JetBrains has previewed Air, a tool for agentic AI development designed to delegate tasks to multiple AI agents running concurrently. The tool is now in public preview, with only the macOS version available and Windows and Linux versions promised later.
The move represents a dramatic pivot for the developer tools giant. Air is built on Fleet, a developer environment first conceived as a potential replacement for JetBrains' flagship IntelliJ IDEA, but which never made it out of preview. Fleet became unavailable for download starting December 22, 2025, as JetBrains focused on building the new agentic development tool.
Unlike traditional IDEs that add tools to a code editor, Air builds tools around the agent and is optimised for developers to guide the agent and refine its output. A task can be run by an agent either directly in a local workspace, in a Git worktree, Docker, or in a future cloud container release.
Air supports OpenAI Codex, Anthropic Claude Agent, Google Gemini CLI, and JetBrains Junie, and can use the Agent Client Protocol (ACP), a vendor-neutral protocol for agent-editor communication that Zed and JetBrains sponsor.
Fleet's failure creates a pattern worth examining. JetBrains discontinued Fleet, which was introduced in 2021 but never made it out of public preview, focusing instead on the new agentic development environment. Having two general-purpose IDE families created confusion and diluted focus, and rebuilding the full capabilities of IntelliJ-based IDEs inside Fleet did not create enough value.
After exploring Fleet as an AI-first editor and conducting large-scale user research, JetBrains confirmed that another AI editor would not stand out in a market filled with AI-first Visual Studio Code forks, and determined the best path forward was to strengthen AI workflows in existing IDEs.
The challenge facing Air differs fundamentally from that faced by Fleet. Some developers question whether a completely new tool is necessary, saying they would rather see JetBrains build on the strengths of its existing IDEs and layer agentic features on top of what already works. The market is increasingly fragmented with model providers like Anthropic coming up with their own tools, and JetBrains faces a difficult time balancing the needs of its loyal IntelliJ IDEA customers, who do not want to move to a different product, while trying to establish a new AI-centric development environment.
JetBrains has also released Junie CLI, making its AI agent fully standalone, with support for models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Grok across macOS, Linux, and Windows, at prices from $10 per month for individuals to $60 per month for enterprise licenses.
Developers have requested the ability to use local models such as Ollama or Qwen, though JetBrains said it does not have an estimated timeline but that the feature is an active planning topic. For now, Air and Junie require either a JetBrains subscription or existing keys to third-party AI services. Air is currently free during its preview period on macOS, with Linux and Windows versions coming later.