👀 Google Antigravity: The AI That "Watches" You Code

I. Introduction: The IDE That Watches You Code

Google just released a developer tool that feels like science fiction: Antigravity.

This isn't just another AI code editor. It represents a fundamental shift. Antigravity is an IDE that watches your application run. By integrating deeply with Chrome, it can see the visuals, control the browser and fix bugs based on what is actually happening on the screen, not just the code.

It doesn't just read your code; it understands the result.

In this guide, I will show you exactly how to use it to build your first app today, even if you have never written a single line of code.

II. Why Is Antigravity Different?

If you have used tools like Windsurf, Cursor or VS Code, Antigravity will look immediately familiar. It is built on that same foundational IDE structure that developers have used for years.

But that is where the similarity ends.

1. The Key Differentiator: The Chrome Extension

The core innovation here is Antigravity's Chrome browser extension. This gives the tool capabilities that no other development environment currently possesses:

• Direct Browser Control: The AI can click buttons, navigate pages and interact with your app just like a human tester would.

• Screen Recording and Analysis: It watches your application run in real time and understands what is happening visually, not just structurally in the code.

• Live Debugging: It can see frontend logs, backend errors and visual bugs simultaneously.

• Automated Testing: It is paving the way for comprehensive, autonomous testing without manual intervention.

2. Why This Matters

Most AI coding tools can generate code but they cannot see whether that code actually works correctly. They cannot watch your app crash, understand what went wrong visually (e.g., "the button is off-screen") and fix it automatically.

Antigravity is being built to do exactly that.

3. The Current Reality vs. The Future Vision

Right now, the feature is buggy. It's a prototype. But the foundation is incredibly strong. Because both Chrome and Antigravity are Google products, this deep integration will only get stronger.

The trajectory is clear: Imagine running into a bug that would normally take hours to debug. Instead of the frustrating back-and-forth with a blind AI assistant, Antigravity watches the error happen, reads the logs, understands the visual problem and fixes it automatically. That is where we are heading.

III. Getting Started: Installation and Setup

Before you can experience what makes Antigravity special, you need to set it up correctly. There is one critical component that many people miss.

Step 1: Access Antigravity

Navigate to antigravity.google to access the IDE. It is web-based, so there is no complex installation process for the editor itself.

Then download it to your computer and step 1 is done!

*Advanced: After installing the app, you can customize the interface, the setup, the agent mode or in whatever way you like.

Step 2: Install the Chrome Extension (Critical!)

This is the most important step and it is surprisingly hard to find. You cannot search for the Antigravity extension in the Chrome Web Store; it simply won't appear in search results. You must use a direct link (CLICK HERE).

What the extension enables:

• Browser preview inside the IDE.

• Screen recording for the AI to analyze.

• Direct browser control by the AI agent.

• Access to your app even when not in incognito mode.

Why non-incognito access matters: Traditional browser automation tools require incognito mode. This means you have to log in repeatedly for testing. Antigravity's extension works with your regular browsing session, maintaining authentication and state across tests. This is a massive quality-of-life improvement.

Step 3: Create Your First Project Folder

Once you have the extension installed, open the Antigravity app (not Antigravity extension) and click "Open Folder". If you don't have a project folder yet:

1. Use your system's file browser to create a new folder.

2. Name it something simple (e.g., "my-first-app").

3. Select that folder in Antigravity.

Understanding Projects: Don't overcomplicate this. A project is just a folder containing files, exactly like a Google Drive folder containing documents. The IDE creates and manages those files for you based on your prompts.

IV. Building Your First App: The Practical Walkthrough

Let's build something real so you can see how Antigravity works in practice. We will create a simple web application with a landing page, then iterate on it using visual feedback.

1. The Initial Prompt

Start with something straightforward:

Create a TypeScript React app and give it a simple landing page.

Why this specific prompt?

• TypeScript React is a modern, widely used technology stack.

• It is explicit about what you want without being overly detailed.

• It produces a complete, runnable application.

• You will be able to see the code render visually on your machine.

Model Selection: Choose Gemini 3 Pro (Low) from the model dropdown. You don't need to use the "Plan" feature for simple projects; just hit "Execute".

For complete beginners, this type of simple prompt is ideal. It lets you see the relationship between code and visual output without getting overwhelmed by technical details.

