diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 79efd7401..b1987608c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ ug opencode
 ug copilot
 ug pi
 ug cursor   # Cursor Agent, MCP-only
+ug cursor app   # Cursor desktop app, MCP-only
 ```
 
 On first launch of a model-backed agent, `ug` prompts for a Databricks
diff --git a/src/ucode/agents/cursor.py b/src/ucode/agents/cursor.py
index a5afc2c3b..41fde0e8b 100644
--- a/src/ucode/agents/cursor.py
+++ b/src/ucode/agents/cursor.py
@@ -17,12 +17,30 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import os
+import re
+import shutil
+import subprocess
+import sys
 from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Any
 
 from ucode.config_io import apply_json_mcp_diff, read_json_safe, write_json_file
 from ucode.launcher import exec_or_spawn
+from ucode.os_compatibility import subprocess_cross_os
+
+_DETACHED_POPEN_OPTIONS: dict[str, Any] = (
+    {"creationflags": subprocess.CREATE_NO_WINDOW}
+    if sys.platform == "win32"
+    else {"start_new_session": True}
+)
 
 CURSOR_BINARY = "cursor-agent"
+CURSOR_APP_BINARY = "cursor"
+CURSOR_MACOS_APP_PATHS = (
+    Path("/Applications/Cursor.app"),
+    Path.home() / "Applications" / "Cursor.app",
+)
 CURSOR_CONFIG_DIR = Path.home() / ".cursor"
 CURSOR_MCP_CONFIG_PATH = CURSOR_CONFIG_DIR / "mcp.json"
 
@@ -103,3 +121,83 @@ def launch(state: dict, tool_args: list[str]) -> None:
     convenience wrapper over `cursor-agent` (kept for symmetry with the other
     `ucode <agent>` launchers)."""
     exec_or_spawn([CURSOR_BINARY, *tool_args])
+
+
+_LINE_COL_SUFFIX = re.compile(r"(:\d+){1,2}$")
+_OPEN_WAIT_SECONDS = 10
+
+
+def _absolutize_paths(tool_args: list[str]) -> list[str]:
+    """Resolve path-like args (existing paths, `.`/`..`, and `file:line[:col]`) against
+    the cwd. `open` starts the app with `/` as its cwd, so relative paths would break."""
+    resolved = []
+    for arg in tool_args:
+        if arg.startswith("-"):
+            resolved.append(arg)
+            continue
+        bare = _LINE_COL_SUFFIX.sub("", arg)
+        if arg in (".", "..") or Path(arg).exists() or Path(bare).exists():
+            resolved.append(os.path.abspath(arg))
+        else:
+            resolved.append(arg)
+    return resolved
+
+
+def find_app_launch_argv(tool_args: list[str]) -> list[str] | None:
+    """Return the argv that opens the Cursor desktop app, or None if it isn't installed.
+
+    When any flag is passed (`--new-window`, `--goto`, ...) the `cursor` shell command
+    is preferred on every platform: it is the editor's own CLI, handles flags and
+    relative paths, and reuses a running instance. Without it on macOS, flags go after
+    `open --args` with path-like args made absolute; macOS ignores `--args` when Cursor
+    is already running, so flags may have no effect then. No flags on macOS: `open -a`
+    on the bundle with absolute paths, which returns as soon as the app is launched.
+    Otherwise the `cursor` command is used; `launch_app` starts it detached so it can't
+    hold the terminal."""
+    has_flags = any(arg.startswith("-") for arg in tool_args)
+    binary = shutil.which(CURSOR_APP_BINARY)
+    if has_flags and binary:
+        return [binary, *tool_args]
+    if sys.platform == "darwin":
+        for bundle in CURSOR_MACOS_APP_PATHS:
+            if bundle.exists():
+                args = _absolutize_paths(tool_args)
+                if has_flags:
+                    return ["open", "-a", str(bundle), "--args", *args]
+                return ["open", "-a", str(bundle), *args]
+    if binary:
+        return [binary, *tool_args]
+    return None
+
+
+def launch_app(argv: list[str]) -> None:
+    """Open the Cursor desktop app and return without hanging the terminal.
