Introducing AI Support in Theia IDE: The First Open, Transparent AI-Enhanced Development Environment

In recent years, the rise of AI-powered code development tools has introduced new possibilities for significantly improving developer productivity and streamlining workflows. However, most of these solutions come with significant trade-offs: they are closed, proprietary, and offer little transparency into how the AI operates (see also our previous article). Users are often left in the dark about what data is shared, which AI models are being used, and how prompts are constructed. This lack of control not only raises concerns about data privacy and vendor lock-in but also limits users’ ability to customize their tools.

With the release of the experimental AI support in Theia IDE, we are introducing something different—an open and fully transparent approach to AI-driven software development. Theia IDE is the first solution that gives users full control over their AI interactions, from choosing which large language model (LLM) to use to seeing exactly what data is being sent and received, and even customizing the prompts on the go. This level of control is crucial for developers who care about privacy, flexibility, and the ability to tailor their tools to their specific needs.

Theia IDE’s AI Support: A Glimpse into the Future of Open, AI-powered IDEs

Theia IDE’s new experimental AI features provide a fresh take on how AI can be integrated into development environments. Built on the Theia AI framework, these features allow you to leverage AI-driven capabilities while keeping full control over the workflow. Here’s what makes Theia IDE’s AI support truly unique:

1. Full Control Over LLM Selection: Unlike other tools that lock you into a specific LLM, Theia IDE allows you to choose the model you want to use. Whether you prefer using a cloud service like OpenAI, a self-hosted model for privacy, or even a locally running LLM, Theia IDE lets you decide. This gives you unparalleled flexibility and independence from any single vendor. You can even select the used LLM on a per use case level to optimize your personal usage scenario!

2. Complete Visibility of AI Communication: Theia IDE provides transparency into every interaction between the AI and your development environment. You can view exactly what data is being sent to the LLM and see the full communication history. This level of visibility ensures that you know exactly what’s happening behind the scenes, making it easier to trust and optimize your AI integrations.

3. Customizable Prompts: One of the standout features of Theia IDE’s AI support is its prompt customization. You can not only see the prompts used to generate AI responses, you can easily modify them to better suit your project’s needs. This allows you to fine-tune the AI’s behavior, ensuring it aligns with your coding standards, project goals, and personal preferences.

screenshot of prompt editing

4. User-Controlled Context Sharing and Tool Interactions: In many AI systems, the context sent to the AI is hidden from or at least unknown to the user. Theia IDE flips this dynamic by giving you full control over what context is shared with the AI. You can decide what project data is sent to the AI, ensuring that sensitive information stays private and that the AI only uses the data you allow. On a similar line, you can control how the AI interacts with your IDE and workspace, e.g. which data it can actively retrieve.

Theia IDE is Built on Theia AI

The AI support in Theia IDE is built on top of Theia AI, a flexible, open-source framework for creating AI-enhanced tools and IDEs. Theia AI provides the underlying technology that supports the four unique features mentioned above—and much more. Designed for tool builders, Theia AI enables full control over AI interactions, offering flexibility in model selection, communication management, and user interaction. For more details on Theia AI’s capabilities, see our in-depth article.

While Theia AI enables tool builders to provide the control and visibility of Theia AI even to their end users, it leaves the decision up to them. In Theia IDE, however, we have decided to provide Theia IDE users with as much control, flexibility, and transparency as possible, as we are targeting software developers who appreciate and benefit from this level of customization and openness. This means developers using Theia IDE have the freedom to adjust AI interactions, inspect the communication with LLMs, and even tweak prompts to fit their workflows.

Key AI Features in Theia IDE

With these principles of transparency and control at the core, Theia IDE offers several AI-powered features that developers can start using today:

1. AI-Powered Code Completion: Theia IDE’s AI assistant helps you write code faster with smart, context-aware code completion. The AI offers suggestions directly within the editor as you type, enabling a seamless development experience without breaking their flow.

2. Terminal Assistance: Working in the terminal becomes much easier with the Terminal Assistant. This feature helps you write and execute terminal commands, offering suggestions based on your current directory, environment, and the output of previous commands. Whether you’re running builds or navigating the filesystem, the AI provides relevant and helpful suggestions to save you time you previously may have spent on looking up the correct parameters for a terminal command.

3. Workspace Chat Agent: With the Workspace Agent Theia IDE can answer questions about your project files, folder structure, and even source code. This agent helps you navigate complex projects by retrieving file content, answering questions about your project setup, and providing guidance on file organization.

4. Universal Chat Agent: This general-purpose AI agent is designed to help with a wide range of programming and development-related questions. Whether you need help with debugging, understanding a specific coding pattern, or advice on best practices, the chat agent is there to assist.

5. Command Chat Agent: The command agent understands and retrieves relevant commands within the Theia IDE. It allows you to ask for specific actions, like opening the settings or toggling the toolbar, and it suggests a Theia command in the form of a clickable button.

6. Orchestrator Chat Agent: Not sure which agent to ask for help? The Orchestrator Agent selects the most appropriate AI assistant based on your query. It analyzes your request and directs it to the agent best equipped to provide an answer, making it easier to get the help you need without having to choose between multiple options.

Join a New Standard for AI-Powered Development

Theia IDE is setting a new standard for AI in development environments by offering users full control, transparency, and flexibility. In an industry dominated by closed, opaque AI solutions, Theia IDE stands out as the first open-source IDE to give developers the ability to choose their AI models, control communication, manage data privacy, and customize AI interactions at every level.

Ready to try it out? You can enable AI support in Theia IDE and start exploring its capabilities today. See the documentation for AI in the Theia IDE for more details.

Keep in mind that the AI support in the Theia IDE is in an early experimental state. However, the beauty of an open-source solution like the Theia IDE is that it can grow and evolve based on the contributions and experiences of its entire user base. By contributing to Theia IDE, whether through feedback, feature suggestions, prompt optimizations or code contributions, you become part of a community that drives innovation forward. This open development model has proven time and again to be a superior driver for innovation, fostering collaboration and accelerating progress. Your contributions, insights, and feedback are essential to shaping the future of AI-powered development tools. Together, we can create a platform that benefits from collective intelligence, offering solutions that grow more powerful, flexible, and customizable with every contribution. Join us in making Theia IDE not only the first open AI-enhanced IDE but the best one among all.

For tool builders, it’s important to note that the underlying Theia AI framework is already being successfully applied in various AI-driven tools. If you’re looking to build a tool similar to Theia IDE or create a domain-specific AI-powered tool that doesn’t focus on code, check out Theia AI today. It offers the flexibility and control you need to bring your custom tool to life, no matter the domain or industry.

We will soon publish more articles about the Theia IDE and Theia AI, so stay tuned and follow us on Twitter.

If you want to sponsor Theia IDE or use Theia AI to create your own AI solution, please get in contact with us. In particular, we are also looking for LLM providers who want to make their language models available via Theia AI and in the Theia IDE.

EclipseSource is at the forefront of technological innovation, ready to guide and support your AI initiatives based on Theia AI or any other technology. Our comprehensive AI integration services provide the specialized know-how necessary to develop customized, AI-enhanced solutions that elevate your tools and IDEs. Explore how we can assist in integrating AI into your tools with our AI technology services. Reach out to begin your AI integration project with us.