Is Windsurf Down? How to Check Windsurf IDE Status in Real-Time

Is Windsurf Down? How to Check Windsurf IDE Status in Real-Time

Quick Answer: To check if Windsurf is down, visit apistatuscheck.com/api/windsurf for real-time monitoring, or check Codeium's official status channels. Common signs include AI autocomplete failures, Cascade agent not responding, extension sync issues, workspace indexing problems, and authentication errors.

When your AI-powered coding assistant suddenly stops working, it can bring development velocity to a halt. Windsurf, Codeium's next-generation IDE built as a fork of VS Code with deep AI integration, is rapidly becoming a primary development environment for thousands of developers. Whether you're experiencing unresponsive AI suggestions, Cascade agent failures, or complete IDE crashes, knowing how to quickly verify Windsurf's status can save valuable debugging time and help you decide whether to switch to fallback tools.

How to Check Windsurf Status in Real-Time

1. API Status Check (Fastest Method)

The quickest way to verify Windsurf's operational status is through apistatuscheck.com/api/windsurf. This real-time monitoring service:

  • Tests actual API endpoints every 60 seconds
  • Shows response times and latency trends for AI services
  • Tracks historical uptime over 30/60/90 days
  • Provides instant alerts when issues are detected
  • Monitors multiple services (AI autocomplete, Cascade agent, authentication, extension marketplace)

Unlike status pages that rely on manual updates, API Status Check performs active health checks against Windsurf's production endpoints, giving you the most accurate real-time picture of service availability.

2. Official Codeium Status Channels

Codeium maintains several channels for service status updates:

  • Codeium Status Page: Check for official incident reports
  • Codeium Discord: Join the community for real-time discussions during outages
  • Twitter/X @codeiumdev: Watch for status updates and announcements
  • GitHub Issues: Check the Windsurf feedback repository for reported issues

Pro tip: Join the Codeium Discord server and enable notifications for the #status channel to receive immediate updates when incidents are acknowledged.

3. Check Extension Status in IDE

Within Windsurf IDE itself, you can check AI service connectivity:

  • Bottom status bar: Look for the Codeium status indicator
  • Command Palette: Run Codeium: Check Status (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+P)
  • Output panel: View Codeium logs for connection errors
  • Extension settings: Verify authentication status under Settings → Codeium

Status indicator meanings:

  • 🟢 Green checkmark: All systems operational
  • 🟡 Yellow warning: Degraded performance or partial outage
  • 🔴 Red X: Service unavailable or authentication failed
  • ⚪ Gray/disconnected: No connection to Codeium servers

4. Test AI Features Directly

The fastest way to confirm AI service health is to test core features:

Autocomplete test:

// Type this slowly and wait for suggestions
function calculateTotal(items) {
  // Wait for AI to suggest the implementation

If no suggestions appear after 3-5 seconds, or you see timeout errors, the autocomplete service may be down.

Cascade agent test: Open the Cascade chat panel (Cmd/Ctrl+L) and send a simple request:

Explain what this file does

If Cascade doesn't respond within 10 seconds, or shows connection errors, the agent service is likely experiencing issues.

5. Monitor Community Channels

When Windsurf experiences issues, developers quickly report problems:

  • Reddit r/Codeium: Search for recent posts about outages
  • Hacker News: Check for discussion threads
  • Twitter/X: Search "windsurf down" or "codeium down"
  • Discord #support channel: See if others are experiencing similar issues

If multiple users report the same issue simultaneously, it's likely a service-wide outage rather than a local configuration problem.

Common Windsurf Issues and How to Identify Them

AI Autocomplete Failures

Symptoms:

  • No suggestions appearing while typing
  • Significant delay (10+ seconds) before suggestions
  • Stale or irrelevant suggestions from outdated models
  • Error toasts: "Failed to fetch completions"
  • Output log showing ECONNREFUSED or timeout errors

What it means: When autocomplete is degraded, the AI suggestion engine isn't responding to requests from your IDE. This differs from low-quality suggestions—you'll see no suggestions at all, or error messages indicating connection failures.

