// verdict · checked 2026-08-11 · Windsurf Cascade; docs.windsurf.com now redirects to Devin Desktop docs (docs.devin.ai/desktop), Aug 2026
Windsurf Cascade
Windsurf
Cascade loops and edits like it means it.
- CAPABILITY
- 4/5 AGENT
- PROOF
- OPERATOR INSPECTABLEYou can run it and read the steps yourself — the record exists for whoever runs it
- TRACE ACCESS
- OPERATOR-OWNEDWhoever runs it holds the record; nothing is published
- LEASH
- Not measuredno execution record scored — measure it yourself
| LOOPSruns until doneyes | Background planning agent continuously refines the plan and auto-updates it on new info; Cascade self-directs a variable tool-call count up to 20, with Auto-Continue past that cap. |
| CHOOSESpicks its own toolsyes | Docs: Cascade has Search, Analyze, Web Search, MCP and the terminal at its disposal and detects which packages need installing, so tool and order are picked at runtime, not pre-wired. |
| ACTSchanges the worldyes | Code mode creates and modifies files in the codebase and the agent runs terminal commands itself (Turbo auto-executes all but denylisted) — state changes outside the conversation. |
| RECOVERSfixes its own errorsyes | Linter integration, on by default: Cascade auto-detects lints in code it just wrote and issues a different corrective edit unprompted; Explain-and-Fix is user-triggered and doesn't count. |
| UNSUPERVISEDnobody watchingno | Deny-listed and destructive commands always prompt; fully hands-off Turbo mode is opt-in, not default. |
Capability decisions combine documented behaviour and execution evidence. The proof label on each row shows which of the two decided it, and Leash is reported separately, only when it was measured from an execution record. Primary source: docs.devin.ai. Tested against: Windsurf Cascade; docs.windsurf.com now redirects to Devin Desktop docs (docs.devin.ai/desktop), Aug 2026. Our confidence in this dossier: 6/10.
Can you see it work?
the weakest of the five grades aboveOPERATOR INSPECTABLE — You can run it and read the steps yourself — the record exists for whoever runs it. Trace access: OPERATOR-OWNED — Whoever runs it holds the record; nothing is published.
Steps, terminal output and diffs are readable in-panel; conversations export and share.
Where we looked: docs.devin.ai/desktop/cascade/cascade, /desktop/chat/overview, /desktop/troubleshooting/windsurf-common-issues, and the Wave 8 Teams/Enterprise post. · see the evidence → · re-checked by a second pass built to overturn it
No revisions yet. This verdict has stood since 2026-08-11.
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Think this is wrong?
bring evidence, not opinionName the criterion and link a trace, a doc, or a recorded run that shows the behaviour. A verdict changed by evidence is the best thing that can happen to this site, and the change goes on the public record with your reason attached. Vendors are welcome, and a vendor's own filing is labelled as such rather than buried.