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    OpenAI’s Windsurf deal is off, and Windsurf’s CEO is going to Google

    (www.theverge.com)
    766 points rcchen | 11 comments | 11 Jul 25 21:35 UTC | HN request time: 0.847s | source | bottom
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    extr ◴[11 Jul 25 22:21 UTC] No.44537358[source]▶
    IMO other than the Microsoft IP issue, I think the biggest thing that has shifted since this acquisition was first in the works is Claude Code has absolutely exploded. Forking an IDE and all the expense that comes with that feels like a waste of effort, considering the number of free/open source CLI agentic tools that are out there.

    Let's review the current state of things:

    - Terminal CLI agents are several orders of magnitude less $$$ to develop than forking an entire IDE.

    - CC is dead simple to onboard (use whatever IDE you're using now, with a simple extension for some UX improvements).

    - Anthropic is free to aggressively undercut their own API margins (and middlemen like Cursor) in exchange for more predictable subscription revenue + training data access.

    What does Cursor/Windsurf offer over VS Code + CC?

    - Tab completion model (Cursor's remaining moat)

    - Some UI niceties like "add selection to chat", and etc.

    Personally I think this is a harbinger of where things are going. Cursor was fastest to $900M ARR and IMO will be fastest back down again.

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    1. alanmoraes ◴[11 Jul 25 22:26 UTC] No.44537388[source]▶
    I never understood why those tools need to fork Visual Studio Code. Wouldn't an extension suffice?
    replies(6): >>44537400 #>>44537478 #>>44538025 #>>44538642 #>>44539623 #>>44540158 #
    2. extr ◴[11 Jul 25 22:27 UTC] No.44537400[source]▶
    IIRC problem is that VS Code does not allow extensions to create custom UI in the panels areas except for WebViews(?). It makes for not a great experience. Plus Cursor does a lot with background indexing to make their tab completion model really good - more than would be possible with the extensions APIs available.
    3. efitz ◴[11 Jul 25 22:37 UTC] No.44537478[source]▶
    Cline and Roo Code (my favorite Cline fork) are fantastic and run as normal VS Code extensions.

    Occasionally they lose their connection to the terminal in VSCode, but I’ve got no other integration complaints.

    And I really prefer the bring-your-own-key model as opposed to letting the IDE be my middleman.

    replies(1): >>44539424 #
    4. lozenge ◴[11 Jul 25 23:57 UTC] No.44538025[source]▶
    When the Copilot extension needs a new VS Code feature it gets added, but it isn't available to third party extensions until months later... Err, years later... well, whenever Microsoft feels like it.

    So an extension will never be able to compete with Copilot.

    replies(1): >>44538774 #
    5. bn-l ◴[12 Jul 25 01:54 UTC] No.44538642[source]▶
    It was so they could close source it.
    replies(1): >>44540356 #
    6. Maxious ◴[12 Jul 25 02:23 UTC] No.44538774[source]▶
    As part of this whole drama, the APIs that Copilot uses are being opened up https://code.visualstudio.com/blogs/2025/06/30/openSourceAIE...
    7. milofeynman ◴[12 Jul 25 04:59 UTC] No.44539424[source]▶
    Using cline for a bit made me realize cursor was doomed. Everything is just a gpt/anthropic wrapper of fancy prompts.

    I can do most of what I want with cline, and I've gone back from large changes to just small changes and been moving much quicker. Large refactors/changes start to deviate from what you actually want to accomplish unless you have written a dissertation, and even then they fail.

    8. NitpickLawyer ◴[12 Jul 25 05:45 UTC] No.44539623[source]▶
    > Wouldn't an extension suffice?

    Not if you want custom UI. There are a lot of things you can do in extension land (continue, cline, roocode, kilocode, etc. are good examples) but there are some things you can't.

    One thing I would have thought would be really cool to try is to integrate it at the LSP level, and use all that good stuff, but apparently people trying (I think there was a company from .il trying) either went closed or didn't release anything note worthy...

    9. fnordpiglet ◴[12 Jul 25 07:50 UTC] No.44540158[source]▶
    I use Augment extensively and find it superior to cursor in every way - and operates as an extension. It has a really handy task planning interface and meta prompt refinement feature and the costs are remarkably low. The quality of output implantation is higher IMO and I don’t have to do a lot of model selection and don’t get Max model bill explosions. If there’s something Cursor provided that Augment doesn’t via extension it was not functionally useful enough to notice.
    replies(1): >>44540405 #
    10. justincormack ◴[12 Jul 25 08:36 UTC] No.44540356[source]▶
    You can ship clised source extensions
    11. atombender ◴[12 Jul 25 08:45 UTC] No.44540405[source]▶
    I think Augment has been flying under the radar for many people, and really reserve better marketing.

    I've been using Augment for over a year with IntelliJ, and never understood why my colleagues were all raving about Cursor and Windsurf. I gave Cursor a real try, but it wasn't any better, and the value proposition of having to adopt a dedicated IDE wasn't attractive to me.

    A plugin to leverage your existing tools makes a lot more sense than an IDE. Or at least until/if AI agents get so smart that you don't need most of the IDE's functionality, which might change what kinds of tooling are needed when you're in the passenger seat rather than the driver's seat.