+
+    The desktop app reads the same ~/.cursor/mcp.json as `cursor-agent`, and the
+    Databricks MCP servers in it run `ug mcp-proxy`, so no env or token wiring is
+    needed here. The process is detached (own session, no stdin/stdout) because the
+    `cursor` shell command can stay attached for as long as the app runs.
+
+    `open` returns quickly, so it is waited on briefly and a non-zero exit raises
+    RuntimeError with its stderr. The `cursor` command is not waited on; failing to
+    start it raises OSError."""
+    is_open = Path(argv[0]).name == "open"
+    proc = subprocess_cross_os.popen(
+        argv,
+        stdin=subprocess.DEVNULL,
+        stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL,
+        stderr=subprocess.PIPE if is_open else subprocess.DEVNULL,
+        **_DETACHED_POPEN_OPTIONS,
+    )
+    if not is_open:
+        return
+    try:
+        _, stderr = proc.communicate(timeout=_OPEN_WAIT_SECONDS)
+    except subprocess.TimeoutExpired:
+        return
+    if proc.returncode:
+        detail = (stderr or b"").decode(errors="replace").strip()
+        raise RuntimeError(
+            f"Failed to open the Cursor app (`open` exited {proc.returncode})"
+            + (f": {detail}" if detail else ".")
+        )
diff --git a/src/ucode/cli.py b/src/ucode/cli.py
index 48daa32aa..6fba92a6a 100644
--- a/src/ucode/cli.py
+++ b/src/ucode/cli.py
@@ -3861,7 +3861,7 @@ def pi_cmd(
     rich_help_panel="Launch",
 )
 def cursor_cmd(ctx: typer.Context) -> None:
-    """Launch Cursor Agent.
+    """Launch Cursor Agent (`ug cursor app` opens the Cursor desktop app).
 
     Cursor is MCP-only: `cursor-agent` runs models on your own Cursor account, so
     ug configures no models for it. Its Databricks MCP servers (added via
@@ -3872,6 +3872,21 @@ def cursor_cmd(ctx: typer.Context) -> None:
     from ucode.agents import cursor
 
     try:
+        if ctx.args and ctx.args[0] == "app":
+            argv = cursor.find_app_launch_argv(ctx.args[1:])
+            if argv is None:
+                raise RuntimeError(
+                    "The Cursor desktop app was not found. Install it "
+                    "(https://cursor.com/download), then re-run `ug cursor app`."
+                )
+            print_section("Unity Gateway with Cursor")
+            print_note(
+                "Cursor runs models on your Cursor account; its Databricks MCP servers "
+                "in ~/.cursor/mcp.json authenticate through `ug mcp-proxy`."
+            )
+            cursor.launch_app(argv)
+            print_success("Opened the Cursor app")
+            return
         if not shutil.which(cursor.CURSOR_BINARY):
             raise RuntimeError(
                 f"`{cursor.CURSOR_BINARY}` was not found on PATH. Install Cursor Agent "
@@ -3884,7 +3899,7 @@ def cursor_cmd(ctx: typer.Context) -> None:
         )
         print_success("Starting Cursor Agent")
         cursor.launch(load_state(), ctx.args)
-    except RuntimeError as exc:
+    except (RuntimeError, OSError) as exc:
         print_err(str(exc))
         raise typer.Exit(1) from None
     except KeyboardInterrupt:
diff --git a/tests/test_agent_cursor.py b/tests/test_agent_cursor.py
index c4ba796ac..c8a4915e0 100644
--- a/tests/test_agent_cursor.py
+++ b/tests/test_agent_cursor.py
@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import json
+import subprocess
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock
+
+import pytest
 
 from ucode.agents import cursor
 
@@ -142,6 +146,142 @@ def test_execs_cursor_agent_without_token_wiring(self, monkeypatch):
         assert execs == [["cursor-agent", "--resume"]]
 
 
+class TestLaunchApp:
+    def test_uses_cursor_command_on_path(self, monkeypatch):
+        monkeypatch.setattr(cursor.sys, "platform", "linux")
+        monkeypatch.setattr(cursor.shutil, "which", lambda name: "/usr/bin/cursor")
+
+        assert cursor.find_app_launch_argv(["."]) == ["/usr/bin/cursor", "."]
