How to Use Windsurf (Devin Desktop) & Cascade (2026)
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To use Windsurf, you install it as a standalone desktop editor, sign in with a free account, and open its built-in agent, Cascade, with a single keyboard shortcut. That is the short version of how to use Windsurf, and the rest comes down to a few choices: whether to import your old editor setup, when to work in Code mode versus Chat mode, and which model to send each request to. Windsurf is an AI code editor, a full desktop IDE with autocomplete, syntax highlighting, and debugging, plus Cascade, the agent that can plan and carry out changes across your whole project. This guide walks the path end to end: installing the editor, onboarding, opening Cascade, working in its two modes, using tool calling and checkpoints, picking a model, and keeping an eye on your usage quota.
First, the name: Windsurf is now Devin Desktop, the editor built with Cognition. The change arrives as an over-the-air update, and your existing plan, pricing, extensions, settings, and in-progress work carry over automatically. Only the name and branding changed, so you may still see "Windsurf" in some menus, and the JetBrains plugin is still called Windsurf for JetBrains. Throughout this guide we use both names interchangeably.
Before You Start
Learning how to use Windsurf is quick. You download one application, sign in with a free account, and you are working. The thing to understand up front is that it is not an extension you add to an editor you already use. It is its own full IDE, so the first step is installing the app, not configuring a plugin. If you already run the editor, the Devin Desktop rebrand reaches you as an automatic update with nothing to reinstall.
One thing to settle early: Cascade can read your whole project and run tools on your behalf. Before you point it at a private repository, add a .codeiumignore file for anything it should not touch. We cover that in the usage step.
How to Use Windsurf: Install and Onboard
Download the desktop app for your operating system from windsurf.com and install it like any other application. There are builds for Mac, Windows, and Linux, so the same editor and the same Cascade agent are available wherever you work. Because the editor is a fork of the familiar VS Code base, the layout and shortcuts will feel immediately recognizable.
The first launch is the moment that saves you the most time. Windsurf offers to import your settings, installed extensions, and keybindings directly from VS Code or Cursor, so your environment arrives configured rather than blank. If you would rather have a clean slate, you can skip the import and start fresh. Either way, a free account is enough to begin, and you can sign in and be in the editor within a couple of minutes.
Once you are signed in and a project folder is open, the AI features described below are all a keystroke away. The next step is opening the part that makes Windsurf an agentic IDE rather than a plain editor: Cascade.
Open Cascade
Cascade is the built-in agent, and it is the centre of the Windsurf workflow, so most of how to use Windsurf well runs through this panel. You open it with a single shortcut: Cmd+L on Mac, or Ctrl+L on Windows and Linux. That brings up the Cascade panel alongside your code, where you type instructions in plain language and watch the agent work.
What sets Cascade apart from a chat window bolted onto an editor is that it has real-time awareness of what you are doing in the editor, and a feature called Fast Context that pulls in the relevant parts of your codebase so it reasons about the whole project rather than a single open file. Behind a request, Cascade runs a planning step and keeps a Todo list, breaking a larger instruction into the steps it intends to take before it starts editing.
How to think about it: Cascade is where you describe an outcome and let the agent work out the edits. Tab completions and inline edits still handle the small, mechanical typing. Reach for Cascade when the change spans more than the line in front of you.
Code vs Chat Mode
Cascade runs in two modes, and knowing which to use is the single most useful habit for a newcomer. Code mode lets Cascade edit files directly: you describe a change and it makes the edits, which you then review and accept or refine. Chat mode is for questions and suggestions, where Cascade explains, plans, or proposes without touching your code.
