Windsurf
Windsurf (formerly Codeium) is an AI-native IDE with Cascade agent that autonomously edits, runs, and refactors multi-file codebases with SOC 2 Type II and FedRAMP High.
Risk score
Assessment across data handling, compliance, security and transparency.
Overview
Windsurf is an agentic IDE built around Cascade, an AI agent that reads, edits, and executes across a full codebase rather than just completing lines. It ships with SWE-1.5 and third-party frontier models, supports MCP tools, and competes directly with Cursor for developer mindshare. Windsurf differentiates on security posture: SOC 2 Type II, FedRAMP High, HIPAA-aligned, and zero-data-retention by default for teams and enterprise. Code is never used to train models, and hybrid and self-hosted deployments are available. The core risk profile mirrors any agentic IDE — autonomous code edits, command execution, MCP tool use, and the long-standing challenge of keeping secrets and proprietary code out of third-party inference providers.
Risk factors
3- Cloud-based IDE with potential data handling risks.
- User code may be used for training without clear opt-out.
- Focus on multi-file codebases increases data exposure.
Recommendations
8- Deploy Teams or Enterprise plan to enforce zero-data-retention by default
- Prohibit individual free accounts for company code; require SSO-enrolled seats
- Use hybrid or self-hosted deployment for regulated or IP-sensitive codebases
- Keep .env and secrets out of workspace; use a secret manager with scoped tokens
- Review MCP tool allow-lists centrally; block arbitrary tool installation
- Require human review for Cascade multi-file commits before merge
- Run SAST and license scanning on AI-generated code
- Log and audit agent sessions on sensitive repos
Data handling
- Storage
- Cloud (AWS) by default; hybrid (customer-managed retention) and self-hosted options available
- Retention
- Zero-data retention is default for Teams and Enterprise; code is not persisted on Windsurf or subprocessor servers in ZDR mode
- Training on inputs
- Customer code is never used to train Windsurf models; ZDR agreements extend to OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Vertex, xAI subprocessors
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