Diagnostic command: Open Output panel → Codeium logs and look for:

[Error] Failed to fetch completions: ETIMEDOUT
[Error] Request to ai.codeium.com failed with status 503

Cascade Agent Not Responding

Symptoms:

  • Chat interface loads but shows "Thinking..." indefinitely
  • Messages send but receive no response
  • Error: "Cascade is temporarily unavailable"
  • Previous conversation history not loading
  • Context awareness failures (agent doesn't "see" open files)

What it means: Cascade, Windsurf's autonomous coding agent, relies on separate infrastructure from basic autocomplete. Cascade outages often occur independently, meaning autocomplete may still work while the agent is down.

Impact on workflows:

  • Multi-file refactoring requests fail
  • Cannot generate new components or features via chat
  • Code explanations and documentation unavailable
  • Debugging assistance interrupted

Extension Sync Issues

Symptoms:

  • Settings not syncing across machines
  • Extensions failing to install or update
  • Marketplace showing "Unable to connect"
  • Theme or keybinding changes not persisting
  • Error: "Extension Host terminated unexpectedly"

What it means: Windsurf inherits VS Code's extension architecture but adds Codeium-specific sync infrastructure. When sync services are down, you may lose access to extensions, settings roaming, or even core IDE features that depend on the extension host.

Workspace Indexing Problems

Symptoms:

  • "Indexing workspace..." stuck at 0% or specific percentage
  • AI suggestions ignoring project context
  • Go to definition and symbol search not working
  • Cascade unable to reference other files in codebase
  • High CPU usage without progress

What it means: Windsurf indexes your codebase to provide context-aware AI suggestions. If indexing services are degraded:

  • New projects can't be analyzed
  • Changes to existing code aren't incorporated into AI context
  • Multi-file awareness breaks down

Check indexing status: Look for the indexing indicator in the bottom status bar. If it's been running for 10+ minutes without progress, indexing services may be impaired.

Authentication Errors

Symptoms:

  • Prompted to sign in repeatedly
  • "Invalid token" or "Authentication failed" errors
  • Status bar shows "Not signed in" despite successful login
  • All AI features disabled
  • Error: "Unable to verify Codeium subscription"

What it means: Authentication service outages prevent the IDE from verifying your Codeium account, which disables all AI features. This can occur even if your credentials are correct.

Quick fix attempt:

1. Command Palette → "Codeium: Sign Out"
2. Restart Windsurf IDE
3. Command Palette → "Codeium: Sign In"

If this fails repeatedly, authentication infrastructure is likely down.

The Real Impact When Windsurf Goes Down

Developer Productivity Cliff

AI-assisted coding tools like Windsurf fundamentally change development workflows. When the AI disappears:

  • Code velocity drops 30-50%: Developers accustomed to AI autocomplete type significantly slower without it
  • Context switching increases: More time searching documentation, Stack Overflow, and reference implementations
  • Cognitive load spikes: Tasks offloaded to AI (boilerplate generation, syntax recall) return to manual effort
  • Bug introduction rate rises: Without AI-assisted error detection, mistakes slip through

For a development team of 10 engineers, a 4-hour Windsurf outage can represent 20-40 hours of reduced productivity—roughly $2,000-$6,000 in labor cost impact at typical engineering salaries.

AI-Assisted Workflow Disruption

Modern development teams build processes around AI capabilities:

Broken workflows:

  • Rapid prototyping sessions where Cascade generates initial implementations
  • Refactoring sprints using AI-assisted code transformation
  • Documentation generation from code comments and structure
  • Test writing with AI-generated test cases and edge case suggestions
  • Code review assistance where AI identifies potential issues

When Windsurf's AI goes down mid-sprint, teams must either:

  • Wait for service restoration, losing momentum
  • Switch to manual implementation, losing efficiency
  • Pivot to alternative AI tools, losing project context

Team Velocity Degradation

For teams standardized on Windsurf:

