---
title: "Composer 2.5 | Ethical Stack"
url: https://ethicalstack.ai/models/cursor-composer/
catalog_version: f6baff2119d0e9158520da7fbe4232011dac79f25bd08757436d7a1dbd593db2
---

# Composer 2.5

Cursor’s current coding model for sustained agent tasks, based on Kimi K2.5 with further Cursor training and reinforcement learning.

Canonical profile: https://ethicalstack.ai/models/cursor-composer/

Scope: Composer 2.5 model and Cursor inference route. Cursor identifies Kimi K2.5 as its base and describes additional training and reinforcement learning; the model is available through Cursor.

Published overall: 4.3; 6/6 dimensions rated.

Round the equal-weight mean of available numerical ratings to one decimal; require at least four of six for an overall score. BDS status stays outside the mean; for eligible profiles, a boycott target caps the final score at 2/10 and a pressure target subtracts one point (minimum 1). Not listed and not checked do not adjust the score.

## Energy practices

Finding: 3/10

Assessment: https://ethicalstack.ai/models/cursor-composer/#energy

Cursor publishes Composer performance and prices but no energy or electricity footprint.

Reason: 1 + 1 reporting + 0 electricity + 1 controls = 3/10. This grades documented practices and transparency.

Argument: Latency and token cost are not equivalent to energy per completed task. No measured electricity, training compute or water report accompanies Composer 2.5.

Type: argument; confidence: medium

Scope (dimension): Composer 2.5 model and Cursor inference route. Cursor identifies Kimi K2.5 as its base and describes additional training and reinforcement learning; the model is available through Cursor.

Research reviewed: not recorded; evidence date: not recorded

Unknowns: Task energy, emissions, water, compute hardware and clean power remain unknown.

```json
{
  "method": "practices-transparency-v1",
  "scope": "Composer 2.5 model and Cursor inference route. Cursor identifies Kimi K2.5 as its base and describes additional training and reinforcement learning; the model is available through Cursor.",
  "components": {
    "disclosure": {
      "score": 1,
      "reason": "Cursor identifies model and deployment but no energy footprint.",
      "sourceUrls": [
        "https://cursor.com/composer"
      ]
    },
    "electricity": {
      "score": 0,
      "reason": "No clean electricity sourcing or facility mix is disclosed.",
      "sourceUrls": [
        "https://cursor.com/composer"
      ]
    },
    "demand": {
      "score": 1,
      "reason": "A fast variant and lower token prices are documented, but no physical resource controls or measured savings.",
      "sourceUrls": [
        "https://cursor.com/composer",
        "https://cursor.com/changelog/composer-2-5"
      ]
    }
  },
  "actualImpactMeasured": false
}
```

- [Cursor Composer model overview including Composer 2.5](https://cursor.com/composer) (primary; checked 2026-10-28)

- [Composer 2.5 release note](https://cursor.com/changelog/composer-2-5) (primary; checked 2026-10-28)

## Training data

Finding: 4/10

Assessment: https://ethicalstack.ai/models/cursor-composer/#training-rights

Cursor names Composer’s base and post-training process, but has not supplied a complete training-data permission record.

Reason: 1 + 2 source transparency + 1 permission + 0 creator controls = 4/10, with the permission cap applied.

Argument: Cursor identifies the base model and describes continued training and RL. A separate report says production interactions can supply reward signals. Privacy Mode controls use of customer inputs, not rights in the inherited Kimi corpus or all post-training data.

Type: argument; confidence: medium

Scope (dimension): Composer 2.5 lineage and Cursor post-training.

Research reviewed: not recorded; evidence date: not recorded

Unknowns: A complete dataset list, rights audit for Kimi K2.5, full post-training sources and independent permission validation are not published.

```json
{
  "method": "training-rights-evidence-v1",
  "scope": "Composer 2.5 lineage and Cursor post-training.",
  "components": {
    "provenance": {
      "score": 2,
      "reason": "Base model and training stages are identified but material datasets are not itemized.",
      "sourceUrls": [
        "https://cursor.com/composer",
        "https://prod.cursor.com/blog/real-time-rl-for-composer"
      ]
    },
    "permissions": {
      "score": 1,
      "reason": "The training process and base are named, but a complete inspectable permission basis is not documented.",
      "sourceUrls": [
        "https://cursor.com/composer",
        "https://prod.cursor.com/blog/real-time-rl-for-composer"
      ]
    },
    "creatorControls": {
      "score": 0,
      "reason": "Privacy Mode governs new customer inputs, not permission or removal controls for the original model training data.",
      "sourceUrls": [
        "https://cursor.com/privacy",
        "https://cursor.com/data-use"
      ]
    }
  },
  "routeDependency": null,
  "modelReference": null
}
```

