Release notes

This page provides information about the changes in each release of Project IDX.

Highlights

  • Interactive Chat (Preview) is now available for everyone! Now when you start a new Interactive Chat thread with Gemini in IDX, it can run commands in your terminal, suggest changes and add new files for you to review with an interactive diff tool, and more!
  • We've added documentation on sharing your previews publicly and updated the FAQ on publicly opening ports to simplify the development experience when your backend and frontend are running on different servers or even in different workspaces.

Gemini in IDX

  • You can now navigate your prompt history with the up/down arrow keys.
  • Gemini now understands more about IDX itself, so if you're having trouble with an IDX feature, try asking it for help.
  • Major performance and reliability improvements to Interactive Chat.
  • Language detection in Gemini has been improved, so syntax highlighting is more robust and Gemini is less likely to misunderstand which language you are asking about.

Environments, Templates, and Previews

  • Added support for non-Expo React Native workspaces.
  • Output from onStart and onCreate hooks is is now shown in an output channel, which can help debug malfunctioning hooks for users who write their own dev.nix files.
  • The Firebase Data Connect template now uses the public version of the code, available on GitHub. As a result, it will receive more frequent feature updates and bug fixes going forward.
  • Log levels for built-in extensions can now be customized, which can help troubleshooting
  • Upgraded most templates to Nix 24.05, which in some cases is necessary to get the latest package versions with important updates. A handful of remaining templates will be upgraded in the coming weeks.
  • Several templates got more intelligent caching, and will be quicker to start and install new packages.
  • The Google Maps template now has all its dependencies preinstalled and no longer needs to install them on launch, leading to much faster startup times.
  • Fixed issue where the Nix store would run out of disk space.
  • The Astro "View Transitions" template has been removed, since it was removed from the latest Astro release.

Performance and reliability

  • Improved startup time for new web workspaces. We are targeting even more improvements in this area going forward.
  • Improved reliability of creating or opening a new workspace.
  • Improved the reliability of recovery mode, if a workspace ends up in a bad state.

Other improvements

  • Fixed a number of UI bugs related to the dashboard's light mode.
  • You can now enter a name for workspaces cloned from a git repository upfront.
  • Multiple user preferences, such as dashboard visibility, are now persistent, instead of resetting on every visit.
  • The UI of the share workspace dialog has been updated to be more intuitive.

Highlights

  • Join our new Early Access Program to test and provide feedback on experimental features before they are released into production. Interactive Chat for Gemini in IDX is the first such early access feature; join today to try it out and provide feedback!

  • You can now publicly share your previews while your workspace is active with a new "Make Preview Public" button, available from the link menu in the Web Preview toolbar.

  • We've just rolled out a brand new web console (e.g. to see your console.log statements, JS errors, etc), complete with an Understand this error integration for Gemini in IDX. Reminder: you can continue using your browser's built-in developer tools for more advanced use cases (debugging network traffic, animations, etc.)

  • You can now try Gemini, the Vertex AI SDK for Firebase, Firestore, and Angular all at once, right inside IDX, with a new Gemini sample app from Firebase.

  • We've published a blog post that details how to build great get-started experiences powered by IDX custom templates.

  • There's now a light theme in the IDX dashboard! While the core editor experience has always supported light, dark, and entirely custom themes, our dashboard has traditionally been exclusively designed for dark mode. We just shipped a new light theme for the dashboard that pairs perfectly with IDX's default light theme for the editor.

Gemini in IDX

  • We've made major improvements to Interactive Chat, which is now available in early access!
  • The inline assistance panel (Cmd+I or Ctrl+I) now uses a purpose-built AI model for making more fine-grained changes to entire files updates to entire files when editing existing code.
  • Code snippets for shell commands in Chat now offer 1-click access to running the command in a terminal window
  • Interactive Chat now adheres better to your .aiexclude rules.
  • Fixed small UI bugs in the chat panel
  • Improvements to codebase indexing
  • Fixed a context issue around incorrect line numbers for local code files

Environments, Templates and Previews

  • Many templates have been updated to the latest stable nix channel (24.05).
  • Add support for non-Expo builds for React Native template.
  • Improvements to reliability for Expo + React Native previews.
  • Improvements to link handling in web previews.
  • Removed some stray logs that were cluttering the DevTools console.
  • Improvements to the Nix package cache.
  • Fixes for the Astro template.
  • Improvements to the New Workspace flow when starting from a custom template

Other improvements

  • New! Right click your code and select "Generate Snippet" to quickly generate a beautiful code snippet image, powered by snippet.idx.dev.
  • Fixed a long-standing issue around not being able to open terminal windows.
  • When creating new workspaces, open default editor tabs to the correct editor.