+
+    def test_macos_prefers_open_app_bundle_over_cursor_command(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+        bundle = tmp_path / "Cursor.app"
+        bundle.mkdir()
+        monkeypatch.setattr(cursor.shutil, "which", lambda name: "/usr/bin/cursor")
+        monkeypatch.setattr(cursor.sys, "platform", "darwin")
+        monkeypatch.setattr(cursor, "CURSOR_MACOS_APP_PATHS", (tmp_path / "missing.app", bundle))
+        monkeypatch.chdir(tmp_path)
+
+        assert cursor.find_app_launch_argv(["."]) == ["open", "-a", str(bundle), str(tmp_path)]
+
+    def test_flags_prefer_cursor_cli_even_on_macos(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+        bundle = tmp_path / "Cursor.app"
+        bundle.mkdir()
+        monkeypatch.setattr(cursor.shutil, "which", lambda name: "/usr/bin/cursor")
+        monkeypatch.setattr(cursor.sys, "platform", "darwin")
+        monkeypatch.setattr(cursor, "CURSOR_MACOS_APP_PATHS", (bundle,))
+
+        assert cursor.find_app_launch_argv(["--new-window", "."]) == [
+            "/usr/bin/cursor",
+            "--new-window",
+            ".",
+        ]
+
+    def test_macos_flags_without_cli_use_args_with_absolute_paths(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+        bundle = tmp_path / "Cursor.app"
+        bundle.mkdir()
+        (tmp_path / "a.py").write_text("")
+        monkeypatch.chdir(tmp_path)
+        monkeypatch.setattr(cursor.shutil, "which", lambda name: None)
+        monkeypatch.setattr(cursor.sys, "platform", "darwin")
+        monkeypatch.setattr(cursor, "CURSOR_MACOS_APP_PATHS", (bundle,))
+
+        assert cursor.find_app_launch_argv(["--goto", "a.py:3", "."]) == [
+            "open",
+            "-a",
+            str(bundle),
+            "--args",
+            "--goto",
+            str(tmp_path / "a.py") + ":3",
+            str(tmp_path),
+        ]
+
+    def test_macos_paths_only_are_made_absolute(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+        bundle = tmp_path / "Cursor.app"
+        bundle.mkdir()
+        (tmp_path / "a").mkdir()
+        monkeypatch.chdir(tmp_path)
+        monkeypatch.setattr(cursor.sys, "platform", "darwin")
+        monkeypatch.setattr(cursor, "CURSOR_MACOS_APP_PATHS", (bundle,))
+
+        assert cursor.find_app_launch_argv(["a", "nonexistent"]) == [
+            "open",
+            "-a",
+            str(bundle),
+            str(tmp_path / "a"),
+            "nonexistent",
+        ]
+
+    def test_macos_without_bundle_uses_cursor_command(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+        monkeypatch.setattr(cursor.shutil, "which", lambda name: "/usr/bin/cursor")
+        monkeypatch.setattr(cursor.sys, "platform", "darwin")
+        monkeypatch.setattr(cursor, "CURSOR_MACOS_APP_PATHS", (tmp_path / "missing.app",))
+
+        assert cursor.find_app_launch_argv(["."]) == ["/usr/bin/cursor", "."]
+
+    def test_not_installed_returns_none(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+        monkeypatch.setattr(cursor.shutil, "which", lambda name: None)
+        monkeypatch.setattr(cursor.sys, "platform", "linux")
+        monkeypatch.setattr(cursor, "CURSOR_MACOS_APP_PATHS", (tmp_path / "missing.app",))
+
+        assert cursor.find_app_launch_argv([]) is None
+
+    def test_launch_app_starts_detached_without_waiting(self, monkeypatch):
+        calls: list[tuple[list[str], dict]] = []
+        proc = MagicMock()
+        monkeypatch.setattr(
+            cursor.subprocess_cross_os,
+            "popen",
+            lambda argv, **kw: (calls.append((argv, kw)), proc)[1],
+        )
+        cursor.launch_app(["cursor", "."])
+
+        assert len(calls) == 1
+        argv, kwargs = calls[0]
+        assert argv == ["cursor", "."]
