The Windsurf Editor Explained

[@gani2an1]

i have been using windsurf for a day now. All I can say is wow. It is the first assistant that is able to fully understand my entire codebase. I have hundreds of files. it understands and it can edit everything. I no wjust sit back and relax and just tell it what to do. So far, i love it

[@GrabDuck]

well i feel exactly the same way. It's really something new. Regarding scanning an entire codebase, Cursor Composer could already do it, but since Windsurf uses an AI Agent, I’m hoping it will be constantly learning my preferences so over time I get something which knows how to code better than me. Will it succeed? We’ll see. But for now, I’ve paused my IntelliJ subscription to give Windsurf a chance! 😊

[@gani2an1]

@@GrabDuck I would not put too much faith in it at this stage but I think it is definitely the best currently available. I too canceled my other subscriptions. It still has a long way to go though. This first version is still amazing

[@GrabDuck]

@gani2an1 My personal issue is that I’m a dev person, so I’m more interested in finding a real tool I can use in my daily work, rather than just running a single know-how session to build another 1m-dollar app. On the other hand, the only way to learn something new is to try it yourself. ;-) Honestly, I’m fine with both solutions - Cursor and Windsurf (definitely give the preferences to Windsurf now) - they’re both based on VS Code, so if something goes wrong, should not be a problem, I can always migrate back without too much hassle.

[@figs3284]

Pretty fair assessment. I will say though, that windsurf works better when you create an instruction.txt (at the minimum) and put in a good amount of detail of how you want the app to behave, features etc. Doesnt have to be crazy detailed, but may have to explain how you want each button to work, styles etc.

[@GrabDuck]

Yes, that approach definitely works better. Plus, your method has the added benefit of keeping the initial instruction.txt as part of the project’s codebase for future reference. At the core, it’s all about working with prompts to send the LLM in the right direction - whether it’s a big list of instructions as in your case or discussing and refining details in chat. What today’s AI Agents really lack is critical thinking - they don’t stop to ask missing info but instead try to guess on their own.

[@SouthbayCreations]

Thanks for the video! Great info!

[@GrabDuck]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it! 😊

[@lengreenhall2724]

Thankyou for your clear and helpful teaching. I do have one question - How do you check the url for the result / Its not clear to me in the video it is a fast move and we are on the game site.

[@GrabDuck]

@lengreenhall2724 Sorry for the confusion there! I was trying to save time and probably missed explaining something clearly. To answer your question-I simply opened the index.html file from the project in my browser. Btw, this would actually be a great question to ask Windsurf in the Cascade panel. I’m pretty sure you could just ask something like, “How do I open this project in the browser?” and Cascade would give you a few tips based on your actual project data. 😊

[@windcrashing]

As a coder and windsurfer, it took me a while to realize how YT managed to merge my 2 distinct interests 😛😂

[@GrabDuck]

@windcrashing As someone deep into the context of Windsurf Editor and also waiting for snow to arrive, it took me like 5 mins to figure out what was wrong with YT. 😄❄️

[@MikeStahl]

Nice video. A few mins after I started using it wont update content any more and I have to copy/paste File has been modified since edit was generated. Cannot apply contents. Any idea?

[@GrabDuck]

@MikeStahl Happened to me a couple times as well. Usually, it’s cuz the file that Cascade’s trying to edit was changed manually but the changes were not saved. This creates a conflict-your edits aren’t saved, and Windsurf refuses to touch it since the disk version isn’t up to date. Try closing all open tabs, save everything, and then give it another shot. Hope that helps! 👍

[@MikeStahl]

@@GrabDuck Thanks for getting back. I tried your suggestion and it didn't work. I closed it and it also had an update. I turned off dropbox and onedrive just in case that was doing something.

[@GrabDuck]

@MikeStahl Hard to say for sure since I’m not a Windsurf developer. What I’d try, step by step: does it work if you start a new session with Cascade? Does it work on a completely new project? If not, maybe try reinstalling Windsurf. And as a last resort, you could reach out to Windsurf support-they’re a young and active team, so they should be interested in handling your request quickly and helping out. 👍

[@yagolf]

What @GrabDuck told you is correct, and quite clear, IMO, but maybe if would help if I explained it again using other words. The situation arises, as the message says, when a file that the AI was working on gets modified (by you) while the code was being generated. A modification can be anything from an added blank space to a line break to, obviously, modifications to the code. All you have to do is save those last changes (or undo them if you don't want them) and then use the same prompt to repeat the code generation, and this time don't touch the code yourself if you want the editor to be able to apply the changes for you

[@PhilippBriese]

I've been a programmer for over 20 years, and it's not always 20% programming and 80% debugging and reworking. It's still much faster to plan a game like Tetris from the drawing board and write it yourself than to have an AI write a first version and then spend a few hours revising the code. You also have to specify much more precisely what you want and how exactly it should behave; whenever AI has to guess what you want, chaos is inevitable. Moreover, lazy high-level prompts like “Write me Tetris” are pointless anyway. Programming with AI is an art in itself, you need a good workflow and have to know the weaknesses. I will build you an absolutely error-free Tetris programmed according to best practices in 1 hour or less. However, it's not for absolute beginners who have never programmed before because you have to think like a developer. I also think the expectations that many people have here are unrealistic. Developing a Tetris game from 0 would take you days or weeks and if I need 100 interactions with AI and manage to do in a day what used to take a week, that's incredible progress!