When to use each
Use Chat mode when you are exploring, learning a codebase, or you want a plan before any change is made. Use Code mode when you have decided what you want and you would rather Cascade carry out the edits than type them yourself. A common rhythm is to start in Chat to agree on an approach, then switch to Code to have Cascade implement it.
| Step | What You Do |
|---|---|
| 1. Install | Download Windsurf (Devin Desktop) from windsurf.com and sign in with a free account |
| 2. Onboard | Import your VS Code or Cursor setup, or start fresh, then open a project folder |
| 3. Open Cascade | Press Cmd+L or Ctrl+L to bring up the agent panel |
| 4. Choose a mode | Use Chat to plan and ask, Code to let Cascade edit files |
| 5. Pick a model | Use SWE-1.6 to conserve quota, or a frontier model for harder work |
Tool Calling and Checkpoints
In Code mode, Cascade does more than write text into files. It calls tools to get its work done: it can search and analyze your code, run a web search, execute commands in the terminal, and reach external systems through MCP servers. A single prompt can trigger up to twenty tool calls, and with Auto-Continue enabled Cascade keeps going through a multi-step task without stopping to ask after each step.
That autonomy is what makes Cascade fast, which is exactly why the second feature matters. As Cascade works, it creates checkpoints, named save points you can return to. If a change goes in a direction you did not intend, you revert to an earlier checkpoint and the project returns to that state, rather than untangling the edits by hand. The practical workflow is to let Cascade run, review what it produced, and revert cleanly if you want to try a different approach.
For a first session, leave a task small and review the checkpoints as you go. Once you trust how Cascade behaves, longer Auto-Continue runs and bigger tasks follow naturally, with checkpoints as your safety net. If you want the bigger picture before going deeper, our breakdown of what Windsurf is covers the editor and the Cognition rebrand in full.
Pick a Model
Windsurf is not tied to one AI provider, and the model you choose is partly about capability and partly about how fast it burns your usage. The default fast option is SWE-1.6, Cognition's own coding model, which is free on the Pro plan and above. It is built for quick, agent-driven coding, so for most everyday work it both performs well and conserves quota.
For harder problems, the paid tiers also give you frontier models from OpenAI, Anthropic (Claude), and Google (Gemini), which suit deeper reasoning and trickier changes. At the other end, there are smaller and open models, such as Claude Haiku, GPT-5.2 Mini, and Kimi K2.5, that you can switch to when you want to stretch your quota further on lighter tasks. SWE-1.6 is Cognition's model, while the frontier and open models are third-party, so attribute them accordingly.
On model choice: match the model to the job. Reach for SWE-1.6 or a mini model for routine edits to save quota, and step up to a frontier model only when a task genuinely needs deeper reasoning. The available list changes, so confirm current options in the in-app model picker.
Manage Usage and Quotas
Each plan includes an amount of agent usage that refreshes on a daily or weekly basis, and the cost of a message varies by the model you pick and the work involved. Because of that, the single most useful habit is to be deliberate about which model you send a request to: heavy use of a frontier model will draw down quota far faster than the same work on SWE-1.6 or a mini model.
The free plan is generous for learning, with unlimited inline edits and Tab completions and a light agent quota. As of June 16, 2026 the vendor lists the paid tiers as Pro at $20 per month, Max at $200 per month, and Teams at $80 per month plus $40 per developer seat, with Enterprise available through sales for VPC, SSO, and dedicated support. On Pro and above you can buy extra usage at API rates if you run past the included amount. These figures are vendor-reported, so confirm current pricing before you buy.
Control what Cascade sees
To keep secrets, generated output, and other sensitive paths out of the agent's reach, add a .codeiumignore file to your project. It works like a familiar ignore file: anything you list is excluded from what Cascade reads and acts on, which is worth setting up before you point the agent at a private repository.
That is the whole of how to use Windsurf for a productive first week: install it, import or start fresh, open Cascade, switch between Code and Chat as the task demands, pick a model that fits the work and your quota, and lean on checkpoints. The best next step is simply to install the free plan and run a small task end to end. To weigh it against the other leading standalone editor first, see the comparisons in the Related Reading below.
Troubleshooting
These are the questions newcomers run into most often, with the practical answer for each.