What’s New in Windsurf 11 and 12?

Windsurf has taken giant strides in the last two major releases – Wave 11 and Wave 12 – transforming its developer experience with deep AI integration, powerful automation, and a relentless focus on usability. Here’s a detailed look at the most significant innovations introduced in each release and how they set the stage for an intelligent, agent-driven integrated development environment (IDE).

Any questions about Windsurf and how to align to your software workflows?
Contact us: windsurf@almtoolbox.com

🚀 Windsurf Wave 11: Voice, Intelligence, and Deep Integration

Wave 11, known internally as “Just Keep Shipping,” was a direct result of Windsurf’s acquisition by Cognition, the creators of the Devin AI agent. This partnership fueled several notable advancements:

1. Voice Commands for Cascade: Recognizing the complexity of tasks developers now entrust to Cascade – Windsurf’s AI agent – voice command support was introduced. This allows developers to speak to Cascade, making it easier and faster to dictate long prompts or complex requests without relying solely on typing.
2. Named Checkpoints and Conversation Mentions: As users began taking on more ambitious projects with AI assistance, conversations grew longer. Windsurf introduced “named checkpoints,” enabling developers to snapshot major moments in their workflow and easily revert as needed. Users can also reference past conversations using mentions, ensuring that Cascade has the necessary context to tackle follow-up tasks, such as adding tests to previously implemented features.
3. Deeper Browser Integration: Building on a browser launched in Wave 10, Wave 11 gave Cascade expanded access to browser tools. Cascade can now chat about open tabs, take screenshots, collect DOM trees, and incorporate console logs and UI states directly into code conversations. This accelerates front-end development by closing the feedback loop between code and browser without manual copy-pasting.
4. Automatic Planning Mode: Planning mode, which helps break down large, complex projects into actionable to-do lists, became a default feature. This collaborative approach significantly improved the accuracy and quality of Cascade’s work, especially for long-horizon tasks.
5. JetBrains IDE Enhancements: Recognizing the importance of JetBrains tools in large organizations, Windsurf brought Planning Mode, Workflows, and file-based Rules to JetBrains environments, expanding AI-powered coding support to millions of enterprise users.
6. Additional Quality-of-Life Upgrades: Among many smaller tweaks, Wave 11 added the ability to -mention the terminal in Cascade, introduced auto-continue for long responses, boosted secure authentication with OAuth and streamable HTTP for MCP servers, and launched a global .codeiumignore file – particularly helpful for large-scale enterprise repository management.

🚀 Windsurf Wave 12: Devin Power, Smarter Automation, and UI Evolution

Wave 12 marks a milestone in integrating the intelligence of Devin – the world’s most advanced software engineering agent – directly into the Windsurf IDE. This release delivered headline features and usability improvements, including:

1. Devin-Powered DeepWiki: DeepWiki arrives within Windsurf, enabling developers to access rich, AI-generated documentation about any function, class, or variable simply by hovering or using a shortcut. Unlike conventional hover cards that display only type information, DeepWiki offers comprehensive explanations, making unfamiliar codebases friendlier and more navigable.
2. Vibe and Replace: This innovative tool upgrades standard “Find and Replace.” Instead of a simple string swap, it leverages AI prompts for context-aware transformations – whether that’s documenting code, renaming variables semantically, or removing feature flags with full codebase awareness. This dramatically speeds up large refactors and code cleanups.
   
3. Cascade Agent Upgrades: Cascade is now more intelligent than ever. Planning mode has been fully automated, so the agent decides when task breakdowns are needed without user toggling. Its editing tools have been revamped, leveraging long-context models for smarter code changes, and its performance has been optimized for faster, more reliable outcomes.
4. Faster, Smarter Tab Autocomplete: The tab-autocomplete feature relies on a new system for smarter, more frequent suggestions, an improved diff algorithm, and an interface that adapts intelligently to reading and navigating code versus writing it. This means less distraction and higher productivity.
5. Modernized UI: Wave 12 debuts an all-new user interface, including reworked Chat and Cascade panels. These enhancements make it easier for users to follow the agent’s decision-making, view tool calls, and stay organized as tasks grow in complexity.
6. Dev Container Support: Windsurf now supports Dev Containers via SSH, allowing developers to launch and manage containerized development environments seamlessly within the IDE. This is especially valuable for teams managing heterogeneous workflows or complex infrastructure setups.
7. Robustness and Stability: More than 100 bug fixes and stability enhancements deliver a more dependable daily experience, underscoring Windsurf’s commitment to productivity and reliability.

The Road Ahead for Windsurf

From pioneering AI-driven workflows and empowering voice-based coding to integrating agentic intelligence at every stage of software development, Windsurf Waves 11 and 12 represent a leap forward. This rapid innovation cycle is making the IDE smarter, more helpful, and more responsive to the real-world challenges of modern development – the start of an exciting new chapter for agentic software engineering.

Any questions about Windsurf and how to align to your software workflows?
Contact us: windsurf@almtoolbox.com