- [Cursor Composer model overview including Composer 2.5](https://cursor.com/composer) (primary; checked 2026-10-28)

- [Cursor privacy policy](https://cursor.com/privacy) (primary; checked 2026-10-28)

- [Cursor data use and Privacy Mode](https://cursor.com/data-use) (primary; checked 2026-10-28)

- [Cursor real-time Composer reinforcement learning](https://prod.cursor.com/blog/real-time-rl-for-composer) (primary; checked 2026-10-28)

## Your data & privacy

Finding: 6/10

Assessment: https://ethicalstack.ai/models/cursor-composer/#privacy

Composer 2.5 requests go through Cursor; Privacy Mode says customer data is not used for training by Cursor or its providers.

Reason: Cursor says custom models such as Composer may use inference providers; Privacy Mode provides ZDR and blocks training use. Without it, Cursor may use codebase data, prompts, snippets and editor actions to improve models. BYOK still passes through Cursor’s backend.

Argument: Cursor says custom models such as Composer may use inference providers; Privacy Mode provides ZDR and blocks training use. Without it, Cursor may use codebase data, prompts, snippets and editor actions to improve models. BYOK still passes through Cursor’s backend.

Type: argument; confidence: medium

Scope (profile): Composer 2.5 model and Cursor inference route. Cursor identifies Kimi K2.5 as its base and describes additional training and reinforcement learning; the model is available through Cursor.

Research reviewed: not recorded; evidence date: not recorded

Unknowns: Provider exceptions and security review retention still apply under published terms. Composer is not a local inference route in these sources.

- [Cursor privacy policy](https://cursor.com/privacy) (primary; checked 2026-10-28)

- [Cursor data use and Privacy Mode](https://cursor.com/data-use) (primary; checked 2026-10-28)

- [Cursor privacy and data governance](https://cursor.com/docs/enterprise/privacy-and-data-governance?trk=article-ssr-frontend-pulse_little-text-block) (primary; checked 2026-10-28)

## Openness

Finding: 4/10

Assessment: https://ethicalstack.ai/models/cursor-composer/#openness

Composer 2.5 is a hosted model available through Cursor; the model itself is not offered as downloadable weights in the reviewed sources.

Reason: Cursor identifies the Kimi K2.5 open-source base but adds Cursor training and RL; Composer 2.5 is offered through Cursor products.

Argument: Cursor identifies the Kimi K2.5 open-source base but adds Cursor training and RL; Composer 2.5 is offered through Cursor products.

Type: argument; confidence: medium

Scope (profile): Composer 2.5 model and Cursor inference route. Cursor identifies Kimi K2.5 as its base and describes additional training and reinforcement learning; the model is available through Cursor.

Research reviewed: not recorded; evidence date: not recorded

Unknowns: The specific license for all Kimi K2.5 components and any future weight release should be checked at source.

- [Cursor Composer model overview including Composer 2.5](https://cursor.com/composer) (primary; checked 2026-10-28)

- [Composer 2.5 release note](https://cursor.com/changelog/composer-2-5) (primary; checked 2026-10-28)

## Worker protections

Finding: 1/10

Assessment: https://ethicalstack.ai/models/cursor-composer/#labour

Cursor has public hiring pages, including a federal/DoW sales role, but no opened employment, supplier, or worker-outcome policy establishes compensation, protections, or grievance coverage.

Reason: 1 + 0 pay & conditions + 0 worker voice & remedy + 0 evidence & follow-through = 1/10. This grades documented worker safeguards, not a measured rate of mistreatment.

Argument: Cursor has public hiring pages, including a federal/DoW sales role, but the careers page is recruiting information rather than a labor standard. Product privacy disclosures do not establish pay, contractor conditions, annotation or moderation labor, supplier standards, or employee grievance routes. The federal/DoW role indicates sales intent only and is not a military customer or contract. This entry carries the same developer/operator finding to Composer 2.5; it does not establish that this product was deployed under every cited relationship.

