Cascade IDE — concept overview (English)¶
Read this first if you do not read Russian. Full ADRs in English live under adr/; this page and UX docs are the short onboarding path.
What is Cascade IDE?¶
Cascade IDE (CIDE) is an agent-first desktop IDE for .NET, built with Avalonia. It is designed so that you and an AI agent share the same cockpit: the same commands, the same layout, and the same Intercom channel (session dialogue), not a separate “chat widget” bolted onto a classic IDE.
CIDE is an open working implementation of IOP — a discipline of communication (aligned goals, transparency, explicit intent), agent synthesis, and diff verification in the editor. See ADR 0121 (Accepted) for the full framing.
- In-process MCP — tools and IDE commands are available to agents without ad-hoc glue.
- Cockpit attention model — the window is organized like a flight deck, not “editor + side panels”.
- Intercom — the name of the primary human↔agent communication surface (see ADR 0080).
The three attention zones (Flight layout)¶
The shipping UI uses one product mode: Flight. The main window is a single grid with three columns (no full-width bottom tab strip):
| Zone | Name | Role |
|---|---|---|
| PFD | Primary Flight Display | Navigation: solution explorer, workspace map, optional tool mount — “where am I in the project?” |
| Forward | Forward field of view | Primary work surface: document editor (AvaloniaEdit dock) or full Intercom (proposed toggle, ADR 0120) |
| MFD | Multi-Function Display | Secondary shell: pages (terminal, build output, Git, chat page, IDE Health strip, settings, …) — “instruments”, not the main horizon |
Long-running streams (build log, terminal) live on MFD pages, not in a legacy bottom panel across the whole window.
Canonical layout doc: UI layout v1 · Normative ADR: 0021 PFD/MFD cockpit
┌──────────┬─────────────────────────────┬──────────────┐
│ PFD │ Forward │ MFD │
│ explore │ editor OR Intercom │ page stack │
│ / map │ (primary focus) │ build/term/… │
└──────────┴─────────────────────────────┴──────────────┘
Intercom (not “just chat”)¶
Intercom is the IDE’s session channel: topics, topic cards, agent steering, and slash commands in the composer (/build run, /topic open, …) — same command_id as the palette and MCP (ADR 0119, Implemented). Chat UI may be rendered with a Skia surface (ADR 0044); the product idea is parity between what you type and what an agent can invoke via MCP.
Three command surfaces (one command_id)¶
| Mode | Entry | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Rehearsal | Command palette (Ctrl+Q) | Full catalog, search, onboarding |
| Performance | CascadeChord (Ctrl+K) + Melody c: |
Muscle-memory shortcuts; compact mnemonics live here, not in / |
| Session channel | Slash in Intercom composer (/ + autocomplete) |
IDE and Intercom verbs without leaving the input line |
Details: Design Handbook §2.6 (RU) · ADR 0013 · ADR 0060 · ADR 0119.
What we are building next (Proposed)¶
| ADR | Idea |
|---|---|
| 0120 | Choose whether Forward is Intercom-centric (Cursor-like) or editor-centric |
Where to go next¶
| If you want… | Start here |
|---|---|
| IOP paradigm (intent → verify) | IOP manifest |
| Window layout & control names for automation | UI layout v1 |
| Concept vs code (legacy Focus/Balanced/Power vs Flight) | Concept → implementation map |
| All decisions by lifecycle status | ADR navigator |
| Architecture policy & snapshot | Policy · Current architecture |
| Agent/MCP commands | MCP protocol |
| Project principles | ADR 0100 constitution |
| Design handbook (RU, navigation hub) | CIDE Design Handbook v1 |
Language on this site¶
- Russian (
/cascade-ide/…) — canonical for the team:docs/adr/in the repository. - English (
/cascade-ide/en/…) — this overview,en/ui-ux/,en/adr/, anden/architecture-policy.md(+ architecture slice docs). - Use the RU / EN switch in the header.
Questions or contributions welcome via GitHub.