  • Onboarding delays: New team members learning the codebase rely heavily on AI-assisted exploration
  • Cross-functional collaboration suffers: Product managers and designers using Cascade to understand technical constraints lose that capability
  • Technical debt increases: Without AI-assisted refactoring, teams defer cleanup tasks
  • Meeting productivity drops: Live coding sessions and architectural discussions lose AI support

Competitive Disadvantage in AI-First Development

As AI coding assistants become table stakes in software development:

  • Recruitment challenges: Candidates expect access to modern AI tooling
  • Retention risk: Developers experiencing frequent outages may push for alternative tools
  • Shipping velocity: Competitors using more reliable AI tools ship features faster
  • Innovation pace: Experimental feature development slows without AI assistance

Context Loss and Re-Indexing Burden

After extended outages, workspace indexing may need to fully re-run:

  • Initial startup delays: 10-30 minutes to re-index large codebases
  • Context accuracy degradation: AI suggestions temporarily less relevant
  • Cache invalidation: Previously learned patterns need re-analysis
  • Multi-file awareness gaps: Cross-file refactoring less reliable immediately after restoration

What to Do When Windsurf Goes Down: Incident Response Playbook

1. Confirm the Outage Scope

Before switching tools, determine if the issue is local or service-wide:

Check local factors first:

# Check internet connectivity
ping -c 3 codeium.com

# Check IDE extension status
# Open Command Palette → "Codeium: Check Status"

# Review recent IDE or extension updates
# Help → About → Check version numbers

# Restart IDE and try again

If others are affected: It's a service outage. Proceed to fallback strategies.

If only you're affected: Troubleshoot locally:

  • Clear extension cache
  • Reinstall Windsurf IDE
  • Check firewall/proxy settings
  • Verify Codeium account status

2. Fallback to VS Code + Codeium Extension

Since Windsurf is a VS Code fork, transitioning is seamless:

Quick migration steps:

# 1. Open your project in VS Code
code /path/to/your/project

# 2. Install Codeium extension (if not already installed)
code --install-extension Codeium.codeium

# 3. Sign in to Codeium
# Command Palette → "Codeium: Sign In"

What you keep:

  • ✅ AI autocomplete (same engine as Windsurf)
  • ✅ Chat interface (similar to Cascade)
  • ✅ Codebase context awareness
  • ✅ All your existing extensions and settings

What you lose:

  • ❌ Windsurf-specific UI enhancements
  • ❌ Cascade's advanced agentic workflows (if distinct from standard Codeium chat)
  • ❌ Any Windsurf-exclusive features

Time to switch: 2-5 minutes, minimal disruption.

3. Alternative AI Coding Tools

If Codeium infrastructure is completely down, consider these alternatives:

Cursor (Most Similar Alternative)

Cursor is Windsurf's closest competitor—also a VS Code fork with deep AI integration.

Quick setup:

# Download and install Cursor
# Visit cursor.sh

# Open your project
cursor /path/to/your/project

# Configure AI model (GPT-4, Claude, or custom)
# Settings → Cursor Settings → Models

Advantages:

  • Similar IDE experience (VS Code-based)
  • Choice of AI models (OpenAI, Anthropic)
  • Strong multi-file editing capabilities
  • Active development and community

Check Cursor status: apistatuscheck.com/api/cursor

GitHub Copilot

Fallback to the industry standard:

# Install Copilot extension in VS Code or JetBrains IDE
code --install-extension GitHub.copilot

# Sign in with GitHub account
# Command Palette → "GitHub Copilot: Sign In"

Advantages:

  • Extremely reliable infrastructure (GitHub/Microsoft)
  • Mature product with extensive training data
  • Works across all major IDEs

Limitations:

  • Less context-aware than Windsurf/Cursor
  • No agentic workflows (pure autocomplete + chat)
  • Requires GitHub subscription

Check Copilot status: apistatuscheck.com/api/github-copilot

Continue.dev (Open Source Option)

For teams wanting control:

# Install Continue extension
code --install-extension Continue.continue

# Configure with your own API keys
# Settings → Continue → API Configuration

Advantages:

  • Open source and self-hosted options
  • Bring your own API keys (OpenAI, Anthropic, local models)
  • No vendor lock-in
  • Privacy-focused

Ideal for: Teams with AI infrastructure, security-sensitive projects, or those wanting to avoid vendor dependency.

