Constellation · The Workshop

IDE Agents: Agents that live in your editor

Eight guides to the AI coding agents embedded in your editor: the 2026 in-editor landscape and agent mode, Cursor essentials and its rules-and-context system, Windsurf/Cascade now Devin Desktop, GitHub Copilot agent and cloud agents, the open-source Cline and Roo Code, AGENTS.md and rules files across tools, and an honest IDE-versus-CLI decision guide.

8 of 8 guides live · fact-checked against official docs

Chapter 0

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IDE Agents Overview

Map the in-editor coding agents, their local and cloud boundaries, and the product transitions that change today’s choice.

11 minide-agents / cursor / github-copilot / agent-mode / landscape

Chapter 1

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Cursor Essentials

Learn Cursor’s local editor surfaces, then decide when its event-driven Cloud Agents and early-beta Origin fit the task.

12 mincursor / ide-agents / tab / agent / model-picker / pricing

Chapter 2

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Cursor Rules & Context

Make Cursor's agent follow your conventions every session — and pull in the right context on demand.

12 mincursor / ide-agents / rules / context / mdc / agents-md / codebase-indexing

Chapter 3

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Devin Local / Cascade

Use Devin Local as the primary path, and choose legacy Cascade only for capabilities that have not migrated.

11 minwindsurf / cascade / devin-desktop / ide-agents / rules

Chapter 4

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Copilot Agents

Tell Copilot's two agents apart, package reusable plugins, and apply enterprise plugin and MCP controls.

11 mingithub-copilot / vs-code / agent-mode / cloud-agent / mcp / custom-instructions / pricing

Chapter 5

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Cline & Zoo Code

Choose between Cline's cross-surface Plan/Act workflow and Zoo Code's role modes, permissions, and opt-in context gathering.

12 minide-agents / cline / roo-code / zoo-code / mcp / plan-and-act / open-source / byok

Chapter 6

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Rules Files Across Tools

Keep one source of truth for agent rules across every IDE coding tool you use.

11 minAGENTS.md / rules files / CLAUDE.md / cross-tool / ide-agents

Chapter 7

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IDE vs CLI

Learn which surface fits each task — inline diffs and free Tab in the editor, or headless autonomy and parallel PRs from the terminal.

11 minide-agents / cli-agents / cursor / headless / cost-models / decision-guide