Type: argument; confidence: low

Scope (dimension): Cursor: the documented developer/operator record, not proof of deployment of Composer 2.5.

Research reviewed: 2026-10-24; evidence date: not recorded

Unknowns: Compensation, hours, employee feedback/grievance channels, contractor/subcontractor coverage, content moderation and model-data workforce conditions, and independent labor results remain undisclosed in the pages reviewed.

```json
{
  "method": "worker-safeguards-evidence-v1",
  "entity": "cursor",
  "company": "Anysphere / Cursor",
  "scope": "Anysphere / Cursor's workforce and disclosed contractors. Coverage of individual product teams may be incomplete.",
  "components": {
    "conditions": {
      "score": 0,
      "reason": "No opened source reports worker pay, hours, exposure protections, contractor coverage, or worker-level outcomes for Anysphere / Cursor. The reviewed material is limited to Anysphere product privacy and public company materials checked; no worker or contractor disclosure found. Model-provider labor is outside this company assessment.; its silence is an information gap, not evidence of poor conditions.",
      "sourceUrls": [
        "https://docs.cursor.com/account/privacy",
        "https://cursor.com/",
        "https://cursor.com/en-US/acceptable-use-policy",
        "https://cursor.com/careers"
      ]
    },
    "voice": {
      "score": 0,
      "reason": "The reviewed material for Anysphere / Cursor does not establish worker representation, grievance access, bargaining voice, or documented remedies. Public code contributions, customer controls, or creator rights do not demonstrate worker voice across employees and suppliers.",
      "sourceUrls": [
        "https://docs.cursor.com/account/privacy",
        "https://cursor.com/",
        "https://cursor.com/en-US/acceptable-use-policy",
        "https://cursor.com/careers"
      ]
    },
    "assurance": {
      "score": 0,
      "reason": "No reviewed source provides an independent audit or corroborated worker-level outcomes for Anysphere / Cursor’s relevant employees, contractors, and data-work suppliers. The available disclosures are company/project materials rather than independent labor verification.",
      "sourceUrls": [
        "https://docs.cursor.com/account/privacy",
        "https://cursor.com/",
        "https://cursor.com/en-US/acceptable-use-policy",
        "https://cursor.com/careers"
      ]
    }
  },
  "disclosureLimited": true,
  "meaning": "This grades documented worker safeguards, not a measured rate of mistreatment."
}
```

- [Cursor privacy settings and request handling](https://docs.cursor.com/account/privacy) (primary; checked 2026-10-23)

- [cursor.com](https://cursor.com/) (primary; checked 2026-10-23)

- [Cursor Acceptable Use Policy](https://cursor.com/en-US/acceptable-use-policy) (acceptable-use-policy; checked 2026-10-24)

- [Cursor Careers](https://cursor.com/careers) (careers; checked 2026-10-24)

## Military ties

Finding: 8/10

Assessment: https://ethicalstack.ai/models/cursor-composer/#military-contracts

Cursor publishes a service-wide AUP, but the targeted official review did not establish a named defense customer or deployment.

Reason: 7 base + 1 safeguard adjustment = 8/10 (3 of 9 safeguard points; every 3 adds 1). No military relationship was established in the cited sources. This ranks above known defense ties without claiming a verified clean record.

Argument: Cursor’s AUP applies across Cursor tiers and hosted services; it prohibits unlawful or critically harmful acts, terrorism and weapons of mass destruction and allows service suspension. It does not state a general ban on conventional military/intelligence work or harmful surveillance. Cursor’s careers material showing federal/DoW sales hiring is a sales motion, not proof of a contract or deployment. AUP applies to hosted Cursor use, not user-selected third-party or independent models. This entry carries the same developer/operator finding to Composer 2.5; it does not establish that this product was deployed under every cited relationship.

Type: argument; confidence: low

Scope (dimension): Cursor: the documented developer/operator record, not proof of deployment of Composer 2.5.

