AutoDev - AI Code Assistants Tool

Overview

AutoDev is an open-source, AI-powered coding assistant and multi-agent development platform that integrates directly into JetBrains IDEs (IntelliJ IDEA and family) and VS Code. It offers a mix of interactive “Sketch” canvases, context-aware code generation, automated testing and documentation tooling, and agent-driven workflows that span requirements, development, review, testing, deployment and operations. The project is implemented as a Kotlin Multiplatform system (IDE plugins, web, desktop, mobile, CLI and server components) and supports multiple LLM backends and fine-tuning pipelines, enabling teams to point AutoDev at OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepSeek and other providers or run local models. ([github.com](https://github.com/unit-mesh/auto-dev)) Since 2024–2025 AutoDev evolved from IDE-focused tooling into the Xiuper/AutoDev 2.0+ line, adding the Sketch canvas, a built-in coding agent, passive error observation (Observer) for failing tests/builds, legacy migration helpers, and an agent scripting language (DevIns) for creating custom agent workflows. Releases and product notes (including the AutoDev 2.0 announcement) describe features such as AutoSQL, AutoPage (React scaffolding), Auto Testing (generate/run/attempt fixes for unit tests), and living documentation — all surfaced inside the IDE or via the CLI/web front ends. ([ide.unitmesh.cc](https://ide.unitmesh.cc/en/blog/2025/03/26/autodev-2-0?utm_source=openai))

Installation

Install via npm:

Install AutoDev IntelliJ plugin from JetBrains Marketplace (search "AutoDev" or install from the plugin page in your IDE). ([github.com](https://github.com/unit-mesh/auto-dev))

Install the Xiuper/AutoDev CLI globally: npm install -g @xiuper/cli. ([github.com](https://github.com/unit-mesh/auto-dev))

Install the VS Code extension from the Visual Studio Marketplace or via the editor's Extensions view (AutoDev / Xiuper extension). ([vscode.unitmesh.cc](https://vscode.unitmesh.cc/?utm_source=openai))

Key Features

• Sketch canvas: real-time code, diff, terminal and WebView sketches inside the IDE.
• Auto Testing: generate unit tests, run them, and suggest/fix failing tests automatically.
• AutoSQL / AutoPage: context-aware SQL and React page generation from project context.
• Copilot-style assistance: bug finding, exception tracing, code explanations and commit generation.
• Custom prompts & team specs: override prompts per codebase and distribute team prompts.
• Multi-LLM support & fine-tuning: connect OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepSeek, Ollama, or local models.
• DevIns agent language: script custom AI agents and automate multi-step developer workflows.

Community

AutoDev is actively developed and widely starred: the GitHub repository shows ~4.3k stars, ~480 forks, thousands of commits and an active issue tracker (single‑digit open issues at time of check), plus project documentation and demos on ide.unitmesh.cc and release blog posts. The project maintains separate VS Code and JetBrains packages, community examples, and related automation repos (GitHub Actions for AutoDev agents), showing ongoing contributions and third‑party adoption activity. ([github.com](https://github.com/unit-mesh/auto-dev))

Key Information

• Category: Code Assistants
• Type: AI Code Assistants Tool