Windsurf’s Cascade agent can search, edit, and reason across your entire codebase. Atlas extends Cascade with project-level persistent memory — so it never forgets your architecture, past decisions, or team conventions between sessions.
Prerequisites
Step 1 — Install the SDK
In Windsurf’s integrated terminal:
Step 2 — Create the Atlas helper
Create .windsurf/atlas.py in your project root:
Step 3 — Create a .windsurf/rules.md file
Windsurf reads rules.md as persistent instructions for Cascade. Create it with:
Step 4 — Set environment variables
Add to your .env (do not commit this):
And load them in your shell:
Step 5 — Test the connection
Windsurf keyboard shortcut (optional)
You can create Windsurf tasks for one-keystroke recall. Add to .vscode/tasks.json (Windsurf respects VS Code task configs):
Now press Ctrl+Shift+P → Run Task → Atlas: Recall to query memory at any time.
For monorepos, set a different ATLAS_PROJECT (persona) per package so memories from the frontend, backend, and infra packages don’t mix. Use "shared" persona for facts that apply to the whole repo.