app · Cognition (formerly Codeium; renamed Windsurf to Devin Desktop in 2026)
Devin Desktop
Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) is an AI-native code editor (built on VS Code) whose centrepiece is Cascade — an autonomous agent that reads your whole project, plans changes across multiple files, runs terminal commands, installs dependencies, and iterates until the code works, without you describing each step. Unlike Copilot, which completes single lines, Cascade handles whole tasks: "add a CSV export button" or "refactor this analysis to use pandas". It stays aware of what you type and what runs in the terminal, so it can pick up mid-task. Windsurf began as Codeium and, after a much-publicised 2025 acquisition, was renamed Devin Desktop by its new owner Cognition (makers of the Devin agent) in 2026; existing installs updated over the air, with plans and settings carried over. For biology students with some Python, it can turn "parse this BLAST output and plot an e-value histogram" into working, runnable code in minutes.
What it can help with
- code generation
- multi-file refactor
- dependency installation
- terminal automation
- project planning
- snapshot revert
- git integration
- database connectivity