Research reviewed: 2026-10-24; evidence date: not recorded

Unknowns: Current contracts, end-user deployments, enforcement outcomes and how the AUP applies to local/self-hosted or customer-selected models are not established.

```json
{
  "method": "military-ties-priority-v2",
  "entity": "cursor",
  "company": "Anysphere / Cursor",
  "scope": "Anysphere / Cursor's relationships and safeguards. A company relationship does not identify every product or release used.",
  "components": {
    "restrictions": {
      "score": 1,
      "reason": "Cursor prohibits WMD development, terrorism and certain critically harmful conduct, but leaves conventional military/intelligence support and much surveillance unaddressed; this applies to hosted service, not independently routed models.",
      "sourceUrls": [
        "https://docs.cursor.com/account/privacy",
        "https://cursor.com/",
        "https://cursor.com/en-US/acceptable-use-policy"
      ]
    },
    "oversight": {
      "score": 1,
      "reason": "The AUP authorizes suspension/termination for violations, but no military-specific review or enforcement outcomes are published.",
      "sourceUrls": [
        "https://docs.cursor.com/account/privacy",
        "https://cursor.com/",
        "https://cursor.com/en-US/acceptable-use-policy"
      ]
    },
    "transparency": {
      "score": 1,
      "reason": "AUP scope is public and careers reveal public-sector/DoW sales intent, but no named customer, signed contract or deployment is established.",
      "sourceUrls": [
        "https://docs.cursor.com/account/privacy",
        "https://cursor.com/",
        "https://cursor.com/en-US/acceptable-use-policy"
      ]
    }
  },
  "relationship": "not-established",
  "relationshipReason": "The official AUP and public career material were reviewed; an advertised DoW/public-sector sales role does not establish a military customer, contract, or operational deployment.",
  "score": 8,
  "baseScore": 7,
  "safeguardPoints": 3,
  "safeguardAdjustment": 1,
  "rawScore": 8,
  "cap": null,
  "disclosureLimited": false,
  "meaning": "Known military relationships take priority over missing safeguards. The rating does not establish the probability of an undisclosed contract."
}
```

- [Cursor privacy settings and request handling](https://docs.cursor.com/account/privacy) (primary; checked 2026-10-23)

- [cursor.com](https://cursor.com/) (primary; checked 2026-10-23)

- [Cursor Acceptable Use Policy](https://cursor.com/en-US/acceptable-use-policy) (acceptable-use-policy; checked 2026-10-24)

## BDS targets

Finding: Not listed

Assessment: https://ethicalstack.ai/models/cursor-composer/#israel-palestine

We did not find Anysphere among the named targets in the two official BNC campaign lists checked on 2026-10-23. This is a limited list check, not BDS approval.

Reason: BDS campaign status is a factual category, not a 1–10 ethical rating.

Argument: Anysphere is not a named target in the checked lists, but BDS uses selective campaigns, so absence cannot establish a clean record. Check the model and host this tool connects to as well as the company providing the tool. This entry carries the same developer/operator finding to Composer 2.5; it does not establish that this product was deployed under every cited relationship.

Type: evidence; confidence: medium

Scope (dimension): Cursor: the documented developer/operator record, not proof of deployment of Composer 2.5.

Research reviewed: 2026-10-23; evidence date: not recorded

Unknowns: This review covers the named targets in the BNC consumer/pressure guide and No Tech campaign, not every BDS campaign, local group, investment or supplier. Lists and ownership can change. A company’s absence from these lists is not an endorsement or proof that it has no relevant relationships.

- [BNC official boycott and pressure guide](https://bdsmovement.net/Guide-to-BDS-Boycott) (primary; checked 2026-10-28)

- [BNC official No Tech campaign](https://bdsmovement.net/no-tech-oppression-apartheid-or-genocide) (primary; checked 2026-10-28)

## Reading the evidence

- Assessments are provisional editorial judgments. Cite the profile and the underlying sources, and retain confidence, scope and unknowns.

- Unknown, not-applicable and model-dependent are different states. Missing evidence does not establish good or bad conduct.

- Company-level evidence does not establish use of a particular product or model. Account plan, model, host and route can change an assessment.

- Energy scores describe documented practices and transparency, not measured request emissions. Zero component points can mean an evidence gap.

- Published overall scores require at least four of six numerical dimensions. Preserve coverage and BDS adjustments; BDS itself is categorical.

- No named BDS target found is limited to the reviewed campaign sources and is not approval. Personalized priorities do not change the published overall score.

- Review and source-check dates describe the research, not this deployment. Fetch current primary sources when the decision requires current verification.

Methodology: https://ethicalstack.ai/methodology/