JetBrains ships Air in IDE version 2026.3, running Codex, Claude, Copilot and other coding agents inside the IDE

JetBrains has shipped Air in its IDEs with the 2026.3 release, giving developers a single workspace inside the IDE to run coding agents, track their progress, review their changes and send feedback. A paid JetBrains AI subscription is not required for local agent workflows.

JetBrains frames the release around a review bottleneck. It cites the Atlassian State of Developer Experience Report 2026, which found that 49% of developers spend four or more hours a week reviewing AI output and correcting prompts.

Supported agents and subscriptions

Air works with Junie, Codex, Claude Agent and GitHub Copilot. Its FAQ also lists Claude Code (in the terminal), Gemini, DeepSeek, OpenCode, Cursor, Pi, Grok, Kimi and Kilo, plus others through ACP. Developers can use agents already installed on their machine or add them from a registry, then pick a model and connect a subscription. Depending on setup, that means an existing provider subscription, an API key, or JetBrains AI.

Claude Pro or Max subscriptions can be used with Claude Code in Air's terminal surface, which opens as a full-screen IDE tab. Claude Agent in Air's chat view requires a JetBrains AI subscription or an Anthropic API key. Provider charges, usage limits and fair-use terms still apply.

Key features

• Parallel sessions: one view shows which agents are working, which need input and which have unread results, with notifications. Each agent can get its own local Git worktree. Worktrees that agents create on their own are not yet tracked in Air.
• Presets: save an agent, model and instructions for a task type and start new sessions from them.
• Review and Code Notes: a review panel shows what a session changed. Developers can run inspections and tests or use the debugger, then leave Code Notes on specific lines and send them back to the session with code context attached. Code Notes also work with terminal agents.
• IDE intelligence for agents: through the IDE's MCP server and built-in skills, agents can check inspections, run builds and run configurations, query databases and use the IDE's refactorings. In IntelliJ IDEA and CLion they can also drive the debugger. JetBrains also lists profiling and semantic code search among the capabilities supported agents can use.
• Usage visibility: Air shows the cost of the current session in tokens or money, plus remaining JetBrains AI quota and reset date. JetBrains says it is working on the same view for Codex, Claude and Copilot subscriptions.
• Commit messages: Air drafts a commit message from selected changes.

Free tier and AI Assistant

JetBrains made its coding agent Junie free in a Lite configuration. Developers sign in with a JetBrains Account, with no AI subscription needed. For quick questions, JetBrains recommends Junie with the Lite or Luna model and Effort set to Off. Previous AI Chat conversations are converted to Junie sessions automatically.

Code completion keeps working in the editor and does not count against the JetBrains AI quota. Next edit suggestions work with Air when signed in with a JetBrains AI subscription or GitHub sign-in.

AI Assistant remains available and supported as a separate plugin until early 2027. Air can open as a right-hand tool window, the AI Assistant layout, or as an editor tab. It can be disabled under Settings | Plugins, followed by an IDE restart.

JetBrains says Air does not automatically start agents or send code to an AI provider. Developers choose and authorize an agent first, and data handling then depends on that agent and provider.

What this means

Air makes the IDE the control point for agents from several providers rather than tying developers to one vendor's agent. Because agents can call the IDE's inspections, builds, debugger and refactorings through the MCP server and built-in skills, and developers use the same tools to check the output, review happens with the same tooling the agent used. The AI Assistant sunset window (early 2027) gives existing users a defined period to move to Air, and the free Junie Lite configuration removes a subscription requirement for trying it. JetBrains lists some gaps: agent-created worktrees are untracked, and usage views for Codex, Claude and Copilot subscriptions are still in progress.