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Windsurf Removes Cascade in Next Builds, Leaving Devin Local as the Only Agent

WindsurfView original changelog

Windsurf's Devin Desktop v3.9.1018, shipped to the Next (beta) channel on September 5, 2026, removes Cascade entirely — the agent that originally defined the Windsurf IDE before its June 2026 rebrand. Devin Local, the Rust-rewritten successor with subagent support, becomes the only agent available in those builds, and a new Continue in Devin Local prompt migrates existing Cascade conversations across. Note this is the beta channel: the stable Devin Desktop changelog still tops out at v3.8.20 from August 21, so stable users retain Cascade for now. The release also simplifies the agent location picker to Local, Worktree and Cloud, and bundles polish across the agent inbox, PR review tooling, and Devin Review search.

Key Takeaways

  • Cascade has been removed in Devin Desktop v3.9.1018, roughly two months after its originally announced July 1, 2026 shutoff date, closing out Windsurf's original agent architecture.
  • This shipped to the Next (beta) channel, not stable — the stable Devin Desktop changelog still tops out at v3.8.20 (August 21, 2026), so stable-channel users still have Cascade for now.
  • Devin Local is now the only local agent in Next builds, a Rust rewrite of Cascade that adds subagent support for parallel task handling.
  • A new Continue in Devin Local prompt lets users migrate existing Cascade conversations forward instead of losing that context.
  • The agent location picker was simplified to Local, Worktree, and Cloud as top-level choices, with worktrees moved into a searchable submenu.
  • Devin Review gained find-in-page (Cmd/Ctrl+F) plus PR-card actions like Open Devin Review and Close PR.
  • No independent third-party coverage exists yet for the Cascade removal; the first-party changelog is currently the only source.

Cascade Is Gone from the Next Channel

Windsurf's Devin Desktop v3.9.1018, published to the Next (beta) channel on September 5, 2026, removes Cascade — the original agentic layer that made Windsurf's editor distinct before Cognition rebranded the product as Devin Desktop on June 2, 2026. Cognition had originally targeted July 1, 2026 as Cascade's shutoff date, but the agent remained available for more than two months past that deadline.

The changelog's wording is unconditional: "Cascade has been removed. Devin Local is now the only agent available in Devin Desktop."

Scope note: this landed in the Next channel, which Cognition describes as "preview features, improvements, and fixes shipped to the beta channel ahead of stable releases." At the time of writing the stable Devin Desktop changelog still tops out at v3.8.20 (August 21, 2026), so users on the stable channel still have Cascade for now. This release is the clearest signal yet of the timeline, not a change that has reached every user.

Devin Local Is Now the Only Agent

With Cascade gone from Next builds, Devin Local becomes the sole local agent inside Devin Desktop. Devin Local is a Rust rewrite of Cascade that Cognition says delivers better token efficiency, along with support for subagents — parallel sub-sessions that let the agent work on multiple parts of a task at once, something Cascade's single-context design never supported. For anyone with conversations still parked in the old agent, Windsurf added a Continue in Devin Local prompt that migrates an existing Cascade conversation to the new agent rather than starting from scratch.

A Simpler Agent Location Picker

To reflect the new lineup, the agent location picker was reorganized around three top-level options: Local, Worktree, and Cloud. Existing worktrees now live in a searchable nested submenu rather than cluttering the top-level list, making it faster to move between a local session, an isolated worktree-backed session, and a cloud-hosted one.

Smaller Workflow Improvements

Beyond the agent transition, the release rounds out several everyday details. The agent sidebar now defaults to showing sessions updated in the last 30 days. The agent inbox list view gained per-row checkboxes for batch archive and unarchive, and the title bar's back and forward arrows now navigate between the inbox and an opened session. Trigger menus for /, @, and ! no longer open when followed by whitespace, and stay closed once a user clicks into the conversation.

Devin Review also got more capable: Cmd/Ctrl+F opens find-in-page inside Devin Review and other embedded Devin web surfaces, review tabs display the PR title and open GitHub links at the correct diff anchor, and the sessions sidebar swaps to a dedicated PR files/review sidebar (or a wiki page tree) while a fullscreen review or wiki is open. PR cards picked up one-click actions including Open Devin Review, Open in Desktop tab, Close PR, and Git settings, and the Checkout branch action now finds matching local clones, including worktrees, prompting for a choice when more than one matches.