There are moments in technology when tools arrive with so much noise, so many flashy thumbnails, and so much hype that the real story gets buried under layers of “install this, click that, next-next-next.” AntiGravity, Google’s new AI-powered coding environment, is one such tool—everyone seems to be talking about it, but very few are explaining what actually makes it special.
So in this article, instead of repeating the usual “download here” instructions or dramatic claims like “VS Code is dead,” we’ll walk together through what AntiGravity really is, why Google built it, what it can and cannot do, and most importantly, what you as a developer should realistically expect from it.
This is not a sales pitch.
This is not an installation guide.
This is a deep technical narrative, based on practical exploration and testing.
Let’s start from the very beginning—with the experience you see right after launching AntiGravity for the first time.
The First Look: What AntiGravity Shows You When You Open It
Before we explore the power of this tool, it helps to settle into the environment it creates.
When AntiGravity opens for the first time, it greets you with a calm, guided setup flow instead of overwhelming you with endless settings. It gives you a sense that the environment knows you might be new here—it almost meets you halfway.
You choose a theme, you select key mappings, you allow the tool to set up a few internal extensions, and then gradually the IDE begins to reveal its layers. Even at this early stage, something becomes obvious: AntiGravity is not just another code editor. It is an agent-first coding environment. Everything here revolves around the concept of an AI agent that listens, plans, executes, and collaborates with you.
And that core idea becomes more interesting as we go deeper.
Understanding the Four Modes: How AntiGravity Decides Its Level of Autonomy
Every developer has their own comfort zone. Some prefer the AI to take full control, while others want oversight at every step. AntiGravity addresses this by offering four distinct modes of operation.
Before we dissect each one, it’s worth pausing to understand why this matters.
AI development environments succeed only when they align with user intentions. If the system tries to over-help, senior developers get frustrated. If it under-helps, beginners feel abandoned. AntiGravity’s mode-based design acknowledges that coding is not a one-size-fits-all activity.
1. Agent-Driven Development
This is the mode for people who want automation.
In this mode, the agent makes decisions without repeatedly asking for permission. You say something once, and it gets to work immediately.
There’s a smoothness here: the agent does not interrupt you, it does not seek validation, it simply follows the intent it interprets from your prompt.
2. Agent-Assisted Development
This is a balanced middle ground.
The agent works independently but pauses occasionally for clarity or approval when actions might be risky or impactful.
This mode suits developers who want speed but also want checkpoints.
3. Review-Driven Development
Here, the agent frequently seeks your review.
It waits, cross-checks, and lets you take the final call.
This mode feels more like a collaboration—almost like pair programming where the AI is a cautious teammate who double-checks before making changes.
4. Custom Configuration
This mode is for developers who know exactly how they want the agent to behave.
You define the boundaries, the autonomy, the permissions, and the review frequency.
What’s interesting is not the complexity of these modes, but the philosophy behind them: AI should adapt to the developer, not the other way around.
And that philosophy becomes even clearer when you start interacting with the agent manager.
The Agent Manager: Your Control Tower for Multi-Tasking AI
Once AntiGravity is set up, the real magic begins when you open the Agent Manager—a dedicated command center for all tasks currently being executed by the AI.
This isn’t a gimmick. It addresses a real-world problem most AI coding tools fail at: handling multiple tasks in parallel without losing track.
When you open the manager, you see every task:
- its planning phase,
- its execution,
- its pending steps,
- and its requirements for user input.
Imagine building a website. You can simultaneously instruct AntiGravity to:
- generate a React app,
- create a set of food images for your image folder,
- scaffold a routing system,
- and fix padding on a UI component.
All of these travel through the Agent Manager in parallel streams.
What makes this powerful is the transparency. You can see:
- what the agent is thinking,
- why it made certain decisions,
- which files it touched,
- and where it requires permissions.
This gives the developer a sense of safety and reliability. AI is still a black box to many; the Agent Manager makes that box transparent.
Planning vs Fast Execution: A Choice That Affects Accuracy
AntiGravity gives you a choice every time you initiate a task:
Do you want to plan first, or execute fast?
This simple choice reveals a deep truth about AI systems:
speed and accuracy rarely go hand-in-hand.
When You Choose Fast Execution
Fast execution feels exciting because things happen instantly. You say “Create a contact page,” and within seconds you see files appearing, dependencies installing, and code shaping itself.
