JetBrainsAir is here: Finally turning your IDE into a chaotic AI zoo

The Air plugin is now available via EAP in JetBrains IDEs, allowing users to orchestrate multiple AI agents simultaneously across various projects. Instead of juggling browser tabs, developers can track tasks, see file changes, and monitor git commits directly within the IDE environment. Users can even monitor the financial burn rate of their AI sessions, which is a delightful feature for anyone who enjoys watching their budget evaporate in real-time.

The ecosystem supports heavy hitters like Claude, Gemini, GitHub Copilot, Junie, and Codex. By utilizing temporary git worktrees, the system allows for parallel task execution without turning the primary codebase into a digital junkyard. The agents leverage IDE-native skills for profiling, database interaction, and semantic code search, supposedly saving tokens by actually understanding the project context rather than just guessing.

For those living in the cloud, JetBrains offers the ability to offload long-running tasks to their servers, letting users close their laptops while the machine does the heavy lifting. While the AI Assistant remains a separate entity, it is clear that Air is being positioned as the new primary command center for all agent-based workflows.

Integrating a fleet of competing AIs into one editor is a bold bet that the future of software development involves managing agents more than writing actual logic. It turns the act of coding into a high-stakes strategy game where the primary skill is not syntax, but prompt engineering while keeping an eye on the token-burning dashboard.

Source: JetBrains Blog