Windsurf multi env setup

Windsurf Multi-Environment Setup

Overview

Configure Windsurf consistently across team members, projects, and deployment contexts. Windsurf is an IDE, not a cloud API -- "multi-environment setup" means standardizing AI behavior, workspace configuration, and Cascade context across your team.

Prerequisites

• Windsurf IDE installed on developer machines
• Shared git repository
• Team agreement on coding standards per service

Instructions

Step 1: Per-Project Cascade Rules

<!-- .windsurfrules - committed to each service repo -->

# Project: PaymentService

## Stack
- Language: TypeScript (strict)
- Framework: Fastify v4
- Database: PostgreSQL with Drizzle
- Testing: Vitest
- Queue: BullMQ for async jobs

## Architecture Rules
- All handlers in src/routes/ — never business logic
- Business logic in src/services/ only
- Database queries in src/repositories/ only
- Use Result<T, E> pattern for errors, never throw in services
- PCI-sensitive data only in src/pci/ (encrypted at rest)

## Naming Conventions
- Route handlers: GET/POST/PUT/DELETE prefix
- Service methods: verb + noun (createPayment, findOrder)
- Repository methods: DB operations (findById, upsert)

Step 2: Team IDE Settings Template

// .windsurf/settings.json - committed to repo
{
  "codeium.indexing.excludePatterns": [
    "node_modules/**", "dist/**", ".next/**",
    "coverage/**", "*.min.js", "**/*.map", "**/*.lock"
  ],
  "codeium.autocomplete.enable": true,
  "editor.formatOnSave": true,
  "editor.defaultFormatter": "biomejs.biome",
  "typescript.tsdk": "node_modules/typescript/lib"
}

Step 3: Monorepo Multi-Service Setup

monorepo/
  services/
    auth/
      .windsurfrules        # Auth context: JWT, OAuth, session management
      .codeiumignore         # Exclude auth secrets directory
    payments/
      .windsurfrules        # Payments context: Stripe, PCI compliance
      .codeiumignore         # Exclude PCI data directories
    notifications/
      .windsurfrules        # Notifications: queues, email templates
      .codeiumignore
  .windsurf/
    settings.json            # Shared IDE settings
    rules/
      shared-patterns.md     # trigger: always_on
    workflows/
      deploy-service.md      # /deploy-service workflow

Key practice: Each developer opens their service directory as the workspace, NOT the monorepo root. This gives Cascade focused context and fast indexing.

Step 4: Environment-Specific Workflow Rules

<!-- .windsurf/rules/deployment-context.md -->
---
trigger: glob
globs: deploy/**, scripts/deploy-*, .github/workflows/deploy-*
---
## Deployment Rules
- Target: AWS ECS on us-east-1
- Container registry: 123456789.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com
- Secrets: AWS Secrets Manager (prefix: myapp/{environment}/)
- Never hardcode environment-specific values
- All environment config via ENV vars, not config files
- Staging deploys from develop branch, production from main

Step 5: Onboarding Script

#!/bin/bash
# scripts/setup-windsurf.sh
set -euo pipefail

echo "Setting up Windsurf for this project..."

# Verify Windsurf installation
windsurf --version || { echo "Install Windsurf: https://windsurf.com/download"; exit 1; }

# Install recommended extensions
windsurf --install-extension esbenp.prettier-vscode
windsurf --install-extension dbaeumer.vscode-eslint

# Disable conflicting extensions
windsurf --disable-extension github.copilot 2>/dev/null || true
windsurf --disable-extension tabnine.tabnine-vscode 2>/dev/null || true

# Verify configuration
[ -f ".windsurfrules" ] || echo "WARNING: .windsurfrules not found"
[ -f ".codeiumignore" ] || echo "WARNING: .codeiumignore not found"

echo ""
echo "Setup complete."
echo "IMPORTANT: Open your service directory (not monorepo root) for best Cascade performance."
echo "Example: windsurf services/payments/"

Step 6: Per-Environment MCP Configuration

// ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json
// Developers can configure environment-specific MCP servers
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "staging-db": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-postgres"],
      "env": {
        "DATABASE_URL": "${STAGING_DATABASE_URL}"
      }
    },
    "github": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "${GITHUB_TOKEN}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Error Handling

Issue	Cause	Solution
Cascade lacks project context	.windsurfrules missing or empty	Add stack + patterns to rules file
Slow indexing	Monorepo root open with no ignore rules	Open service subdirectory
Inconsistent team suggestions	No shared settings	Commit .windsurf/settings.json
Cascade touches wrong files	Too broad workspace scope	Open specific service directory
New dev has no AI context	Skipped onboarding	Run setup-windsurf.sh script

Examples

Quick Health Check

ls -la .windsurfrules .codeiumignore .windsurf/settings.json 2>/dev/null

Per-Environment Cascade Workflows

<!-- .windsurf/workflows/deploy-staging.md -->
---
name: deploy-staging
---
1. Run `npm test` — abort if failures
2. Run `npm run build`
3. Run `aws ecs update-service --cluster staging --service payments --force-new-deployment`
4. Wait 60 seconds, then check: `curl -sf https://staging-api.example.com/health | jq .`

Resources

• Windsurf Rules Documentation
• Windsurf Admin Guide
• Context Awareness

Next Steps

For architecture best practices, see windsurf-reference-architecture.