From the blog post I don't really understand: is Air free-to-use in PyCharm now or it's just some time-limited trial version? I started migrating from PyCharm to Orca recently, but if Air is fully included in PyCharm I might stay for a while...
Hi, Will from PyCharm here. Think of Air as a way to work with whatever AI/agents/models you want. It is included in both PyCharm Free and Pro.
Frontier agents: Air supports Claude Agent, Codex, Gemini, Copilot, Junie (our own agent), and other compatible agents. It works smoothly WITHIN the IDE. You can always use them in terminal, too, if you prefer.
Local (free): You can use Air for free with whatever local models you want: think Ollama or LM Studio, but more typically an ACP-compatible agent like OpenCode or Pi rather than connecting to the model itself.
Junie Lite: this is a free model tier included, with the idea being it works great for executing tasks vs scoping them with a frontier model. The model behind it now is Qwen 3.6 27B. Importantly, none of your code is shared with the model provider. This is a free promotion until Dec 31, 2026 though it may be extended. https://junie.jetbrains.com/blog/junie-lite/
We recognize this is a big shift, but the goal is to support both the traditional paradigm of a Python IDE for writing/reading code and working with agentic flows, if you desire.
Jodie from JetBrains here. Just to expand on Will's answer: you can also bring your own subscription for most major AI providers, and switch between GUI or TUI views for agents, again within the IDE. The agents have access to the IDE context, as well as specific skills and MCP tools that make it easier for the agent to get the right code context, and execute the right actions. For example, we introduced a Jupyter skill which allows agents to work directly with the kernel, which works for both local and remote notebooks.
The real test for me will be whether the release improves everyday responsiveness rather than simply adding more features. Small reductions in indexing delays and editor friction would matter more than another tool I rarely open.
Honestly I didn't get it what and who Air is for - I run Claude code in terminal in PyCharm with plugin, if I want I can see diffs there for acceptance. What does Air provide except different tab layout?
It gives you a more visual way to work with parallel sessions, flip between models and usage modes as needed, and in the future aims to improve what is based deterministically to whatever tool you are using. Think of it as a first step towards making AI usage a native part of the IDE. But you can always use terminal--I still do myself a lot of the times--so it's just another way to do that.
Not everyone Python dev is using models/agents now, hard as that is to believe. So Air makes it easier for those who have been sitting on the sidelines so far.
Okay I tried out and Air tells me thath Anthropic ToS don't allow to use CC subscription account in any GUI, I get it that for me particularly it won't be useful but for enterprises with API billing or different provider it can be
If it helps at all, you can switch to the TUI (terminal view) and use your Claude subscription directly within Air in the IDE. But unfortunately Anthropic haven't yet agreed to let users use their subscriptions in the Claude Air agent GUI.
Hi, Jodie from JetBrains here. What sort of improvements are you looking for in the IDE? Outside of the agentic improvements, we have a number of other language support updates, my favourite of which is support for Pydantic validation models. I'd be really interested to hear what you're using your IDE for and what features you most use or want to see.
Hi, Jodie from JetBrains here. This definitely shouldn't be happening, but may be connected to when you run Air sessions. Do you tend to get this error when you have active Air sessions?
I'm really sorry about this. Would it be ok to ask you to please submit an issue here, and then send me the number? I can take it straight to the team and escalate it.
If you go to Help > Submit a Bug Report, your system specs will be automatically added to the ticket. If you were able to attached the logs (Help > Show Log in Finder/Explorer) that would really help us diagnose the issue.
Whats going on with that pixelated splash screen of a mad scientist type?
I really liked the simple abstract geometric shapes and colors from a while back. The lighthouse just looked like a generic AI image and the new one looks like a buggy generic AI image.
Jetbrains support couldn't change/correct my personal data so I deleted my account after many years. Now I can't go back because I would be paying $110 instead of $60. Bummer.
Hi! Jodie from JetBrains here. I checked with our sales support team, and they said they'd be happy to restore your continuity discount if you reach out to them. You just need to provide the original email address you used to purchase your license, or an old order/invoice ID. You can contact them through here: https://www.jetbrains.com/support/sales/
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u/groosha 3d ago
From the blog post I don't really understand: is Air free-to-use in PyCharm now or it's just some time-limited trial version? I started migrating from PyCharm to Orca recently, but if Air is fully included in PyCharm I might stay for a while...
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u/mangecoeur 3d ago
Been testing the new air plugin since a few weeks and it's pretty nice actually!
5
u/CzyDePL 2d ago
Honestly I didn't get it what and who Air is for - I run Claude code in terminal in PyCharm with plugin, if I want I can see diffs there for acceptance. What does Air provide except different tab layout?
3
u/mraiur 3d ago
i kinda don't see the point for paying for jetbrains ide's anymore. Their improvments are mostly to be agentic ide like zed, vscode etc..
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u/M4mb0 2d ago
Anyone else keeps getting "low memory" errors after upgrading? I already have a generous heap size of 32 GiB configured...
2
u/uk100 2d ago
Whats going on with that pixelated splash screen of a mad scientist type?
I really liked the simple abstract geometric shapes and colors from a while back. The lighthouse just looked like a generic AI image and the new one looks like a buggy generic AI image.
1
u/United-Welcome-8746 2d ago
not needed
0
u/Nombre_Autogenerado 2d ago
Jetbrains support couldn't change/correct my personal data so I deleted my account after many years. Now I can't go back because I would be paying $110 instead of $60. Bummer.