[codex] Port universal applyTo to Cursor alwaysApply

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- Cursor instruction output now ports explicit universal `applyTo: "**"` to
+  `alwaysApply: true` instead of `globs: "**"`, preserving always-on intent
+  while leaving scoped globs unchanged. (#1744)
 - Marketplace plugin `bin/` deployment now hardens POSIX executable copies to
   user-only `0o700` permissions and normalizes legacy `bin_deploy.deny` GitHub
   forms before matching. -- by @WilliamK112 (#1971)

docs/src/content/docs/producer/author-primitives/instructions-and-agents.md

@@ -63,6 +63,11 @@ globs. Commas inside brace alternation (`**/*.{css,scss}`) are part of
 the glob and are NOT treated as list separators -- only top-level
 commas split the list.
 
+For Cursor output, an explicit universal `applyTo: "**"` is treated as
+always-on intent: APM emits `alwaysApply: true` and omits `globs:` in the
+generated `.cursor/rules/<name>.mdc`. Other `applyTo` patterns continue
+to compile to Cursor `globs:`.
+
 A YAML sequence is also accepted (generated by VS Code and some editors):
 
 ```yaml
@@ -103,7 +108,7 @@ expanded to a YAML array under `paths:` / `globs:` /
 |---|---|---|
 | copilot | `.github/instructions/<name>.instructions.md` | verbatim; `applyTo` preserved (comma-lists split natively by Copilot) |
 | claude | `.claude/rules/<name>.md` | `applyTo` -> `paths:` list (comma-lists expanded to YAML array) |
-| cursor | `.cursor/rules/<name>.mdc` | `applyTo` -> `globs:` (scalar for single glob, YAML array for comma-lists); description auto-derived if missing |
+| cursor | `.cursor/rules/<name>.mdc` | `applyTo: "**"` -> `alwaysApply: true`; other `applyTo` values -> `globs:` (scalar for single glob, YAML array for comma-lists); description auto-derived if missing |
 | windsurf | `.windsurf/rules/<name>.md` | `applyTo` -> `trigger: glob` + `globs:` (scalar or YAML array); missing `applyTo` -> `trigger: always_on` |
 | kiro | `.kiro/steering/<name>.md` | `applyTo` -> `inclusion: fileMatch` + `fileMatchPattern:`; missing `applyTo` -> `inclusion: always` |
 | antigravity | `.agents/rules/<name>.md` | `applyTo` -> `trigger: glob` + `globs:` (scalar or YAML array); missing `applyTo` -> no frontmatter (unconditional rule) |

docs/src/content/docs/reference/targets-matrix.md

@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ Cursor.
 - **Deploy directory.** `.cursor/`.
 - **Supported primitives.** instructions, agents, skills, commands, hooks, mcp. (No `prompts`.)
 - **File conventions.**
-  - instructions: `.cursor/rules/<name>.mdc`
+  - instructions: `.cursor/rules/<name>.mdc`; explicit universal `applyTo: "**"` emits `alwaysApply: true`, while scoped patterns emit `globs:`
   - agents: `.cursor/agents/<name>.md`
   - commands: `.cursor/commands/<name>.md`
   - skills: `.agents/skills/<name>/SKILL.md`

src/apm_cli/integration/instruction_integrator.py

@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ class InstructionIntegrator(BaseIntegrator):
     Deploys .instructions.md files to target-specific directories:
 
     * Copilot: ``.github/instructions/`` (verbatim, preserving applyTo:)
-    * Cursor: ``.cursor/rules/`` (``.mdc`` format, applyTo: -> globs:)
+    * Cursor: ``.cursor/rules/`` (``.mdc`` format, applyTo: -> globs:/alwaysApply:)
     * Claude Code: ``.claude/rules/`` (``.md`` format, applyTo: -> paths:)
     * Gemini CLI: compile-only (GEMINI.md) -- no per-file rule deployment
     """
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ def integrate_instructions_for_target(
 
         Selects the content transform via ``format_id``:
 
-        * ``cursor_rules``    -- convert ``applyTo:`` to ``globs:`` frontmatter
+        * ``cursor_rules``    -- convert ``applyTo:`` to Cursor rule frontmatter
         * ``claude_rules``    -- convert ``applyTo:`` to ``paths:`` frontmatter
         * ``windsurf_rules``  -- convert ``applyTo:`` to ``trigger: glob`` frontmatter
         * anything else       -- copy verbatim (identity transform)
@@ -477,24 +477,47 @@ def _convert_to_cursor_rules(content: str) -> str:
 
         Parses existing YAML frontmatter, maps ``applyTo`` → ``globs``,
         extracts or generates a ``description``, and rewrites the
-        frontmatter in Cursor's expected format.
+        frontmatter in Cursor's expected format. Explicit universal
+        ``applyTo: "**"`` becomes ``alwaysApply: true`` instead of a glob.
         """
+        from ..utils.yaml_io import load_yaml_str
+
         body = content
-        apply_to = ""
+        globs: list[str] = []
         description = ""
 
-        # Parse existing frontmatter
-        fm_match = re.match(r"^---\s*\n(.*?)\n---\s*\n?", content, re.DOTALL)
+        # Parse existing frontmatter with the bounded loader so a hostile
+        # frontmatter block in an untrusted package cannot hang the parser.
+        fm_match = re.match(r"^---\s*\r?\n(.*?)\r?\n---\s*\r?\n?", content, re.DOTALL)
         if fm_match:
             fm_block = fm_match.group(1)
             body = content[fm_match.end() :]
 
-            for line in fm_block.splitlines():