[@GrabDuck]

You brought up a great point-because of all the marketing hype around AI, many people expect it to fully replace programmers. The goal of this video, at least for us, was to test that claim. Ideally, after hearing all the sweet promises from salespeople, our plan was to generate something simple using a very general prompt, see how it works, run a couple of tests, and then be amazed at how smoothly it all goes, celebrating the arrival of AI in our lives. But yeah, reality turned out a bit different. 😅 Since AI agents are built on LLMs, the same rules apply for writing prompts. The more context you give the LLM, the better it can “autocomplete” what you want. So, yeah, carefully designed prompts with lots of specific details and clear instructions that leave no room for misinterpretation work best here. That said, I agree that creating such detailed prompts-essentially defining all the key aspects of the app and, more importantly, the limitations (what not to do)-is the way to go. But there’s always the question: writing the perfect prompt with all the details is starting to feel a lot like the work of a systems analyst. And let’s face it, not every developer is ready for that, so their use of AI will likely remain superficial. From my personal experience, the best strategy is to avoid making big changes to the code in one go. Work should be split into small, logical, and complete chunks that are easy to test and, worst case, easy to rewrite if the AI goes off track. And yeah, whoever’s using the AI should have enough skills to do it manually if needed. This definitely isn’t a tool for juniors. Btw, I see one big problem here, and it’s psychological. Because of the massive hype, many employers might start thinking developers are no longer needed and that AI can do everything for them. It’s gonna take some time before they realize AI isn’t a magic fix or a way to replace all staff-it’s just another tool to make developers more efficient.

[@kashmirtechtv2948]

Why don't you take help from the same AI to create your app documentation as well??

[@GrabDuck]

This video was more of a first look at Windsurf. I heard one of the top people from Codium say you can just tell it what to do, and it will create everything you need. So the idea here was to test that claim and see if Windsurf can really build a "million-dollar app" out of nothing. But you’re absolutely right - generating documentation should be one of the basic tasks AI should excel at. In fact, we’re testing this in the next Windsurf video, where the focus is on how it handles everyday tasks being more a junior buddy under control.

[@kashmirtechtv2948]

@GrabDuck i have tried too but really have to go back n forth. The app gets white screen with some unknown issues sometimes

[@tomasbusse2410]

Same as bolt and Replit. Too many errors

[@GrabDuck]

It’s still early, I think - they need to refine the solution based on our experiences, and we also need to learn how to communicate better with those AI agents. They’re still far from being fully standalone. But the potential is definitely there.

[@tomasbusse2410]

@ that is absolutely true

[@jarodhoekstra3937]

unclear how you got the link to post into your browser to view the game

[@GrabDuck]

I just opened the project’s index.html in the browser-that was enough. Btw, Cascade is smart enough to help with this too. Just give it a try and ask, “How can I check in the browser how the project works?” 😉

[@lancemarchetti8673]

Cool

[@GrabDuck]

thanks)

[@andyajha-c4b]

I will explain windsurf for you all, USELESS LIKE A 5 YEAR OLD TRYING TO CODE.

[@GrabDuck]

I appreciate your perspective! Windsurfing can be challenging, but with practice, it can be a lot of fun. Thanks for joining the conversation!

[@lynnwilliam]

This is I think a too easy of a task .lol real tasks are going to be much harder

[@GrabDuck]

The idea was to test the claim that the new AI Agent can generate a 1mil-app from start to finish. A 1mil-app is usually just 2-3 files max, so we’re sticking to the rules. 😄 In the next video, we tried to make things a bit more challenging and see how Windsurf handles more traditional tasks in an existing project - check it out if that sounds interesting to you! 😉

[@zimcoder]

You had a lot of issues because your prompts were pretty basic and bad

[@GrabDuck]

Well, maybe, we’re all learning as we go. But yeah, it’s a good question how to maintain prompt quality. I think the idea is to talk to the agent like it’s your real coding buddy - that’s the impression I got from how they promote it. Otherwise, where do you draw the line with fine-tuning prompts? If they’re too perfect and fully detailed, you might as well just write the code yourself. 😅

[@Iiifly2]

Can I ask if you can present to my team (paid)? They speak your language I think.

[@GrabDuck]

Thanks for the offer! I’m open to collaboration but would need more details. It’s best to contact me directly via LinkedIn or email-both are in the channel description.