1. First, the rename
If you’re looking for Windsurf: the Windsurf documentation now redirects to
docs.devin.ai/desktop, where the product is called Devin Desktop — Cognition’s AI IDE.
Search results and tutorials still say “Windsurf”, so expect both names.
2. Install it
Devin Desktop is a desktop app, not a CLI. Download the build for your platform from the Devin Desktop docs — macOS (Yosemite or later), Windows (10 or later), and Linux via tar, deb, or rpm packages.
3. Open a project
From the start page, choose Open Folder / Connect to Remote Server. Or from a terminal:
devin-desktop ~/Developer/my-project
Open the repo root, not a single file — the agent’s usefulness comes from seeing the whole project.
4. Run one agent task
Open the agent panel from the Command Palette (⌘+⇧+P on macOS, Ctrl+Shift+P on
Windows/Linux) and search for it. The docs cover both Cascade, the agent Windsurf was known
for, and a newer Devin Local agent — which one your build opens depends on your version, so
check the panel rather than assuming.
Give it one concrete job and review the diff before accepting:
Extract the duplicated date formatting in reports/ into a single helper and use it everywhere.
5. Where rules live
Rules are Markdown files that the agent reads on every task — your conventions, stack, and things it should never do:
.devin/rules/ preferred
.windsurf/rules/ legacy fallback, still read
AGENTS.md repo-level instructions
Rules are discovered in your workspace directory, in any sub-directory of it, and in parent directories up to the git root. You can also create them in the UI: the Customizations icon in the top-right slider menu, then the Rules panel, then + Global or + Workspace.
Auto-generated memories stay on your machine. Anything you want to survive and be shared with
teammates belongs in a rule file or AGENTS.md, committed to the repo.
Next: Cursor first steps or giving a coding agent the right context.