What is Windsurf AI today?
Windsurf AI is the AI code editor now called Devin Desktop. Cognition renamed it on June 2, 2026, and the Devin Desktop FAQ says "It's the same IDE, same editor, and has the same features." If you type windsurf.com into a browser today, you are redirected to devin.ai/desktop, whose tagline reads "Manage any agent, locally or in the cloud, from one command center."
So when people search for Windsurf AI in late 2026, the product they will download is Devin Desktop. It is a VS Code based editor with AI autocomplete (Tab), inline edits, a built-in agent called Devin Local, and a board for running local and cloud agents side by side. This page maps the Windsurf features you may remember to what exists now. For the full feature tour, see the Devin Desktop guide.
What changed from Windsurf to Devin Desktop?
The rename came first, and the agent change followed a few months later. According to the changelog, version 3.0.12 on June 2, 2026 says "Windsurf is now Devin Desktop," and version 3.9.19 on September 8, 2026 says "Cascade has been removed."
| If you used Windsurf for | What it is now |
|---|---|
| Cascade, the agent | Devin Local, the only agent in the editor since v3.9.19 |
| Cascade memories | Not supported in Devin Local; migrate them to skills |
| Workflows | Deprecated in favor of skills since v3.6.22 |
.windsurf/rules/ and .windsurfrules |
Still read; .devin/rules/ is the new preferred folder |
The surf command |
Replaced by devin-desktop; legacy surf and windsurf binaries still ship |
| Windsurf plugin for JetBrains | In maintenance mode; Cognition recommends Devin over ACP |
| Your plan | Unchanged at the rename, per the FAQ |
The FAQ also says "All of your Windsurf settings will be ported to Devin Desktop automatically," and legacy plan users can still manage settings at windsurf.com.
How do you install Windsurf (Devin Desktop)?
The install page covers three platforms:
- macOS: OS X Yosemite or later, from the installer download.
- Windows: Windows 10 or later, from the installer download.
- Linux: a tarball (which does not update itself), a deb package for Ubuntu 20.04+ and Debian 10+, or an rpm package for Fedora 36+, CentOS 8+ and RHEL 8+.
On Debian or Ubuntu, after adding Cognition's apt repository as the install page shows, the last step is:
sudo apt install devin-desktop
On Fedora or RHEL it is sudo dnf install -y devin-desktop. The repository URLs still contain the word windsurf, and the old windsurf package name now resolves to devin-desktop (a transitional package on deb, a provided name on rpm), so existing installs keep updating.
The first launch walks you through three steps: pick a theme (and optionally keep the devin-desktop terminal command and import keybindings), log in with a Devin account, and start building. You can import VS Code or Cursor settings during onboarding.
What editor features does Windsurf AI have?
The editing features Windsurf was known for are still there:
- Tab. The Tab docs call it "a contextually aware diff-suggestion and navigation engine for writing code," running on Cognition's own in-house model. Supercomplete, the recommended mode, suggests deletions and additions in a small window near your cursor. Tab to Jump predicts your next cursor location, and Tab to Import adds a missing import without moving your cursor.
- Command palette and settings import. Devin commands live in the usual palette (Cmd+Shift+P or Ctrl+Shift+P), and you can bring over VS Code or Cursor configuration.
- Models. The models page lists Cognition's own SWE-2 (which the pricing page calls "our latest model") alongside Claude, GPT and Gemini models, and recommends Fusion, which "delivers frontier intelligence for cheaper by pairing a frontier lead model with a cost-efficient sidekick." Free-tier users get SWE-1.6 only. Since v3.10.48 you can also sign in with ChatGPT to use an eligible ChatGPT plan for GPT models.
How does the agent work now that Cascade is gone?
Devin Local is the agent. It shares its harness with Devin CLI and runs on your machine with access to your files, tools and environment. Cognition says "Most tasks take up to 30% fewer tokens than Cascade to accomplish the same result."
What it does:
- Modes. Normal, Plan and Ask. Plan mode is read-only research that writes an editable plan to
~/.devin/plans/, and adding the wordmegaplanto a prompt triggers a more thorough planning pass. - Subagents. Foreground or background helpers with their own conversation, and custom ones defined as markdown files.
