Called a step towards the future of co-creation in integrated development environments (IDEs), Junie aims to enhance productivity, code quality, and task execution for millions of developers worldwide.
JetBrains states that introducing Junie reflects its mission to "enable and scale the next generation of technologies to make software development a more productive and enjoyable experience."
The company believes that AI tools and features have already opened new creative possibilities, but Junie goes further by aiming to "boost productivity even more, improve code quality, unlock future innovations, help execute complex tasks, and change the way you work with code."
A leap in developer productivity
Junie is a new type of "agentic AI" that lets developers fully hand over routine tasks or share complex ones with their own coding companion.
“With Junie, you can completely delegate routine tasks to your personal coding agent or work together on more complex ones,” the company explains.
The initial performance metrics are promising. According to SWEBench Verified, a benchmark of 500 developer tasks, Junie successfully completes 53.6% of tasks on a single run. This shows Junie’s potential to handle the various complexities of software development.
JetBrains believes Junie will be a game-changing tool for both developers and organizations.
“Junie will unlock the power of coding agents for millions of developers and companies worldwide,” the company says.
Seamless integration into familiar environments
The transition to using Junie has been designed to minimize disruptions to developers' workflows. JetBrains has ensured that Junie works within familiar JetBrains IDEs, allowing users to adopt it without overhauling their existing development processes.
“Getting started with Junie is as easy as installing it into your IDE,” JetBrains stated.
The company recommends that developers start by delegating simpler tasks as they get used to working with the AI-powered tool before moving on to more complex assignments.
As developers become comfortable working with Junie, the agent can even be integrated into team workflows. This scalability reflects JetBrains’ vision for “redefining tasks to get the most from your coding experience powered by agentic AI.”
Given the rise of AI-generated tools, concerns about losing control are natural. JetBrains has taken steps to ensure Junie serves as an assistant rather than a replacement.
“With Junie, you stay in control, even when delegating tasks,” the company assured.
Developers retain the ability to review code changes and see how Junie executes commands. This level of oversight ensures that relying on Junie won’t compromise project context or critical decisions.
Enhancing code quality
JetBrains is positioning Junie as more than just a productivity tool; it's also aimed at improving code quality. While the company admits that AI-generated code can have flaws, Junie's abilities go beyond simple code generation.
By using the power of JetBrains IDEs along with large language models (LLMs), Junie can "generate code, run inspections, write tests, and verify they have passed." These features make it a versatile development assistant that not only speeds up workflows but also enhances the quality of the code produced.
Trust is crucial for developers to adopt new tools, and JetBrains has made efforts to make Junie a dependable partner. The agent is designed to understand both the context of projects and individual coding styles, adapting as needed.
“Junie is designed to understand the context of any project, allowing it to adapt to your coding style,” assures JetBrains. Additionally, Junie can align with specific coding guidelines, making it suitable for various workflows and ensuring developers maintain control over task execution.
JetBrains has launched an Early Access Program (EAP) for Junie. Developers can join the waitlist to gain early access, test the tool, and provide feedback to shape its future development.
Junie is currently supported in JetBrains' IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate and PyCharm Professional IDEs. Compatibility with WebStorm will follow soon. However, at the time of writing, Junie is limited to OS X and Linux platforms, with no word yet on when Windows support will be introduced.
By combining agentic AI with strong IDE integration, Junie represents a bold step in enhancing the productivity, creativity, and teamwork potential of developers.