Highlights

Gemini in IDX

  • Improvements to Interactive Chat experiment
  • Further improvements to .aiexclude and local codebase indexing
  • Fix small UI bug in Gemini in IDX chat

Performance, Access & Infrastructure

  • Fixed a number of issues related to reliability, especially for users in Asia
  • Changes to workspace VM configurations across regions to improve reliability
  • Improvements to IDX on iPad related to third-party cookie checking
  • Improved startup time for web-based templates

Other improvements

  • Added a new mongodb service option for .idx/dev.nix environment configuration
  • Improvements to Android Studio on IDX experiment
  • Improvements to Maps SDK for Android sandbox
  • Improvements to Bitbucket and GitLab integrations, including support for GitLab subgroups

Highlights

Environments & Previews

  • You can now extend the default PATH by using env = { PATH = ["/myfolder/bin"]; };.
  • Added an enableTcp config option for the Postgres service (services.postgres).
  • Web server logs are now shown while web previews are starting.
  • Improvements to the rendering of the "IDX" preview logs output channel.
  • Improve dev.nix autocomplete and analysis.
  • Fix an intermittent "showWebPreview command not found" error.
  • Clean up internal logging to the JS console, improving the experience of web debugging when using the browser's built-in DevTools.
  • Fixed an issue with slow previews for some templates (including templates based on vite 4.x and earlier).
  • Improves reliability of environment variable handling.

Gemini in IDX

  • Fixes related to .aiexclude files.
  • Fix code snippet syntax highlighting in some situations.
  • Fixes to Gemini failing to show a response in some situations.

Other improvements

  • Add new suite of Ctrl+' keyboard shortcuts (Cmd+' on Mac):
    1. Ctrl+' followed by Ctrl+D Navigates to the IDX dashboard in a new tab.
    2. Ctrl+' followed by Ctrl+G Opens the Gemini in IDX actions menu.
    3. Ctrl+' followed by Ctrl+' Focuses the Project IDX panel in the activity bar.
  • Add ability to reset/restart workspaces for troubleshooting.
  • Update firebase-tools to 13.13.1.
  • Fixes to the Dartpad and IDX integration.
  • Fix the default editor for the Gemini API Notebook template.
  • Prevent workspace name collisions with scaffolding tools.
  • Fixes some defaults in Dart's recommended IDE settings when creating new Flutter workspaces.
  • Improvements to the workflow for customizing workspace icons with .idx/icon.png

Templates

  • Added new API server templates for Go, Node, Python/Flask, PHP, Java, Dart, .NET, Ruby, and C++
  • Update Gemini templates for Gemini 1.5 Flash and Pro
  • Update template documentation to support default files to open on instantiation, and update most templates to use this
  • Startup improvements for some templates
  • Improvements to reliability for npm-based templates.
  • Updated default Flutter workspaces to Flutter version 3.22.2
  • Fixes for Next.js, Go, and Gemini + Maps Platform templates

Gemini in IDX

  • Improvements to codebase indexing
  • Improvements to code completion with richer project-level context
  • Improvements to Interactive Chat (this feature is still in private preview)

Integrations

  • Add link to API keys dashboard for Gemini and Maps integrations
  • Improvements to Cloud Run integration: define build and app folder, save preferences, option to disconnect projects, and more.
  • Fixes for OAuth flows
  • Fixed an error related to API key IDs being too long

Other improvements

  • Enable "unfree" Nix packages to be used in IDX
  • Enable use of Nix channel stable-24.05
  • Add support for shell variable substitution in dev.nix environment variables.
  • Improvements to recovery mode handling
  • Fixed license presentation for the "Add nix packages" UI
  • Fixes for LSP runtime failures.
  • Fixes common ports such as 8080 being unavailable due to internal services
  • Fixed suggested system tool packages in the Terminal getting stuck
  • Fixed a crash related to large file uploads
  • Fixed the Back button not working in Dashboard in some instances
  • Improvements to Dashboard loading times
  • Removed sharing for /preview route (still experimental)