2. What Happens During Generation

While Antigravity creates your application, you will see several things happening simultaneously:

• File Creation: Watch the left sidebar as multiple files appear, all generated from your single sentence. This replaces the need to understand file structures or configurations manually.

• Live Coding: The editor shows code being written in real-time across multiple files.

• Dependency Installation: Behind the scenes, Antigravity installs all necessary packages and tools.

• Server Startup: Once generation completes, it automatically starts a local server to run your application.

Note on Speed: Gemini 3 Pro (Low) generations take a little time. This is normal; be patient as the AI creates a complete working application from scratch.

3. Viewing Your Live Application

Once the generation completes, you can see your app running live. There are two ways to access it:

• Method 1: Browser Preview. Click "Open Browser (Preview)" in the top toolbar. This opens the preview inside the Antigravity interface. Note that currently, you cannot separate this tab into a different window.

• Method 2: External Browser. Navigate to localhost with the port number shown (usually localhost:3000) in a regular Chrome tab. This allows for a cleaner development experience.

The magic moment is realizing that you described an app in English and now a functional web application exists on your computer.

V. Understanding the Antigravity Interface

Before we iterate, let's demystify the interface. For someone new to IDEs, it can seem overwhelming but it is quite logical.

1. The Agent Manager

Located in the upper right area, this is your control center for AI assistance.

• What it shows: All your workspaces (active projects), active agents working on each project and their execution status.

• Multiple Agents: You can theoretically run multiple agents simultaneously on the same project (e.g., one on frontend, one on backend), though for most simple projects, one is sufficient.

2. The Inbox System

Antigravity uses an "inbox" approach to organize agent communications. As you run commands and agents complete tasks, their updates appear here. This keeps communication organized and minimizes information overload compared to tools that show every file change immediately.

3. The File Explorer

The left sidebar shows all files in your project folder.

• Green Files: Newly created files appear in green.

• Highlighted Files: Modified files show highlights indicating what changed.

• Accept All: After an agent completes work, you must click "Accept All" to confirm you want to keep the generated code.

4. The Terminal

At the bottom, you will see a terminal window showing commands being executed (installations, server startups, error messages).

For beginners, you mostly just need to watch for red error messages or green/white success messages.

VI. The Live Recording Feature: Where the Magic Happens

Now we arrive at the "money feature", the capability that makes Antigravity unique.

1. How Live Recording Works

When your application is running, Antigravity can record what is happening in the browser through the Chrome extension.

• Visual Indicator: Blue bars appear along the sidebar edge when recording is active.

• Playback: Click "Playback Available" to see a fast loop of what was captured.

2. What's Actually Happening

The system captures screenshots at regular intervals (frames), analyzes them individually and uses that visual data to understand your application's state. It treats your app's behavior as a video stream of data.

3. The Future Capability

Right now, it's "picture-in-picture analysis". But the trajectory is toward automated debugging. Future updates will likely enable the AI to watch an app fail, read the logs, understand the visual problem and fix it without human intervention. This is the revolutionary potential.

VII. Iterating on Your App: Visual Feedback Development

Your initial landing page probably looks basic. Let's improve it using Antigravity's visual development features.

1. The Screenshot-Based Workflow

This is the simplest way to request visual improvements.

1. Take a screenshot of your current application.

2. Drag the screenshot into the chat interface.

3. Add a simple instruction: "Hey, make this look better".

Vibe Coding: You are describing what you want in casual language. The AI understands aesthetic concepts like "modern", "cleaner" or "more professional".

2. The Screen Recording Workflow

For more sophisticated improvements, you can use the recording feature directly.

• The Prompt: "Can you navigate to localhost, take a screen recording, put it in an MD file and then add a component you want?"

• The Process: Antigravity opens your app, records interaction, analyzes it visually, identifies opportunities for improvement and generates new components based on that visual context.

• The Result: It creates something new by understanding what the application looked like and what would improve it.

VIII. What Settings Matter Most In Antigravity?

Antigravity offers numerous settings that affect how the AI assists you.

1. Review Policy

• Always Proceed: The AI makes changes without asking. Good for rapid prototyping.

• Request Review: The AI asks "Can I do this?" before each change. Better for production code where you want control.