But fast modes come with trade-offs—misunderstood prompts, messy file structure, partially implemented code, or incomplete logic.
When You Choose Planning
Planning mode slows everything down deliberately.
The agent thinks, drafts a plan, shares steps, and waits for your confirmation.
This results in:
- higher code accuracy,
- better architectural decisions,
- fewer unexpected side effects,
- and fewer rollbacks.
For complex instructions, planning mode becomes essential. It is similar to asking a developer to sketch an idea before writing code—it prevents chaos later.
The Real Surprise: The Built-In Browser With AI-Controlled Testing
One of the biggest innovations in AntiGravity is a built-in Chrome-like browser where the AI can actually test your app end-to-end.
This means the agent can:
- launch your development server,
- open the app in a browser,
- look at the UI like a human,
- inspect errors,
- take screenshots,
- and make fixes automatically.
This is revolutionary because traditional coding AIs can’t “see” your app running. They only see the code.
AntiGravity bridges this gap:
Front-end errors and back-end logs both become part of the AI’s feedback loop.
This hybrid understanding is what makes Google’s approach feel distinct. Instead of reacting only to text logs, the AI reacts to visual layout problems—padding issues, alignment bugs, missing assets, and DOM-related errors.
It brings us a step closer to an AI that understands software holistically instead of line by line.
Where AntiGravity Excels (and Where It Doesn’t)
Let’s pause and talk honestly—not everything here is perfect.
What AntiGravity Does Exceptionally Well
- Multi-tasking through the Agent Manager
- Integrating front-end logs with back-end logs
- Visual browser-based testing
- Automated design generation
- Gemini 3 Pro integration
- High-speed React/Next.js scaffolding
- Simple custom rule creation for workflows
- Running commands without manual intervention
- Parallel task execution
What Still Feels Rough Around the Edges
Some limitations are expected because AntiGravity is still evolving:
- It sometimes opens a new Chrome profile instead of using your existing one.
- Console errors aren’t always captured unless hinted.
- Some UI elements still look experimental.
- Generated designs may require clean-up.
- Occasional bugs lead to looping behavior (“white image detected, trying fix…”).
These flaws don’t disqualify the tool—they simply remind us that this is Version 1, and many refinements are inevitable.
Will AntiGravity Replace VS Code, Cursor, or Windsurf?
This is the burning question everywhere, usually framed dramatically:
- “VS Code killer?”
- “Cursor is dead?”
- “The future of IDEs?”
The answer is simpler and far more grounded:
Nothing kills anything. Tools evolve, compete, and coexist.
VS Code is supported by a decade of community, plugins, telemetry, extensions, and developer trust.
Cursor is heavily optimized for agentic workflows and has years of data backing its decisions.
Windsurf has unique architectural strengths.
AntiGravity is a competitor—not a killer.
A promising one, but still a new player.
The idea that new tools will instantly eliminate older ones is a misunderstanding of how developer ecosystems grow.
Developers don’t abandon tools overnight. They experiment, compare, and adopt gradually.
Will AntiGravity Take Developer Jobs?
Here is the truth that often gets drowned by hype:
AI tools don’t remove developers; they remove repetitive tasks.
Your creativity, your decisions, your experience—all of these are irreplaceable.
Unless a day comes when a device can literally download twenty years of expertise into someone’s brain instantly, developers will remain essential.
AI may accelerate workflows, but it cannot replace:
- intuition developed through experience,
- system-level architecture decisions,
- debugging complex production issues,
- negotiation with stakeholders,
- product judgment,
- and the creative side of building.
AI will be a tool, not a replacement.
And AntiGravity fits that category perfectly.
A Grounded Final Assessment
AntiGravity is powerful, ambitious, and surprisingly capable for a first release. But it is also imperfect, occasionally buggy, and still in early stages of refinement.
It shines in automation.
It shines in AI-driven execution.
It shines in connecting logs, screenshots, browser behavior, and code into a single reasoning loop.
But it still needs polish in UI consistency, error understanding, and visual design accuracy.
As long as you see AntiGravity as a partner—not a magician—you will appreciate what it brings to the table.
Disclaimer
This article is for educational and informational purposes. AntiGravity is an evolving product, and features may change. Always verify tool behaviors in your own environment before applying them to production code. AI coding assistance should complement, not replace, your own review and understanding.
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