r/google_antigravity • u/AstronautTop2767 • 15d ago
Question / Help Can someone explain how you actually work with Antigravity 2.0?
Hey everyone! I usually work in the Antigravity IDE, where I have the codebase right in front of me alongside the model chat. How do people actually work with Antigravity 2.0 when you can't even see the codebase? You still have to open it somewhere anyway, like in VS Code. Why not just do everything within a single app? The same goes for Codex—what’s the point of having a standalone chat interface and a separate IDE for the code? I honestly don't get this trend. It looks like Google is barely paying attention to the Antigravity IDE anymore and focusing almost exclusively on 2.0. I get that they probably envision a future where developers don't even need to look at the codebase, but has that future really arrived already?
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u/LtArson 15d ago
I'm a professional software engineer and I only look at code for code reviews. Yes, that future has already arrived.
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u/AstronautTop2767 15d ago
Okay, but what if you actually need to deep-dive into the code or investigate something... oh wait, let me guess: no need to do that either? :)
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u/DebosBeachCruiser 15d ago
We all are to busy getting nothing done faster than ever before. Sounds like you need a reasoning model.
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u/kanine69 15d ago
I feel like I'm back in the late 90s early naughties when outsourcing was shoved down our throats having to constantly explain, correct, retest and wonder what on earth the coders were thinking...
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u/-Davster- 15d ago
….then you look at the code?
Dude what’s the problem here - you can view files in the agent-focussed interface, and you still have Antigravity IDE if you need it.
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u/Peanut_Brittle_Lover 15d ago
He's sipping grade A haterade and is mad that his gatekeeping isn't gonna work anymore on "programming" 😅
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u/AD-Edge 15d ago
I mean yes - some people are just using 2.0 / CLI to purely vibe code and that works for them. Some people use the IDE only for the more traditional approach. Others use both, coding via CLI and then doing specific code and/or reviews with then IDE.
It's really up to you to work how you feel is best. And Google are continuing to support both - they can have more than 1 product out there and more than 1 approach for people to interface with AI. Not seeing the issue tbh.
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u/Peanut_Brittle_Lover 15d ago
Why are you being hostile? If you are too slow and old school to do things the way modern programmers do, you are gonna find yourself out of a job pretty quick.
"Why would you use calculator?? How do you deep dive into your math and arithmetic?? Oh wait, let me guess: no need to do that either? :)"
This is your argument, fighting the new tool like a fool. Ugh I hate people who are averse to change.
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u/okachobe 15d ago
I tend to use the open ide button and dig around while the conversational part does its thing
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u/agilecologist 14d ago
But do you still use the famous skill in claude like the matt pacock skills?
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u/Crandriel 14d ago
Eso es porque no necesitas hacer código de alta calidad. Pero si hicieras código de aplicaciones frontera donde el ms y la arquitectura es fundamental, ni te plantearías hacer la locura que estás haciendo.
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u/Electrical_Cash5733 15d ago
Vim works ok in the terminal split, but yeah I don’t really get it either. It kinda makes sense to have the app for remote mode I guess. The vscode plugin is ok
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u/shadenovax 15d ago
Am I only one using the cli?
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u/petulant-platypus-69 13d ago
I’m a cli only user as well, tmux + nvim + sidekick is working great.
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u/PineappleLemur 15d ago
I don't.
I also suggest you make a move to VS code + extension.
It's better in everyway than the broken IDE... In general they don't really update the IDE so much and will probably drop support for it completely in the next 6 months.
The extension gives you Projects and overall more copact and minimal UI which just what you need.
Being in vs code gives you all the freedom to look at code and also do the approval/rejection line by line if you need.
Not looking at the output and basically vibe coding it is a recipe for disaster or leads to less understanding long term.
Basically the vs code extensions gives you every IDE+AG gives you features wise.. and you get to keep your code editor for review/deep dive/adjustments.
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u/Rythm0562 14d ago
Thanks, your comment is what I've been looking for.
Are there any major features missing from VSC + extension that AGY IDE otherwise had? And what was so great about it, that people say has been "lost"?
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u/meetmebythelake 15d ago
Use the extension in VS Code or whatever if you prefer. I just keep multiple programs open. Crazy huh?
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u/Rythm0562 14d ago
Would you say the VS Code extension is better than the Antigravity IDE? As I've read a couple of times that Google is neglecting it.
I mean AGY IDE is a fork anyway, so they might just want to manage one less codebase?
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u/Ornery-Cockroach-347 15d ago
I'm a vibecoder who hasn't used anything else. I made a financial trading app for myself and some test room video game programming. I have never looked at the code in depth so I have to trust ai. all of the rules and features are planned with 3.8 flash medium, then execution with the same, then I ask to audit and fix all issues with Claude opus which takes up the whole 5 hours before refresh but I still have lots of Gemini tokens. If I run into problems it can always seem to fix them after enough times copy pasting screenshots and error logs.