May 29, 2024

  • Simplified the process for adding and customizing services such as MySQL, Postgres, Redis to workspaces, using the new services configuration object for dev.nix.
  • Improved documentation, particularly around environment customization (dev.nix).
  • Improved the chat UI experience for Gemini in IDX.
  • Update default Flutter workspaces to the latest stable release (3.22).
  • Updated the built-in version of the Firebase CLI (firebase-tools) to 13.9.
  • Added an "Open in IDX" button generator to the documentation.

May 14, 2024

  • IDX is now in open beta! Read more in the blog.
  • We've launched a discussion forum. Have a question about IDX? Consider asking there!
  • Changed the maximum number of workspaces from 2 to 5 (for users enrolled in the no-cost Google Developer Program).
  • Added a new "Integrations" section to streamline deploying to Firebase Hosting and Cloud Run, and simplify adding the Gemini API and Google Maps Platform to your app.
  • Added several new templates, including Firebase Genkit, Google Maps Platform and Gemini with Google Maps. Also removed the PaLM API template in favor of the existing Gemini API template.
  • Improved the built-in, still-experimental Chrome DevTools Console integration in web previews.
  • Removed several superfluous notifications and popups, for Flutter workspaces, and for external links across workspaces.
  • Improved the reliability and handling of Git import.
  • Several reliability and performance improvements across IDX and Gemini in IDX.
  • Fixed edge cases that resulted in IDX previews not working.
  • Fixed an endless loading spinner appearing in the Android emulator for Flutter workspaces.
  • Improved default dev.nix files across templates.
  • Remove the internal gc folder from .idx, as it was causing confusion.

May 1, 2024

  • Improved performance for .aiexclude calculation.
  • Several key fixes to the chat engine for Gemini in IDX.
  • Added more tools to the baseline Nix environment (e.g. unzip).

April 19, 2024

  • Set Flutter builds to run during workspace creation (onCreate).
  • Enabled serving for IDX workstations out of Europe and Asia.
  • Improvements to underlying Nix infrastructure to reduce load time.
  • Minor fixes and improvements to Astro templates.
  • Preinstalled FlutterFire CLI for Flutter workspaces.
  • IDX AI is now Gemini in IDX.
  • Improved load times for Next.js template.
  • UI and performance improvements for Gemini in IDX.
  • Fixed a bug where Gemini chat continued generating chats after switching threads.
  • Improved load times and reliability for IDX workspaces.
  • Improvements to the experimental version of Chrome DevTools embedded in IDX.
  • Fixed Nix package index and upgraded to latest version.
  • Removed exposed admin port
  • Installed Flutter to home disk and removed pre-installed Firebase plugin in preparation for an updated Firebase integration.
  • Updated templates to improve caching and load times and to not use shared npm cache across templates.
  • Resolved bugs in Android preview.
  • Updated Flutter template to the latest version and revamped how Flutter environments are set up.

Apr 12, 2024

  • Added template caching support to the environment-service.
  • Fixed issue with Gemini chat slash commands failing without active editor.
  • Improved default .idx/dev.nix file across several templates.
  • Improved UI handling for extensions added to the .idx/dev.nix file and Nix package search when editing .idx/dev.nix files.
  • Improvements to performance and UI for Gemini chat.
  • Resolved bugs in Gemini in IDX license log and rejected suggestions.
  • Added button to stop generating suggestions in Gemini chat.
  • Updated privacy notice and added language selector.
  • Updates to the onboarding experience for new users.
  • Added Langchain option to the Gemini API template.
  • Updated language describing emerging features for Gemini in IDX.
  • UI improvements.
  • Improvements to load time and performance.

March 26, 2024

  • Upgraded nodejs to version 20 to fix npm issue on node 18.
  • Added Go to the Gemini API template.
  • Added a helpful comment after running Nix shell programs.
  • Turned off prefer-offline in default npmrc.
  • Removed NPM_CONFIG_GLOBALCONFIG from templates and dev.nix.
  • Updated Flutter version to 3.19.3.
  • Improved quality of code completion suggestions.

