Windsurf
Agentic IDE by Codeium with Cascade flows.
Codeium
windsurf.comWindsurf is an agentic IDE by Codeium that combines Cascade flows, Supercomplete editing, and Fast Context retrieval into a single environment. It lets developers delegate tasks to AI agents, review every diff, and ship code without leaving the editor, with support for multiple models via the Agent Client Protocol.
What Is Windsurf?
Windsurf is a full-featured agentic IDE built by Codeium, designed to make AI coding agents a first-class part of the development workflow rather than an add-on. Instead of switching between an editor and a separate agent interface, Windsurf puts everything in one surface: you write, you delegate, you review, and you ship without breaking flow. The flagship capability is Cascade, an agentic flow system that can plan multi-step tasks, write code, chase edge cases, run tests, and open pull requests — all while keeping the developer informed and in control.
Cascade Flows and Agentic Sessions
Cascade is the core agentic engine inside Windsurf. When you describe a goal, Cascade breaks it into steps, selects the relevant files using Fast Context, and works through the task iteratively. Sessions are tracked in a dedicated panel so you can monitor progress, pause, redirect, or take over at any point. Multiple sessions can run in parallel inside Spaces, which share Git worktrees and persistent context so agents working on related tasks stay coordinated. The built-in diff review UI lets you rapidly inspect every change an agent makes before it is committed.
Supercomplete and Fast Context
Windsurf's Supercomplete goes beyond traditional autocomplete by predicting your next logical edit rather than just the next token. It models your intent across the file and suggests multi-line completions that match the direction you are heading. Fast Context complements this by resolving which files, functions, and lines are relevant to any agent or human query in milliseconds, avoiding the slow embedding-search round trips that can stall other tools. Together these features keep latency low whether you are writing code yourself or reviewing what an agent produced.
Agent Client Protocol and Model Flexibility
Windsurf is not locked to a single model. The Agent Client Protocol (ACP) is an open interoperability layer that lets you run agents powered by different underlying models — including SWE-1.6 (Codeium's own fast coding model), Claude, Codex, and others — from the same interface. ACP also enables integration with custom background agents, as demonstrated by enterprise customers who have connected their own internal agents to Windsurf's session management UI. This makes Windsurf a model-agnostic control plane rather than a single-model product.
Who Uses Windsurf?
Windsurf targets professional software engineers and engineering teams who want to scale their output by delegating well-defined tasks to agents without losing oversight. Enterprise customers such as Ramp, Harvey, NVIDIA, and Modal have adopted it for managing fleets of agents across long-running engineering efforts. Harvey's team built a custom background agent called Spectre that integrates with Windsurf's session UI, giving every engineer on the team access to shared organizational context. NVIDIA joined a research preview, indicating early traction at the frontier research end of the market as well.
Best for
- ·Developers who want a fully integrated agentic IDE rather than a plugin or CLI tool
- ·Teams running multiple concurrent AI agents across long-running engineering tasks
- ·Engineers who need deep codebase context and rapid diff review built into their editor
Key features
- ·Cascade agentic flows that plan, write, and iterate on code end-to-end
- ·Supercomplete predictive editing that anticipates your next thought, not just your next token
- ·Fast Context for millisecond-speed codebase retrieval so agents always have the right files
- ·Agent Client Protocol (ACP) enabling interoperability across models and third-party agents
- ·Spaces for sharing Git worktrees and persistent context across multiple concurrent agents
- ·Built-in full IDE with syntax highlighting, autocomplete, and debugging tools
Pros
- All-in-one agentic IDE means no context switching between editor and agent interface
- Supercomplete and Fast Context make both human and agent workflows noticeably faster
- Agent Client Protocol enables flexibility to swap models and integrate custom or third-party agents
Cons
- Closed-source product with limited transparency into model behavior and data handling
- Heavy IDE bundle may feel like overkill for developers who prefer lightweight CLI or plugin-based agents
- Pricing details for advanced tiers and enterprise usage are not clearly published
Comparisons featuring Windsurf
FAQ
- Is Windsurf free to use?
- Windsurf offers a free tier that includes access to core features and Codeium's SWE-1.6 model. Paid plans exist for higher usage limits, team collaboration features, and enterprise capabilities, but specific pricing tiers and costs are not prominently published — visit windsurf.com for the latest details.
- How does Windsurf differ from Cursor?
- Both are AI-first code editors, but Windsurf emphasizes full agentic session management — running multiple agents in parallel, tracking their progress, and reviewing diffs — as a core workflow. Cursor focuses more on inline AI assistance and chat-driven edits within a familiar VS Code-like shell. Windsurf's Agent Client Protocol also provides broader model and agent interoperability out of the box.
- Can I use my own models or third-party agents with Windsurf?
- Yes. The Agent Client Protocol (ACP) is designed to support multiple models and custom agents within Windsurf's interface. Enterprise teams have connected internally built agents to Windsurf's session management layer, and the IDE supports models including Claude, Codex, and Codeium's own SWE-1.6 alongside community and custom integrations.