+        assert kwargs["stdin"] is subprocess.DEVNULL
+        assert kwargs["stdout"] is subprocess.DEVNULL
+        assert kwargs["stderr"] is subprocess.DEVNULL
+        for key, value in cursor._DETACHED_POPEN_OPTIONS.items():
+            assert kwargs[key] == value
+
+    def test_launch_app_open_nonzero_exit_raises_with_stderr(self, monkeypatch):
+        proc = MagicMock(returncode=1)
+        proc.communicate.return_value = (None, b"Unable to find application")
+        monkeypatch.setattr(cursor.subprocess_cross_os, "popen", lambda argv, **kw: proc)
+
+        with pytest.raises(RuntimeError, match="exited 1.*Unable to find application"):
+            cursor.launch_app(["open", "-a", "/x/Cursor.app"])
+
+    def test_launch_app_open_success_and_timeout_do_not_raise(self, monkeypatch):
+        ok = MagicMock(returncode=0)
+        ok.communicate.return_value = (None, b"")
+        slow = MagicMock(returncode=None)
+        slow.communicate.side_effect = subprocess.TimeoutExpired("open", 10)
+        procs = iter([ok, slow])
+        monkeypatch.setattr(cursor.subprocess_cross_os, "popen", lambda argv, **kw: next(procs))
+
+        cursor.launch_app(["open", "-a", "/x/Cursor.app"])
+        cursor.launch_app(["open", "-a", "/x/Cursor.app"])
+
+    def test_launch_app_cursor_cli_is_not_waited_on(self, monkeypatch):
+        proc = MagicMock()
+        monkeypatch.setattr(cursor.subprocess_cross_os, "popen", lambda argv, **kw: proc)
+
+        cursor.launch_app(["/usr/bin/cursor", "."])
+
+        proc.communicate.assert_not_called()
+        proc.wait.assert_not_called()
+
+    def test_launch_app_propagates_oserror(self, monkeypatch):
+        def boom(argv, **kw):
+            raise OSError("exec format error")
+
+        monkeypatch.setattr(cursor.subprocess_cross_os, "popen", boom)
+
+        with pytest.raises(OSError):
+            cursor.launch_app(["/usr/bin/cursor", "."])
+
+
 class TestWriteUserMcpServers:
     def test_batched_add_remove_preserves_user_entries(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
         path = tmp_path / "mcp.json"
diff --git a/tests/test_cli.py b/tests/test_cli.py
index 64a2a9649..3432bc0c7 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli.py
@@ -3586,6 +3586,47 @@ def test_cursor_launch_uses_unity_gateway_branding():
     assert "Unity Gateway with Cursor" in result.output
 
 
+def test_cursor_app_opens_desktop_app():
+    with (
+        patch("ucode.agents.cursor.find_app_launch_argv", return_value=["cursor", "."]) as find,
+        patch("ucode.agents.cursor.launch_app") as launch_app,
+        patch("ucode.agents.cursor.launch") as launch,
+    ):
+        result = runner.invoke(app, ["cursor", "app", "."])
+
+    assert result.exit_code == 0, result.output
+    find.assert_called_once_with(["."])
+    launch_app.assert_called_once_with(["cursor", "."])
+    launch.assert_not_called()
+
+
+def test_cursor_app_reports_when_not_installed():
+    with (
+        patch("ucode.agents.cursor.find_app_launch_argv", return_value=None),
+        patch("ucode.agents.cursor.launch_app") as launch_app,
+    ):
+        result = runner.invoke(app, ["cursor", "app"])
+
+    assert result.exit_code == 1
+    assert "Cursor desktop app was not found" in " ".join(result.output.split())
+    launch_app.assert_not_called()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("exc", [RuntimeError("open exited 1"), OSError("exec failed")])
+def test_cursor_app_launch_failure_reports_error_without_success(exc):
+    with (
+        patch("ucode.agents.cursor.find_app_launch_argv", return_value=["cursor", "."]),
+        patch("ucode.agents.cursor.launch_app", side_effect=exc),
+    ):
+        result = runner.invoke(app, ["cursor", "app", "."])
+
+    assert result.exit_code == 1
+    out = " ".join(result.output.split())
+    assert str(exc) in out
+    assert "Opened the Cursor app" not in out
+    assert "Traceback" not in out
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "names,expected",
     [