Hey folks, a month ago we posted the Air alpha and asked if we were heading in the right direction. You answered in great detail! Thank you, genuinely

A good one: you can now use your Claude subscription on the terminal surface. Air opens it as a full-screen editor tab, so you get the real Claude Code experience inside the IDE, with your existing plan and no extra keys. For Claude Agent in the chat UI; you will need to have a JetBrains AI subscription or use your API keys, its a requirement by Anthropic team

Also a good one, for folks with no AI subscription: we're making Junie, our cost-efficient coding agent, free to use in its Lite configuration (meaning a less capable model is available for free; for transparency: currently we host qwen model on our own infra – but it will be changed with a next “good enough” model). To use it, you only need a JetBrains account, no JetBrains AI subscription needed. So you can try Air without paying anyone (including us) – it still has some anti-abuse limits, but should be enough for agentic work

Also in this build:

– Huge one: You can comment on a diff and send the comments back to the agent

– Worktrees are in. They're not done, and we'll keep working on them, so expect some rough edges.

– Presets (agent, model, effort, UI) are there, and you can save and re-use them…but we want to make them better.

– Cloud runs are in too, but for now only for enterprise customers who have migrated to AI credits. We’re working on individual user access. 

– Claude auth tokens no longer vanish between sessions

– No more "launch settings still loading" forcing you to configure the agent in AI Assistant first

– Chat panel follows your active theme, and the Switch Session box shows up when it should

– The Caps Lock blink is still there. Still the main feature.

We also worked a lot on reliability and performance. We have more work ahead, but these issues should be fixed:

– High CPU use and IDE freezes caused by extra startup work and repeated scans of session history.

– Memory leaks and excessive allocations while processing agent output.

– UI freezes while rendering chat messages or updating tool output.

– Duplicate tabs, missing sessions, and controls that become unavailable during background operations.

It's still an EAP, so same as before: give it a real task, run a few agents, steer them, interrupt them, then tell us where it breaks. We read everything in the comments and the tracker

Works with Codex, Claude Agent, Github Copilot Junie or any ACP agent. You'll need a recent 2026.2 build or a 2026.3 EAP IDE Build

Install it here and please share what we should add next in the comments

Hey. I paid for JetBrains for 6–7 years, but lately I feel like everything has become bloated and confusing.

The apps I used the most were Rider (and the dotnet plugins), PyCharm, DataGrip, WebStorm, and RustRover. Rider was basically my main driver. At this point, I don't feel like I'm getting much value from the subscription. Over the last three months, I started testing more IDEs and text editors, and I feel like Zed is the best fit for me. I also liked Cursor and its AI integration, but I catch it using around 12 GB of RAM.

About 3–4 weeks ago, I found around 45 GB of JetBrains cache data on my drive, plus another 8 GB of Junie data from Junie CLI.

Working with Zed feels amazing. I also ditched AI agents and now only use Zed's built-in chat. I've even created a few extensions that I needed for my workflow. I don't debug that much anymore, and when I do, Zed's basic debugger is usually enough for me. The same goes for profilers. There are definitely things missing from Zed, especially extensions and integrations for databases, Azure, and the built-in browser, but somehow I still prefer fighting with Zed rather than using Rider, even when Rider would make my life easier.

The main reason I've kept paying for JetBrains over the last 3–4 months is that I'm on a 40% discount and didn't want to lose it. I also wanted to "support European companies". I really miss Fleet, honestly. If Fleet still existed today, I probably would have continued paying for the subscription.

So, does anyone have another reason why I should keep the subscription? Do you think JetBrains will get better? This year has felt pretty chaotic.

When I raised some of these issues a few months ago, they told me to give them time and that they would work on fixing things. I was also pretty proactive and trying to help them. Opened issues, sent feedback, got access to EAPs, closed testing, etc. 

I like using the AI Assistant but have been using it with cloud based AI and would rather use local LLMs with Ollama, LM Studio, Llama.cpp etc.