-                line_stripped = line.strip()
-                if line_stripped.startswith("applyTo:"):
-                    apply_to = line_stripped[len("applyTo:") :].strip().strip("'\"")
-                elif line_stripped.startswith("description:"):
-                    description = line_stripped[len("description:") :].strip().strip("'\"")
+            try:
+                fm = load_yaml_str(fm_block) or {}
+            except Exception:
+                fm = {}
+            if not isinstance(fm, dict):
+                fm = {}
+
+            raw_apply_to = fm.get("applyTo", "")
+            if raw_apply_to is None:
+                raw_apply_to = ""
+            if isinstance(raw_apply_to, list):
+                globs = [
+                    s
+                    for item in raw_apply_to
+                    if item is not None
+                    and (s := str(item).replace("\n", " ").replace("\r", " ").strip())
+                ]
+            else:
+                safe_apply_to = str(raw_apply_to).replace("\n", " ").replace("\r", " ").strip()
+                globs = parse_apply_to(safe_apply_to)
+
+            raw_description = fm.get("description", "")
+            if raw_description is not None:
+                description = str(raw_description)
+                description = description.replace("\n", " ").replace("\r", " ").strip()
 
         # Generate description from first content sentence if missing
         if not description:
@@ -508,8 +531,9 @@ def _convert_to_cursor_rules(content: str) -> str:
         parts = ["---"]
         if description:
             parts.append(f"description: {description}")
-        globs = parse_apply_to(apply_to)
-        if len(globs) == 1:
+        if globs == ["**"]:
+            parts.append("alwaysApply: true")
+        elif len(globs) == 1:
             parts.append(f"globs: {yaml_double_quote(globs[0])}")
         elif globs:
             parts.append("globs:")

tests/unit/integration/test_instruction_integrator.py

@@ -519,6 +519,26 @@ def test_maps_apply_to_to_globs(self):
         assert 'globs: "src/**/*.py"' in result
         assert "applyTo" not in result
 
+    def test_maps_universal_apply_to_to_always_apply(self):
+        content = "---\napplyTo: '**'\ndescription: Repository guardrails\n---\n\n# Guardrails"
+        result = InstructionIntegrator._convert_to_cursor_rules(content)
+        assert "alwaysApply: true" in result
+        assert "globs" not in result
+        assert "description: Repository guardrails" in result
+        assert "applyTo" not in result
+
+    def test_padded_universal_apply_to_to_always_apply(self):
+        content = "---\napplyTo: '  **  '\n---\n\n# Global rules"
+        result = InstructionIntegrator._convert_to_cursor_rules(content)
+        assert "alwaysApply: true" in result
+        assert "globs" not in result
+
+    def test_list_valued_universal_apply_to_to_always_apply(self):
+        content = "---\napplyTo:\n  - '**'\n---\n\n# Global rules"
+        result = InstructionIntegrator._convert_to_cursor_rules(content)
+        assert "alwaysApply: true" in result
+        assert "globs" not in result
+
     def test_preserves_description(self):
         content = "---\napplyTo: '**/*.ts'\ndescription: TypeScript guidelines\n---\n\n# TS Rules"
         result = InstructionIntegrator._convert_to_cursor_rules(content)
@@ -555,6 +575,13 @@ def test_empty_apply_to_omits_globs(self):
         assert "globs" not in result
         assert "description: General rules" in result
 
+    def test_null_apply_to_omits_globs(self):
+        content = "---\napplyTo:\ndescription:\n---\n\n# General rules"
+        result = InstructionIntegrator._convert_to_cursor_rules(content)
+        assert "alwaysApply" not in result
+        assert "globs" not in result
+        assert "description: General rules" in result
+
 
 class TestCursorRulesIntegration:
     """Test integrate_package_instructions_cursor()."""
@@ -773,6 +800,26 @@ def test_frontmatter_conversion_in_deployed_file(self):
         assert "# TypeScript" in deployed
         assert "Use strict mode." in deployed
 
+    def test_universal_apply_to_deploys_always_apply(self):
+        """End-to-end: universal applyTo converts to Cursor alwaysApply."""
+        (self.project_root / ".cursor").mkdir()
+
+        pkg = self.project_root / "package"
+        inst_dir = pkg / ".apm" / "instructions"
+        inst_dir.mkdir(parents=True)
+        (inst_dir / "guardrails.instructions.md").write_text(
+            "---\napplyTo: '**'\ndescription: Repository guardrails\n---\n\n# Guardrails"
+        )
+
+        pkg_info = _make_package_info(pkg)
+        self.integrator.integrate_package_instructions_cursor(pkg_info, self.project_root)
+
+        deployed = (self.project_root / ".cursor" / "rules" / "guardrails.mdc").read_text()
+        assert "alwaysApply: true" in deployed
+        assert "globs" not in deployed
+        assert "description: Repository guardrails" in deployed
+        assert "applyTo" not in deployed
+
 
 class TestCursorRulesSyncIntegration:
     """Test sync_integration_cursor (manifest-based removal)."""