4. Graceful Degradation Strategy

Design your workflows to handle AI tool failures:

Code without AI autocomplete:

// Keep snippet libraries ready for common patterns
// Use IDE native features:
// - Built-in IntelliSense
// - Code snippets (User Snippets in VS Code)
// - Emmet abbreviations for HTML/CSS
// - Language server features (go to definition, find references)

// Example: Create your own snippets for common tasks
// .vscode/snippets.code-snippets
{
  "React Component": {
    "prefix": "rfc",
    "body": [
      "export default function ${1:ComponentName}() {",
      "  return (",
      "    <div>",
      "      $0",
      "    </div>",
      "  );",
      "}"
    ]
  }
}

Documentation fallback stack:

// Bookmark these for quick reference without AI:
// - MDN Web Docs (JavaScript, Web APIs)
// - DevDocs.io (searchable documentation aggregator)
// - Language-specific docs (React docs, Python docs, etc.)
// - Your team's internal wiki or Notion

// Browser extension: Quick Docs Lookup
// Keyboard shortcut to search selected text in documentation

Pair programming as AI substitute:

  • Schedule collaborative coding sessions during outages
  • Use Discord/Slack screen sharing for remote pairing
  • Leverage senior developers' knowledge vs. relying on AI

5. Monitor and Alert for Service Restoration

Set up alerts to know immediately when Windsurf is back:

# Subscribe to API Status Check alerts
# Visit https://apistatuscheck.com/api/windsurf
# Configure email, Slack, or Discord notifications

# Create custom health check script
#!/bin/bash
# check-windsurf.sh
while true; do
  if curl -s https://api.codeium.com/health | grep -q "ok"; then
    osascript -e 'display notification "Windsurf services restored!" with title "IDE Status"'
    break
  fi
  sleep 60
done

Notification channels:

  • Email alerts from API Status Check
  • Slack integration for team awareness
  • Discord webhooks for dev channels
  • PagerDuty for critical infrastructure teams

6. Post-Outage Recovery Actions

Once Windsurf service is restored:

1. Verify full functionality:

✅ AI autocomplete working
✅ Cascade agent responding
✅ Workspace fully indexed
✅ Extension sync operational
✅ Authentication stable

2. Clear caches if behavior seems stale:

Command Palette → "Developer: Reload Window"
Or: Cmd/Ctrl+R (in IDE)

3. Re-index workspace if suggestions seem off:

Command Palette → "Codeium: Reindex Workspace"

4. Document the incident:

## Windsurf Outage - [Date]
- **Duration:** [Start time] to [End time]
- **Impact:** [What broke, how it affected work]
- **Workaround used:** [Which fallback tool/strategy]
- **Lessons learned:** [What to improve for next time]
- **Team communication:** [How was team notified]

5. Update runbooks: Add this incident to your team's operational playbooks so future developers know the drill.

6. Evaluate redundancy needs: If outages are frequent, consider:

  • Maintaining active subscriptions to multiple AI tools
  • Standardizing on more reliable infrastructure
  • Building custom AI infrastructure for critical workloads

Frequently Asked Questions

How often does Windsurf go down?

Windsurf is a relatively new IDE (launched in 2024) and is still maturing its infrastructure. Early adopters report occasional service disruptions, typically lasting 10-60 minutes. As with any emerging AI-powered service, expect stability to improve over time. For the most current reliability metrics, check apistatuscheck.com/api/windsurf for historical uptime data.

What's the difference between Windsurf and the Codeium extension?

Windsurf is a full IDE (fork of VS Code) with deep AI integration, while the Codeium extension adds AI capabilities to existing editors (VS Code, JetBrains, Vim, etc.). Both use the same underlying AI models and Codeium infrastructure, but Windsurf offers a more integrated experience with UI/UX optimized for AI-first workflows. If Windsurf is down due to IDE-specific issues, the Codeium extension in vanilla VS Code may still work.