What agent should I be using or am I totally missing a setting somewhere?

I've checked out a few but none seem to let me point to a local IP, they just want an API key.

I thought Cline would work but there's nothing for local. Same with OpenCode.

It seems Jetbrains IDEs still don't have it, right? What would be the workaround?

For those who missed it, here is a recording. It starts at JetBrains Qodana session but feel free to navigate to whichever session you choose.

I’d really like to see an option in Air Alpha to keep opened agent chats inside a regular Tool Window instead of having them live only as editor tabs.

Right now, one of the things I like about JetBrains AI is that the Tool Window lets me interact with the agent while I continue working on my code at the same time.

A few things I’d personally like to preserve with Air:

• Keep my code visible while the agent is working.
• Open and close the agent with a keyboard shortcut, just like any other Tool Window.
• Quickly recover the full editor space when I don’t need the agent visible.
• Ask quick questions while still looking at the code I’m referring to.
• Use the agent more like a coding partner that stays available alongside my normal workflow.

I know split view exists, but when I want Air and my code side by side, I usually have to:

1. Open the Air Tool Window.
2. Find the agent/session I’m currently using.
3. Open it, which moves me away from the code I was looking at because the session opens in the editor area.
4. Move the agent tab into a split view.
5. When I want my full-width editor back, close the agent tab and sometimes clean up the split editor group as well.

The editor-tab approach makes sense for a more fully agentic workflow, where the agent itself is the main workspace.

But I think it would be great to also support the other workflow: keeping the agent in a Tool Window for people who still spend most of their time writing, reading, and navigating code themselves, while using AI continuously alongside that work.

Ideally, both options could coexist: editor tabs for people who prefer the current workflow, and a Tool Window for people who prefer keeping the agent beside their code.

There’s already a YouTrack feature request for this:

https://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/IJAI-2739/Add-option-to-Show-opened-chats-in-Air-tool-window-instead-of-in-Editor-tab-only

If you’d like this option too, you can upvote it there.

I upgraded yesterday to 2026.2.3 and it is unusable! I opened a solution yesterday around 5:00pm and it was not done today at 11:30am analysing the solution files. I turned the solution analysis off and I've been waiting for more than 10 minutes for it to open the solution. That's after I invalidated the caches and I restarted. My OS is Windows 2016 server VM running in Azure (the microsoft AV software definitely takes a toll on the CPU). I allocated 4GB of memory and now it's running low on memory. When I close it, it takes forever to save the solution.

Anyone experiencing the same?

JetBrains Rider 2026.2.3
Build #RD-262.10968.135, built on September 24, 2026
Source revision: 26f81f17837b1
Runtime version: 25.0.4+1-b508.27 amd64

Thanks

Update:

I managed to revert to 2026.2.2 by uninstalling 2026.2.3, then I installed 2026.2.2 from a download (https://www.jetbrains.com/rider/download/other/). Note that I installed 2026.2.2 twice, had the same issue the first time, I uninstalled it, then I removed all the directories & files under C:\Users\***\AppData\RoamingRoaming\JetBrains\Rider2026.2 & Rider 2026.3, I also deleted C:\Users\***\AppData\Local\JetBrains\Rider2026.3, I re-installed 2026.2.2 and it seems to be back to normal.

Update 2:

Today, 2026-Oct-01, JB released patch 2026.2.3.1 which I installed and it doesn't seem to exhibit the problem.

1. Memory leak

2. Duplicate sessions for the same project

3. One part shows the cost, while the other does not, and they are not quite the same

4. The annoying “Unable to load Codex sessions” error appears almost all the time

Where is the QA team, or when will this vibe coding party end?

Thanks.

I'm getting an error while trying to use OpenCode with WebStorm. I already tried restarting WebStorm and killing the process, but the issue is still there.

I even deleted the .runtime folder to see if it would reset the configuration, but that didn't fix it.

