JetBrains Launches Air, an Agentic Development Environment Built on Abandoned Fleet IDE
JetBrains previews Air, a new environment that manages multiple AI coding agents concurrently, alongside a standalone Junie CLI agent in beta.
Overview
JetBrains has entered the agentic development space with the public preview of Air, a new environment designed to let developers delegate coding tasks to multiple AI agents running concurrently. Announced on March 9, 2026, Air arrives alongside Junie CLI, a standalone beta release of JetBrains’ own coding agent, according to The Register.
Air is currently available for free on macOS, with Windows and Linux versions planned for later release.
A Different Philosophy From Traditional IDEs
Where traditional IDEs add tools to a code editor, Air inverts the model by building tools around the agent, according to the JetBrains blog announcement. The environment serves as a single workspace where multiple AI agents can work side by side, with developers overseeing and reviewing their output.
Developers define tasks by referencing specific code elements — a line, commit, class, method, or symbol — giving agents precise context rather than large blocks of pasted text. When a task completes, Air presents the changes within the context of the full codebase, alongside an integrated terminal, Git client, and built-in preview, as described by JetBrains.
Built on Fleet’s Foundation
Air is built on the codebase of Fleet, JetBrains’ lightweight IDE that was originally conceived as a potential successor to IntelliJ IDEA but never progressed beyond preview status. Fleet was discontinued without reaching general availability, and its foundation has now been repurposed for Air’s agent-centric architecture, according to The Register.
Supported Agents and the Agent Client Protocol
Air ships with out-of-the-box support for four AI agents: OpenAI Codex, Anthropic Claude Agent, Google Gemini CLI, and JetBrains’ own Junie, according to The Register. Tasks can run locally by default, or be isolated in Docker containers and Git worktrees for sandboxing and concurrent work.
The platform also supports the Agent Client Protocol (ACP), a vendor-neutral standard co-sponsored by JetBrains and Zed that enables any compliant agent to integrate with Air. Additional agents will be available through the ACP Agent Registry in the future, according to JetBrains.
Junie CLI Enters Beta
Alongside Air, JetBrains released Junie CLI in beta, making its coding agent available as a standalone command-line tool for the first time. Previously restricted to IDE extensions, Junie CLI now supports use from the terminal, inside any IDE, in CI/CD pipelines, and on GitHub and GitLab, according to JetBrains.
Junie CLI is LLM-agnostic, supporting models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Grok. Individual pricing starts at $10 per month, with an enterprise tier at $60 per month. Developers can also bring their own API keys from supported providers, as reported by The Register.
Local model support through tools like Ollama and Qwen does not yet have a confirmed timeline, though JetBrains stated it is “an active topic” in planning, according to The Register.
Market Context
Air enters a crowded and rapidly evolving market for AI-assisted development tools. JetBrains faces the challenge of maintaining its established IntelliJ IDEA user base while positioning Air as a distinct product for agent-driven workflows. Nik Tkachev, JetBrains’ Head of Product, stated that “agents are changing how software is made” and that “new concepts are emerging faster than anyone can validate them,” according to The Register.
Air is included for JetBrains AI Pro subscribers and All Products Pack holders. Developers without existing subscriptions can use the platform by bringing their own API keys from Anthropic, OpenAI, or Google, according to JetBrains.