• Recommendation: Start with "Always Proceed" to see what's possible.

2. Terminal Command Auto Execution

This controls whether the AI can run installation commands without asking.

• For Beginners: Turn this ON. It removes the friction of manually approving every dependency installation.

3. Auto Agent Fix Lints

"Linting" checks your code for errors. With this enabled, the agent automatically fixes minor code style issues, resulting in cleaner code without manual cleanup.

4. Auto Continue

If the agent encounters errors during coding, it automatically attempts to fix them and continue. This maintains development momentum and is highly recommended.

5. Enable Agent Web Tools

This gives the agent direct access to the internet. This is critical for searching for up-to-date information about packages and APIs, ensuring the agent uses current best practices.

6. Browser Extension Settings

This controls the screen recording and browser control features. This must be enabled to use Antigravity's most powerful capabilities.

IX. Why Do You Need GitHub With Antigravity?

If you are building anything real, you must understand GitHub.

1. Why GitHub Matters

Imagine you are building your app, everything is working and then you give a prompt that breaks everything. You try to revert but you can't figure out how. You are stuck.

GitHub provides version control. It saves snapshots of your code. If something breaks, you can jump back to a "stable" version instantly. Without it, you are building on quicksand.

2. Learning GitHub

If you don't know GitHub yet, invest less than an hour learning it. It is the safety net that prevents you from losing hours of work.

X. Comparing Antigravity to Other Development Tools

Antigravity competes with tools like Cursor AI, Replit and Bolt.

1. The IDE Style Difference

• Antigravity: Uses a traditional IDE interface (similar to VS Code). Separate panels for files, code and terminal.

• Competitors: Tools like Replit often use more integrated, simplified interfaces.

• Preference: Developers often prefer the traditional IDE experience, while beginners might find integrated platforms initially easier.

2. The Google Ecosystem Advantage

While competitors have screen recording, Antigravity has the Google ecosystem integration.

Chrome is a Google product. Antigravity is a Google product. That tight integration creates possibilities other tools simply cannot match. It’s like buying a ‘penny stock’ that is destined to become a blue chip.

XI. What Are Antigravity’s Current Limits?

Honest assessment helps set realistic expectations.

1. Performance Issues

Generation speed with Gemini 3 Pro can be slower than some competitors. The browser preview window also has some frustrating layout limitations currently.

2. Feature Maturity

The recording feature is described as “extremely buggy,” but promising. It is a prototype. Visual quality of the first generation might look basic and require iteration.

3. The "First Launch" Reality

This is a V1 product. Early adopters will experience rough edges. But the core technology is sound and the improvement trajectory is steep.

XII. What Do Developers Like About Antigravity?

Despite the bugs, the community is praising one specific capability: UI Generation Quality.

When you ask Antigravity to create interfaces, the visual design quality exceeds expectations. Layout, spacing and color choices are surprisingly professional. This allows non-designers to create applications that actually look professional, not just functional.

XIII. The Revolutionary Aspect: Accessibility

The most significant thing about Antigravity is what it makes possible for people who couldn't build software before.

1. The Traditional Barrier

Building a web app used to require understanding package managers, configuring environments, learning languages, debugging syntax and managing servers. It took years of study.

2. The New Reality

Now, building a web app requires:

• The ability to describe what you want clearly.

• Understanding of what is possible (conceptual knowledge).

• Patience to iterate.

• Basic GitHub knowledge.

The time investment has dropped from years to hours.

3. Who This Empowers

• Entrepreneurs: Build MVPs without technical co-founders.

• Designers: Prototype fully functional interfaces.

• Business Professionals: Create custom internal tools.

• Students: Learn programming by seeing immediate results.

XIV. Conclusion: The Accessibility Revolution Continues

Antigravity represents the latest step in a broader trend: software development becoming accessible to everyone with ideas and clear communication skills.

The tool isn't perfect. It's buggy and still learning. But the trajectory is unmistakable. The Google ecosystem integration creates long-term advantages that other tools will struggle to match.

The most valuable insight is this: "Anyone can code. You just need to know fundamental development knowledge". The barrier isn't implementation anymore; it's understanding what you want to build and why.

The tools exist. The capabilities are real. The only question is: What will you build?

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