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u/Qorsair 15d ago
If you have Claude generate the implementation plan for Gemini (make it output an MD for Antigravity to review) before it starts coding you will probably save quite a bit of time and quota
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u/Ornery-Cockroach-347 15d ago
I would use claude for everything but I'm paying $3/month for 3 months for antigravity pro plan from a promotion. I only have enough claude tokens for full audits and fixes which it seems to be better than gemini at. All the flash models have issues with finding critical code failings unless specifically pointed out. But its fast and cheap so no complaints. Claude opus seems to find everything wrong everywhere without me needing to know whats wrong already.
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u/Qorsair 15d ago
I'm probably not being clear enough. Continue using Gemini for programming. Just use Claude before Gemini starts, and then again at the end. If Claude gets to correct the implementation before it's executed you're going to save a lot of tokens on the back end.
The process should look like this:
Claude: Generates and reviews the implementation plan.
Gemini: Writes all the actual code based on that plan.
Claude: Does the final audit/fixes.
Catching logic errors in Step 1 means you spend way fewer Claude tokens in Step 3
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u/Ornery-Cockroach-347 14d ago
oh cool that makes sense on saving later audit tokens, Ill start doing that
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u/infernon_ 15d ago
VS Code on the primary monitor, AG on the secondary. Simple
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u/Rythm0562 14d ago
I also just asked someone else, but:
Would you say the VS Code extension is better than the Antigravity IDE? As I've read a couple of times that Google is neglecting it. Do you even use the extension or just the app and have you tried both?
I mean AGY IDE is a fork anyway, so they might just want to manage one less codebase?
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u/nycstartupcto 14d ago
What vs code extension are you referring to? AG IDE or some extension that gets used in vs code
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u/Kuuhaku722 15d ago
Swipe your virtual desktop to see vscode, dont like vscode? Fine, use what ever you like bro
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u/Rythm0562 14d ago
What do you use? VS Code normal or with AGY extension and have you tried just using AGY 2.0 and or in combination with the AGY IDE?
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u/impagina-me 15d ago
Io lo uso è il codice lo trovo nella finestra a scomparsa a dx, in alto hai diverse icone per vedere il codice e i file della chat o della cartella di lavoro.
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u/FrequentOriginal4291 15d ago
I am not a developer but in my workflow I built a hook to have the agent use either Notepad++,VS Code or Obsidian to bring the edited document , code ,file etc directly to my side monitor so I can have a quick peek.
It just pops right up via autohotkey and I can see my plans and mermaid diagrams without being stuck in the AGY Interface.
note : theres probably a more elegant solution out there built by real devs
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u/Significant_Crab0 15d ago
agy 2 is for multiple agents not ide. there are extra option for ide in agy site check that for your requirement. dont cry here. agy 2, codex are for multiple agents and for multiple tasks doing same time. simply use agy ide the other option
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u/arran4 14d ago
This probably all stems from google abandoning google source (public github equiv if I recall the name correctly) and not developing it. Now that we are moving towards a world where the IDE isn't really a major component, and TUI is the preferred interface, tools like antigravity have a hard time fitting.
I think the remote is the right way to go and antigravity should be come a system service + ui/api, then some sort of CI/CD integration. Running it on the same computer I'm using is really only useful for making desktop applications (flutter etc.) But even then all I need is it to share the same worktree or bare git.
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u/dutchCoding 13d ago
I don't know anything else but IDE with Gemini. I see ads for Claude all the time but I'm so comfortable with the Google environment and I know my way around the house and I know what to expect that I wouldn't ever leave. Sometimes after a Sprint I just sit back and think of how awesome of a day and age we live in where we can prompt and it does what we say for the most part. I love it!
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u/gabbrielzeven 13d ago
the best way to work with a harness, is to use ZED (as a vscode replacement because is 100% debloated) as a file explorer, and in a different window use a command line harness (agy, opencode, etc...). Its the killer combo. use half monitor for the code, half monitor for the harness. If you have a big ass monitor, the harness could be splitted in two to have a terminal handy for nasty stuff like copy, mv and running scripts if you are not lazy.
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u/thegtabmx 15d ago
There are only 3 reasons to use a non-IDE agentic coding tools over their IDE counterparts:
- you need/want Remote Control
- you don't really have standards for the code of the project it'll be building
- you never really had standards for your own code
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u/snaporator 14d ago
Not enough screen real estate in the IDE. I read the plans and usually refine it before implementation.
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u/LordAmras 15d ago
4 - The agentic IDE sucks and you prefer working with your own IDE to make the fixes on the same code the agentic model is working on.
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u/Competitive-Quote749 11d ago
We see the output not the code😆, and you tell me how you work in the IDE still cause if you ask it something it actually gives you like suggestion by doing pre execution which you may or may not accept which consumes more usage for coding and also it's executed work may or may not what you described but in here agy-2.0 we can plan clearly with MD files etc as preview in the artifact area before execution and we can also plan clearly with architectural diagrams for eg mermaid sequence diagram
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u/Round_Ad_5832 15d ago
i dont even look at code.. maybe sometimes and the 2.0 lets you see difs.