Google I/O 2024 is in full swing, and we're sharing updates on how Project IDX fits into our mission to create an integrated workspace that can be used to ship full-stack, AI-powered apps across platforms. Read on to learn about how IDX’s new features will help you do higher quality work, more efficiently, with less friction.
Project IDX is now in beta
Instant access to Project IDX
Since we launched Project IDX, we’ve been overwhelmed by your response; hundreds of thousands of you have signed up to try it. We’re excited to announce that Project IDX is now in beta and we’ve removed the waitlist!
As of today, anyone can sign in with their Google account to start building with AI-assistance, collaboration capabilities, support for a broad range of frameworks and languages, as well as seamless integration with popular Google tools and products like Flutter and Firebase. And you can get to work quickly with over a dozen templates pre-loaded with the basic files and packages you need, or by importing your existing GitHub repo and its dependencies, or even starting with a blank slate.
Additional workspaces and benefits
And now, if you sign up for the new Google Developer Program, you can create up to 5 workspaces in IDX. Members of the program get additional benefits at no cost, including using Gemini models to help you generate summaries of documentation, explain sample code, and answer product questions. If you previously registered for a Google Developer Profile, you're already enrolled in the program and all set. More benefits are coming soon.
Improved AI assistance
Developers around the world are turning to Gemini models for help with writing code and other software development tasks. We’ve integrated the Gemini model deeply into IDX to provide you with assistance directly in your workspace.
Project IDX already has support for AI-powered code completion, an assistive chat, and contextual code actions like “add comments'' and “explain this code”. We’ve made improvements to provide you with even better code suggestions, and answers to your coding questions.
Our code completion now better understands your intent across a variety of programming languages:
Our integrated chat assistance also has a greater understanding of your project’s contents, meaning it gives you more tailored responses:
Slash Commands
Since launch, Project IDX has offered you inline AI assistance inside any file by pressing Cmd/Ctrl + I. You’ve been able to simply describe the changes you want to make to your code and Gemini in IDX will provide real-time error correction, code suggestions, and auto-completion in your code.
Now, you can use slash commands with Gemini in IDX to quickly execute tasks and access features, streamlining your workflow with a simple keystroke. Try slash commands like “/fixError” and “/helpWithError” to fix errors for you. Slash commands like "/addComments", "/explain", and "/transform" expedite your developer workflow by automating routine tasks and providing contextual code explanations, freeing you to focus more on problem-solving and less on mundane tasks.
Interactive chat (Experimental)
With our new interactive chat in private preview, you can tell Gemini to directly take actions on your behalf. Ask Gemini to complete tasks to save you time and energy, such as summarizing the purpose and behavior of the files within your project, fixing the errors in a given function, or updating files and variables for you.
For example, you can tell Gemini to complete a terminal command, like “rename all the files in my ./data directory into the form xxx_name.json”. With Gemini in IDX, tedious and time-consuming tasks like renaming lots of files become effortless, allowing you the time to focus on more important aspects of your project.
Gemini will ask you to review and confirm changes before it makes any edits or runs any commands, so you remain fully in control while you get the productivity benefits of using generative AI in your workflow.
Keep an eye out for an invite from us to use interactive chat!
Seamless integration with Google services
Elevate your development experience with Project IDX’s new built-in integrations panel. Add generative AI features to your app with the Gemini API, deploy to the web with Firebase Hosting, add maps and geolocation with Google Maps Platform APIs, and deploy your full stack apps to Cloud Run with one click for multi-region deployment. We’re continuously adding more products, like Checks, so stay tuned for more updates.
These API and service integrations help you seamlessly incorporate popular Google technologies into your projects without switching to another tab and leaving your development workflow.
Behind the scenes, IDX automatically handles authentication to Google Cloud and Firebase so tools like gcloud and the Firebase CLI work without any additional setup.
Enhanced development and debugging for web developers
Enhance your development workflow with popular debugging tools, now embedded within IDX. With experimental support for the Chrome DevTools Console and Lighthouse, available seamlessly from your preview pane, you can dive deep into debugging and fine-tuning your applications without switching away from your development environment.
The embedded DevTools window also makes it easy to debug your web application right in your preview window, saving you the headache of moving various tabs around.
New templates
With our ever-growing list of project templates, we have been making it easier than ever for you to get up-and-running with building apps using your favorite front-end, back-end, and full-stack frameworks and languages.
We’re constantly listening to your feedback, using it to guide product updates like which templates we should add next – check out a few new updates we’re really excited about:
Google Maps Platform + Gemini: Use the Gemini API to read the contents of a picture and generate travel ideas based on the location in the image.
Google Maps Platform + React: Quickly get started learning how to use the Google Maps Platform API and the IDX integrations panel to build a navigation app.
Firebase Data Connect [in private preview]: Use Firebase’s new Cloud SQL-powered service to build an email app, complete with a locally running Postgres instance and rich schema-editing, all right in the browser. To try it out, sign up for Firebase Data Connect early access.
Firebase Genkit: Add generative AI features to your apps with the new Firebase Genkit framework, providing a consistent API across LLMs to start and scale your Gen AI workflow.
You can access our templates and more from the IDX dashboard.
Open anything in IDX, in seconds
Users have told us they love how Project IDX lets them start building with a new framework or programming language in seconds, without needing to download and install SDKs, toolchains, etc. You’ll now start seeing “Open in IDX” buttons across select Google developer docs, samples, codelabs, and interactive coding playgrounds. So the next time you want to try something new, you can seamlessly jump into a comprehensive development environment without missing a beat:
We’re just getting started
We're constantly working on adding new capabilities to Project IDX to further streamline and simplify your end-to-end developer workflow. We have lots more in store for you, so be sure to keep an eye out for the latest from Project IDX by engaging with us on the new community forums and checking out our blog for product announcements and updates from the team.
We’re also always working to address your feature requests and bugs you flag for us – so thank you for your continued support and engagement! Please keep the feedback coming by filing bugs and suggesting / voting on feature requests.
For walkthroughs and more information on the features mentioned above, check out our documentation page. If you haven’t already, visit our website to try out Project IDX and join us on our journey.
We can’t wait to see what you create with Project IDX!