Google Antigravity: The First Agent-First IDE

The AI coding landscape has been heating up. Cursor pioneered the AI-native code editor experience, while OpenAI Codex became accessible directly in VS Code for Pro subscribers. Now, Google has officially entered the arena with a product that aims to redefine what an IDE can be.

Antigravity isn't just another AI-assisted code editor—it's Google's direct answer to the competition, and the first truly agent-first integrated development environment.

What Makes Antigravity Different?

Traditional AI coding assistants work with you, offering suggestions and completions. Antigravity flips this paradigm: AI agents work for you, autonomously planning, executing, and verifying entire development tasks.

Powered by Gemini 3 Pro

At its core, Antigravity runs on Google's latest Gemini 3 Pro model, optimized for:

Code reasoning and understanding
Large context comprehension
Multi-step planning and execution

But here's the interesting part: Antigravity isn't locked to Google's models. It supports Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 4.5 and Opus 4.5, along with open-source variants of OpenAI models.

Two Primary Views

Antigravity introduces a unique dual-view interface:

Editor View

A familiar IDE experience built on Visual Studio Code's foundation. If you've used VS Code, you'll feel right at home.

Manager View (Mission Control)

This is where things get interesting. The Manager view acts as a control center for orchestrating multiple agents working in parallel across different workspaces.

Think of it as mission control for your codebase. You can:

Dispatch agents to work on different features simultaneously
Monitor their progress in real-time
Review and approve their changes asynchronously

Multi-Surface Integration

Unlike traditional AI assistants that only interact with your code, Antigravity agents have direct access to:

Code Editor: Real-time editing and refactoring
Terminal: Running commands, installing dependencies, executing tests
Browser: Testing web applications, taking screenshots, verifying UI

This end-to-end integration means agents can complete entire development workflows autonomously.

The Artifacts System

Trust is critical when delegating tasks to AI. Antigravity addresses this with an Artifacts system that generates:

Human-readable implementation plans
Task breakdowns and checklists
Screenshots and browser recordings
Verification reports

Every action the agent takes is documented and reviewable, giving developers full visibility into the AI's decision-making process.

Free and Cross-Platform

Antigravity launched in public preview on November 18, 2025, and is available free of charge for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Google provides generous rate limits for Gemini 3 Pro usage, making it accessible for individual developers and small teams.

Our Take

With Cursor already reshaping how developers interact with AI, and OpenAI Codex integrating directly into VS Code, Google's entry into the space signals that AI-powered IDEs are becoming the new standard.

Antigravity stands out with its agent-first approach—while Cursor excels at AI-assisted coding and Codex offers powerful completions, Antigravity pushes further into autonomous territory. The Manager view alone represents a paradigm shift: orchestrating multiple AI agents simultaneously is something we haven't seen at this level before.

As a studio that works daily with cutting-edge AI tools, we see this as a significant milestone. The competition between these platforms will only accelerate innovation, and ultimately, developers are the ones who benefit.

Resources

Antigravity Google Blog