Can I use Windsurf offline or with a local AI model?

Currently, Windsurf requires an internet connection to Codeium's cloud infrastructure for AI features. Unlike some alternatives (Continue.dev, Tabby), Windsurf doesn't support local model deployment. During internet or service outages, AI features will be unavailable, though basic IDE functionality (syntax highlighting, file editing, git operations) continues to work.

Is Windsurf down or is it just my internet connection?

Quick diagnostic:

  1. Check other websites/services to confirm internet works
  2. Visit apistatuscheck.com/api/windsurf on your phone's cellular connection
  3. Search Twitter for "windsurf down" or check Codeium Discord
  4. Ask a colleague if they're experiencing issues

If other sites work fine and multiple users report problems, it's a Windsurf service issue, not your connection.

Should I switch from Windsurf to Cursor or GitHub Copilot?

Stick with Windsurf if:

  • You're happy with the AI quality and UI/UX
  • Outages are rare (check uptime history)
  • You're invested in Windsurf-specific workflows
  • Codeium's free tier meets your needs

Consider switching if:

  • You experience frequent outages affecting productivity
  • Your work requires maximum AI reliability (enterprise)
  • You need features Windsurf lacks (specific model choices, etc.)
  • Your team standardizes on a different tool

Check competitive status pages: Cursor status, GitHub Copilot status

How do I get refunded if Windsurf Pro is down?

Codeium's (and thus Windsurf's) Terms of Service typically include availability targets but may exclude liability for consequential damages. If you experience significant downtime on a paid plan:

  1. Document the outage duration and impact
  2. Contact Codeium support via Discord or email
  3. Request a service credit or prorated refund
  4. Review your specific subscription terms for SLA details

What regions does Codeium/Windsurf serve?

Codeium operates globally with cloud infrastructure distributed across multiple regions. While specific datacenter locations aren't publicly detailed, the service is available worldwide. Regional outages may affect specific geographic areas while others remain operational. Connection quality and latency vary by distance to Codeium's servers—developers in the US and Europe typically experience the best performance.

Can I still code effectively without AI autocomplete?

Yes, but with reduced velocity. Developers successfully wrote code for decades before AI assistants. However, once you've adapted workflows around AI:

  • Expect 20-40% slower initial coding speed
  • Increase in syntax/API lookup time
  • More context switching to documentation
  • Fewer exploratory "what if" attempts

To maintain productivity: keep documentation bookmarks ready, maintain snippet libraries, leverage IDE built-in features (IntelliSense, go-to-definition), and consider pair programming during outages.

How do Windsurf outages compare to Cursor, Copilot, or Bolt.new?

Reliability hierarchy (based on infrastructure maturity):

  1. GitHub Copilot - Most reliable (Microsoft/OpenAI infrastructure, years of operation)
  2. Cursor - Mature indie product with stable infrastructure
  3. Windsurf - Newest entrant, still stabilizing (launched 2024)
  4. Bolt.new - Web-based tool, different use case

Outage frequency (estimated):

  • Copilot: 1-2 incidents/year
  • Cursor: 3-5 incidents/year
  • Windsurf: 5-10 incidents/year (early days)

As Windsurf matures, expect reliability to improve. Check apistatuscheck.com/api/windsurf for real-time comparison data.

Stay Ahead of Windsurf Outages

Don't let AI coding assistant downtime derail your development flow. Subscribe to real-time Windsurf alerts and get notified instantly when issues are detected—before your entire team starts troubleshooting.

API Status Check monitors Windsurf 24/7 with:

  • 60-second health checks of AI autocomplete and Cascade agent
  • Instant alerts via email, Slack, Discord, or webhook
  • Historical uptime tracking and incident timeline
  • Multi-service monitoring for your entire AI coding stack
  • Comparison data vs. Cursor, Copilot, and other alternatives

Start monitoring Windsurf now →

Related AI Tool Status Guides

Last updated: February 5, 2026. Windsurf status information is provided in real-time based on active monitoring of Codeium infrastructure. For official incident reports, check Codeium's status channels and Discord.

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