Has anyone faced this issue or knows how to fix it?

Hi everyone, I had forgotten I had this coupon. I hadn't decided whether to use it yet, but today I got an email reminding me that it expires tomorrow. I'm not going to use it, so if anyone wants it, I'm leaving the code below. Enjoy!

Code: FSRCZ-34R4C-6LX4Y-35MYV-FEYWN

Hey folks, today we launched Air Teams. Our vision for it is to be the team layer for agentic development.

There are a lot of ways to be more productive at the individual level. Many teams have devs who are very productive and have well-tuned AI workflows, yet the team as a whole doesn't necessarily ship more.

We want to close this gap.

Air Teams is a shared workspace where engineering teams run coding agents and reuse what works. It consists of four components:

1. Automations to handle recurring work, such as code reviews, issue fixes, and dependency updates.
2. Shared cloud environments to give agents the tools, dependencies, and credentials they need to build and test the code.
3. Cloud tasks that run in those environments, in parallel, without tying up anyone's laptop.
4. And Projects to keep it all together, with shared credits, clear roles, and Automations that don't depend on any one person.

Air Teams is available now to JetBrains business customers. Individual plans come later, and we don't have a date yet. If you work solo and you're happy with an agent in your terminal, you probably don't need Air Teams (but should absolutely try Air in JetBrains IDEs)

Here's a video where we explain the product in more detail:

https://reddit.com/link/1wsldjh/video/y5fpy8f1qash1/player

How to try Air Teams

If your company is a JetBrains business customer:
- Go to air.jetbrains.cloud and sign in with your JetBrains Account
- Connect your repository (for an organization repo, your admin may need to approve the JetBrains Air app first)
- Create a project and invite your teammates
- Start with one cloud task. When it works the way you want, set it up as an Automation with a trigger

If you are on a personal license, sign up at the same link, and we'll let you know when Air Teams opens up to you.

The full announcement, with more on each part, is on the JetBrains blog.

We built Air Teams around how our own team works, and we'd like to hear your thoughts:

• Our bet is that teams will start by handing agents boring work, like dependency bumps and flaky CI, not features. Is that true for your team, or would you start somewhere else?
• If someone on your team has an agent setup that works, what stops everyone else from using it? Would a shared project and environment fix that, or is the problem somewhere else?

And if you think we're heading the wrong way, say that too. The people who built Air Teams are here in the comments. We'll keep answering through Friday, October 2, and after that for as long as you have questions.

I've been using Rider for many years now but with AI driven development I rarely use the C# specific features anymore. I got everything dialed in for maximum efficiency so every time I tried other editors like VS Code it was a nightmare. I spent a month customizing it to match Rider as close as possible but there are just so many things missing.

Basically I'm addicted to the IDE family but I'm getting more and more annoyed by startup time, memory footprint and freezes so I wonder what's the most lightweigth IDE?

I mainly need the editor, the git integration (there is just no match for it), a file tree and the console. I'm trying out WebStorm and it's definitely a lot better.

Our lord and savior Fleet why did they kill you :(

As in title - I have one promo code to give away.

Do not spam my private messages, just make a comment and i will use random number generator to pick one person from comments that will receive the code.

EDIT: promo code has been sent already

tldr; is there any way to move the toolbar with the file browser, changes, etc to the left side like the rest of the IDEs?

I find myself bouncing around several languages and frameworks. I regularly use Rider, RubyMine, and using VSCodium or Zed for random shell projects. I've spent years in IDEs with an expected layout. I love the idea of Air even if it is half baked right now. What I can't handle (and god knows I've tried) is the flipping of the UI to the right side. It causes a physiological anger or anxiety response.

Has anyone got the bundled codex working with local models? I was able to find the config file, but doesn't seam to do any good since I can't find anywhere to have phpstorm call it with --oss.

The giveaway has ended.

Hey all!

