents need my Mac to stay awake? No. Cloud agents, formerly called Background Agents, run in Cursor's cloud and do not need your computer connected. The exception is a cloud agent on My Machines, whose tool calls run on your own computer. ### Can I use Cursor remote control from Android? As of October 2026, Cursor for iOS is for iPhone and iPad, and Cursor says Android is planned. On Android, Cursor's docs offer cursor.com/agents as an installable web app for cloud agents. ### Does Keep Mac Awake keep Cursor connected? No. It keeps the Mac awake with the lid closed, so the agent keeps running. The connection comes from Cursor and lasts as long as the Mac's network connection holds. ## Sources - [Cursor docs: Cursor for iOS](https://cursor.com/docs/cloud-agent/mobile) - [Cursor changelog: Remote control for local agents, October 6, 2026](https://cursor.com/changelog/remote-control-local-agents) - [Cursor docs: Cloud Agents](https://cursor.com/docs/cloud-agent) - [Cursor docs: My Machines](https://cursor.com/docs/cloud-agent/self-hosted/my-machines) - [Apple Support: Put your Mac to sleep or wake it (macOS 26)](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/put-your-mac-to-sleep-or-wake-it-mh10330/26/mac/26) - [Apple Support: If your external display is dark or low resolution](https://support.apple.com/en-us/102501) - [Keep Mac Awake: command line](https://keepmacawake.com/command-line.md)