Windsurf IDE Is Now Devin Desktop: What Changed

If you search for the Windsurf IDE today, windsurf.com sends you to devin.ai/desktop. Cognition, which bought Windsurf in July 2025, renamed the editor Devin Desktop on June 2, 2026. The editor underneath is the same Windsurf app, still compatible with VS Code extensions, and plans carried over. What changed is the default agent and the main screen. If you relied on Windsurf's Memories feature, the new default agent does not keep them, and you need to migrate them yourself.

What is the Windsurf IDE, in one sentence?

The Windsurf IDE is an AI code editor from Cognition, now called Devin Desktop, that runs coding agents on your machine and in the cloud from one window.

Cognition's launch post calls Devin Desktop "the next generation of Windsurf." The product page FAQ says "Devin Desktop is the new name for Windsurf" and that plans and pricing are unchanged. Cognition signed the deal to acquire Windsurf on July 14, 2025. At the time, Cognition cited $82M in Windsurf annual recurring revenue and more than 350 enterprise customers.

How does Devin Desktop differ from the old Windsurf?

The rename shipped as an over-the-air update, so existing users did not reinstall. Per the Devin Desktop FAQ, a first-run option called "Migrate from Windsurf" copies your settings and extensions.

The rows come from the launch post and the FAQ. Agent details are from the Devin Local docs, and prices from the product page.

The launch post names Codex and OpenCode among the agents that can run inside the editor over ACP. It also lists "Claude Agent." The Windsurf plugin for JetBrains IDEs is in maintenance mode, and the FAQ recommends running Devin over ACP there.

How do Cascade and Devin Local work?

Cascade was Windsurf's agent, and it is still in the app as a legacy option. It has a Code mode and a Chat mode, per the Cascade docs. It tracks what you do in the editor, so typing "Continue" picks up after your last edit. You can revert to the state before any prompt or save named checkpoints. By default Cascade makes up to 40 tool calls per prompt before it stops and asks to continue.

Devin Local is the new default. Its docs say every new tab starts on it. It can spawn subagents in the foreground or background, which is a preview feature behind a toggle. It also supports OS-level sandboxing with filesystem isolation and domain allowlists. Cognition's launch post says Devin Local was rewritten in Rust and claims it is up to 30% more token efficient. That figure is Cognition's own and has no published method.

The launch post said Cascade would stay available through July 1 for teams that want to migrate gradually. The FAQ only says "through July." The Devin Local page still lists Cascade conversations in history with no end date. Check your build before you plan around Cascade.

Where do Windsurf memories and rules live now?

The Memories and Rules page separates two things.

Memories are notes Cascade writes on its own when it judges context worth keeping. They sit in ~/.codeium/windsurf/memories/ and are scoped to one workspace. They are never committed to your repo. Creating them costs no credits. Memories apply only to the legacy Cascade agent. Devin Local "does not persist memories between sessions."

Rules are files you write. A global rules file sits next to the memories and is capped at 6,000 characters. Workspace rules go in .devin/rules/, with .windsurf/rules/ as a fallback, at up to 12,000 characters per file. Each rule has a trigger: always on, model decision, file glob or manual mention. AGENTS.md files go through the same rules engine. A root AGENTS.md is always on, and one in a subfolder applies to that folder.

To carry Cascade memories forward, the docs point to the Cascade Migration Wizard in the command palette. It turns memories and workflows into skills, which Devin Local can load.

Cognition has a separate personal memory feature for Devin sessions. Its memory guide describes a Git repository of Markdown notes with a MEMORY.md index, cleaned up by a daily background "dreaming" pass. The guide covers sessions in the Devin web app. It does not say whether Devin Local uses it.

How do Windsurf hooks work?

The hooks docs define hooks as shell commands that run at set points in Cascade's workflow. Each hook receives JSON on standard input. Hooks merge from three levels in a fixed order: system, then user, then workspace. The workspace file is .devin/hooks.json, which a team can commit. The user file stays at ~/.codeium/windsurf/hooks.json.

There are twelve events, such as pre_write_code and post_run_command. Only the pre-hooks can block an action, by exiting with code 2. A common pattern is a pre_run_command hook that rejects destructive commands. These are Cascade hooks. The docs say Devin Local "has its own lifecycle hooks with a different configuration format," so hooks you wrote for Cascade need porting.

What should you read in the fine print?

Most claims here come from Cognition. The 30% token efficiency number and the sandboxing claims are vendor statements. We found no independent benchmark of Devin Local against Cascade.

The Cascade end date also differs across Cognition's own pages, as noted above. A Windsurf user who leaned on automatic Memories gets a default agent that does not keep them. They must run the wizard and rely on skills and rules, which are files they maintain.

The bottom line

Windsurf users already have Devin Desktop. Your settings and plan carried over. Run the Cascade Migration Wizard before Cascade disappears from your build. Then move durable project facts into AGENTS.md or .devin/rules/, where you can review them. Port any Cascade hooks to the Devin Local format and test them.

How do you keep coding-agent memory when your IDE changes its agent?

Cascade's memories sat in a local folder. Each one belonged to a single workspace and a single agent. When the default agent changed, those memories stopped loading unless the user ran a migration. They also never reached Codex, even though Devin Desktop can now run Codex in the same window.

memU keeps memory as a shared wiki of readable Markdown that sits outside any single editor or agent. A scheduled background task slices new session logs from each host into jobs, which the agent distills into memory and skill Markdown. A standing instruction in CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md tells the agent to retrieve before it answers.

memU itself makes no LLM calls. It stores and retrieves the Markdown the agent prepared, with embeddings for search. All hosts share one backend, so what Codex learned is available to Claude Code. Devin Desktop is not one of the hosts named in the README. A generic memu-agent adapter detects other agents, so check the support matrix before you rely on it there. The hosted version is free and syncs across devices. Get an API key from memu.so and send your agent one message:

Read https://memu.pro/SKILL.md, follow its instructions to install and configure memU, API Key is YOUR_MEMU_API_KEY.

FAQ

Is Windsurf still available?

Yes, under a new name. Windsurf became Devin Desktop on June 2, 2026, through an automatic update, and windsurf.com redirects to devin.ai. Plans and pricing did not change.

Does Windsurf have memory?

Cascade, Windsurf's original agent, writes Memories to a local folder per workspace at no credit cost. Devin Local, the new default agent, does not persist memories between sessions. For persistent context it loads rules and AGENTS.md files. Skills cover reusable workflows.

Where are Windsurf memories stored?

Auto-generated Cascade memories are stored locally in ~/.codeium/windsurf/memories/. They are tied to the workspace where they were created and are not committed to your repository.

Who owns Windsurf?

Cognition, the company behind the Devin coding agent. It signed a definitive agreement to acquire Windsurf, including its team, on July 14, 2025.

How much does Devin Desktop cost?

There is a free plan. Pro costs $20 a month and Max costs $200 a month, per Cognition's product page. Teams costs $80 a month plus $40 per full seat.