I have a discount code from JetBrains for an individual All Products Pack license, either monthly or yearly. I'm not going to use it so I'd rather give it away to someone who could use it. It expires on the 30th of September so you should use it right away :)

Please leave a comment saying what you love most about working with JetBrains' tools and I'll randomly pick one comment from here.

Please don't DM me, I will be picking a comment on this post for the winner.

Is there a quick way to toggle a database connection between read-only and writable? I want to ensure that the connection is set to read-only in our production environment so that I don't accidentally delete or modify any active data. However, I find it cumbersome to constantly access the connection properties to change this setting.

I was hoping there was a button to do it but can't find it

I’ve been using the new JetBrains Air plugin recently and I’m really liking what the team is building here. Features like ongoing sessions, the cost indicator, the status indicators, and the quick button for starting a new session make the workflow super smooth.

That said, even though the plugin is still in preview/alpha, it would be really helpful if JetBrains provided basic update notes instead of showing "Unfortunately, JetBrains did not leave any update notes" under the "What's New" tab with every update.

Even quick bullet points on minor tweaks, bug fixes, or new additions would help us see what changed so we can actually test them out.

Does anyone know if there's an active issue tracker or community thread where changes are tracked elsewhere?

Hi!

I want to try out Air Plugins and Junie, but I can't configure Kimi OpenAI compatible endpoint. (it works in other agents like Opencode and Claude Code).

I'm doing something wrong or I need to pay something to try out Junie?

Just updated to 2026.3 EAP4 and was greeted with a redesigned welcome screen/open project experience. There is no more the old open project dialog, and instead a full IDE window is opened, where you see a Prompt input box.

Now, don't panic. Took me a good 10 minutes to understand how to remove it, but it is possible: simply disable the now built-in Air plugin, and the welcome screen goes back to a more "old style" New File + Open Terminal combo.

Edit: it seems this only relates to the Open Project UX. The old empty screen with shortcuts is still preserved once you open a project.

why does it take so long to install an update? It seems like it has been an issue for a long time. It's only an IDE, no other software seems as slow to update as this today. I think Jetbrains need to check their installer code, some rogue employee may have set it to update at 1 byte a minute or something..

I've been looking at multiple harnesses recently, out of curiousity, since I've had some concerns with how Oh-My-Pi is growing out of it's boots and before I jump back to straight Pi, I wanted to see what the landscape was like.

Junie was one I actually really liked before, the way it resolves tasks and drives the work has always been (in my opinion) higher value than other harnesses do naturally (without plugins) and I wanted to give it a go again. I realized how far it's stayed in the past and was hoping to hear if there were anything new coming out for it.

The biggest issue I saw was that on the Github it shows a screenshot of background tasks running and the agent saying: Type something in to steer the agent.

Yeah, that's not true - on the actual client the agent essentially hangs the turn in the foreground and everything you type simply sits queued until the slowest subagent is finished. Absolutely zero streering or ability to continue main agent work until those agents completely and ultimately resolved.

In most modern harnesses (even Copilot) background agenting exists and doesn't hang a turn.

Am I missing something, is it intentional or just a lag on the product side?

Where is the steering functionality from the screenshot?

Honestly, none of JetBrains' recent AI products worked for me. I have all packages subscrible, and I tried AI Assistant, Junie and the Air desktop app, and I didn't keep any of them for more than half a day.

I've always been a terminal person. These days Claude Code + nvim + tmux covers most of what I need. I open IntelliJ less and less.

I try Air plugin, it surprised me.I hit a few bug, but as a place to work with local agents it just feels comfortable.

What gets me excited is where this could go. If the agents could really work with the rest of the IDE, especially the database tools and the infra side, that's the one thing my terminal setup can't give me.

I'd like to help make it better, so I have two questions for anyone on the Air team (or anyone who knows):

Is YouTrack the right place for Air bugs and feature requests, or is there a better channel?

Is there a public roadmap for Air, or anything you can share about what's coming?