March 14, 2024

  • Improved package name handling in npm install.
  • Removed iOS previews from the dev.nix configuration for all templates.
  • Standardized dev.nix file format for all templates.
  • Fixed npm cache errors when installing certain packages from the ephemeral cache.
  • Fixed emulator compiler error.
  • Updated link to FAQ page.
  • Fixed SC2088 ShellCheck warning.
  • Added Android Tools to Flutter templates.
  • Updated icons and made cosmetic improvements to the UI.

March 7, 2024

  • Bug fixes and improvements to Gemini.
  • Removed iOS and Safari simulation from IDX previews.
  • Fixes and improvements to the Django template.
  • Enabled Nix for all workspaces.

February 22, 2024

February 16, 2024

  • Fixed broken Go tools installation in the Go template and added nodemon.
  • Added Angular CLI in the Angular template.
  • Added gitignore to the LangChain JS template.
  • Gemini now merges sequential code blocks.
  • Updated privacy text and included link to privacy notice.

October 10, 2023

  • You can now use AI code assistance inline to generate new code or modify existing code directly where you want it. Toggle inline AI code assistance by pressing Cmd/Ctrl + I.
  • Customize your workspace icon on the IDX dashboard by adding an image named icon.png to your .idx directory (.idx/icon.png).
  • Nix is now enabled for workspaces by default. Learn more about Nix and IDX.
  • Added Docker support to IDX. Set up Docker directly from the workspace by adding services.docker.enable = true; to the .idx/dev.nix file.

September 26, 2023

  • List of workspaces shared with you shows what user shared them.
  • Added a warning that notifies you if you've tried to share a workspace you already own with yourself.
  • Added welcome screen for Gemini on first launch.
  • Updated documentation and feedback links in the navigation menu.
  • Gemini code completion is turned off by default. To turn it on, modify the option in your settings.
  • Updated Flutter version for Flutter workspaces.
  • UI improvements.

September 12, 2023

General

  • Improved support for Firebase Emulator Suite.
  • IDX now opens index.html by default on blank web app template.
  • When you generate a temporary access token to share your workspace (for example, for use in a cURL request to a service running on our workstation), a window pops up with a copyable access token.
  • Updated blank web workspace template.
  • Adjusted the alignment for the account selection screen.
  • Resolved issue where removed users were still appearing in the shared access list, as described in Share Workspace issues.
  • Improvements to Flutter workspaces.

Nix

  • Streamlined package loading for popular programming languages and improved startup speed for Nix-enabled workspaces.
  • Enhancements to Nix configurations and improved support for Flutter workspaces.

Gemini

  • Improvements to Gemini.
  • Standardized font sizes in Gemini chat.

August 22, 2023

  • Submit feedback and feature requests through IssueTracker instead of UserVoice. IssueTracker supports screenshots and videos, enabling more robust feedback and feature requests.
  • Code completion now includes support for YAML.
  • Improvements to Gemini.
  • Added clarity on the login error page regarding Google Accounts and access.
  • Infrastructure improvements and security patches.

August 15, 2023

  • New git flow now supports URL based auto-fill. Users can now pass in params like url, type, and nix to auto-fill the new workspace form.
  • Fix codicons not showing up in Safari.

Nix

  • Nix workspaces can now listen on "command not found" and suggest packages to install.
  • Firebase-related bug fixes for Nix workspaces.
  • Set WEB_HOST env var in Nix workspaces for easier debugging.
  • Users can use Nix flakes for their build logic.

August 1, 2023

  • Bug fixes and stability improvements.
  • Most of workspace config is now namespaced under "idx," not "ide." Learn more in Customize the IDX environment.

Previews

  • New console in web previews surfaces console.log statements to help with debugging.
  • Links inside the apps rendered in the previews are now clickable.
  • UI improvements.
  • Preview commands can now run in different directories. For example, it's now possible to set cwd in the config relative to the workspace directory.

Nix support

  • Nix support is now available as an option more broadly.
  • Added nix channel support. Supported channels are "stable-23.05" and "unstable." Learn more in Customize the IDX environment.
  • Nodejs and Python3 are installed by default if no .idx/dev.nix configuration is present in the workspace.
  • It's now possible use Nix itself inside the workspace.