- Sandboxing and permissions. OS-level sandboxing for files and network, plus deny, ask and allow rules for file reads and writes, commands, HTTP fetches and MCP tools. Deny wins.
- Worktrees. A session can run in a git worktree, and Merge brings the changes back.
Beyond the local agent, the Agent Command Center shows every session on one board, including cloud Devin sessions. Through the Agent Client Protocol, it can also run third-party agents such as Codex CLI, Claude Agent, OpenCode, Junie and Gemini CLI. The ACP page says these "are available on Free, Pro, Max, and Teams plans," and "billing is directly between you and the third-party agent provider."
How do rules, memories and skills work in Windsurf AI now?
Rules. Devin Local reads the same rules as Devin CLI. The rules docs say "AGENTS.md is the recommended approach for project rules," and also list AGENT.md, AGENTS.local.md, .windsurfrules, CLAUDE.md, .devin/rules/*.md, .windsurf/rules/*.md and Cursor's .cursor/rules/*.mdc. Rule files in .devin/rules/ take a trigger value of always_on, manual, model_decision, agent or glob. Global rules go in ~/.config/devin/AGENTS.md. See the AGENTS.md guide for writing a shared file.
Memories. Cascade's auto-generated memories did not carry over. Devin Local does not persist memories between sessions, so the migration wizard turns them into skills or rules you can read and edit.
Skills. Windsurf added Agent Skills for Cascade in January 2026, and Devin Local keeps them. The skills overview lists project folders .agents/skills/, .devin/skills/ and .windsurf/skills/, and global folders ~/.agents/skills/ and ~/.config/devin/skills/. You run a skill with /skill-name, or the agent picks it when the description matches; triggers: [user] stops the agent from starting it on its own. The docs say "We support the .agents skills standards, so third-party skill installation tools work with Devin CLI." The Agent Skills guide explains the format.
How does MCP work in Windsurf AI?
Devin Local uses Devin CLI's MCP config files, which the configuration docs say moved out of the main config.json files into dedicated mcp_config.json files in the Local 3.6 release:
| Scope | File |
|---|---|
| Project, shared in git | .devin/mcp_config.json |
| Local overrides, gitignored | .devin/mcp_config.local.json |
| User | ~/.config/devin/mcp_config.json |
Servers sit under an mcpServers key, with command, args and env for local servers. The MCP overview keeps tokens in the gitignored local file. In the default Normal mode, an MCP tool call with no matching allow rule asks for your approval, and a server whose OAuth login expired shows "Needs auth" with an Authenticate button. Recent releases added support for MCP protocol revision 2026-07-28 and @-mentions for configured servers.
How much does Windsurf AI cost?
As of October 2026, devin.ai/pricing lists:
| Plan | Price | Highlights from the page |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Light agent quota, limited models, unlimited inline edits and Tab completions |
| Pro | $20 a month | Full model availability, free use of SWE-2, Devin Cloud access, extra usage at API pricing |
| Max | $200 a month | Everything in Pro with significantly higher quotas |
| Teams | $80/month for team plan + $40/mo per full dev seat | Up to 200 users, centralized billing, admin dashboard |
| Enterprise | Custom | SSO, admin controls, dedicated deployment option |
The pricing page does not mention Windsurf by name. The FAQ says legacy Windsurf plans, including Enterprise, keep working as before.
Should you still pick Windsurf AI?
If you liked Windsurf for Supercomplete and an editor-first agent, Devin Desktop is the same editor with a newer agent, and your rules and settings come with you. If you relied on Cascade memories or workflows, plan an hour to run the migration wizard and review the skills it creates. To compare it with alternatives, see Cursor vs Windsurf and Claude Code vs Devin Desktop.
Whatever editor you use, the instructions you build up are worth keeping somewhere you control. Kipt keeps prompts and skills as Markdown in a private GitHub repo you own, and imports skills from a GitHub link, a folder or a .zip. A skill saved there can go into .agents/skills/, which Devin Desktop reads along with other agents.