Windsurf

What Windsurf does

Windsurf is an AI code editor whose distinguishing idea is continuity: the assistant tracks what you have been doing across files, terminal commands and edits, so a request arrives with that recent activity as context rather than starting cold. Its agent plans and executes multi-step changes, runs commands, and proposes fixes when tests fail, while inline completion and a command palette handle smaller edits. It also ships plugins for JetBrains editors and Visual Studio Code for teams that do not want to switch editors, and offers self-hosted and enterprise deployments. Now owned by Cognition, it sits alongside that company's autonomous agent product. It suits developers who prefer agentic workflows and teams needing deployment control. The limitations are ecosystem and consistency: the user base is smaller than the market leaders, so community material is thinner, and agent quality varies noticeably depending on the model tier your plan allows.

How to use it

Download the editor from windsurf.com, or install the plugin if you would rather stay in your current editor, then sign in and open a project. A free tier with limited monthly credits is enough to judge the agent. Let the workspace index first. The main surface is the agent panel, where you describe an outcome rather than a file change, and it proposes a plan with the files it intends to touch; approve or narrow that plan before it runs, because narrowing scope early is the difference between a clean diff and a sprawling one. Rules files at workspace level carry your conventions between sessions. Use the built-in terminal for commands so the agent sees the output and can react to failures. The practical constraints are credits and models: actions consume prompt credits at different rates depending on the model, allowances reset monthly, and the cheaper tiers restrict which models you can select.

Best for

• agentic workflows
• multi-step changes
• JetBrains users
• self-hosted deployment
• onboarding to a codebase

Strengths and limitations