Windsurf SWE-1.5 & Cascade Hooks: Complete Developer Guide

Windsurf has emerged as a leading Cursor alternative and GitHub Copilot competitor in December 2025, powered by Cognition's July 2025 acquisition and the SWE-1.5 model family. This agentic IDE combines 950 tok/s generation speed, enterprise compliance features, and workflow automation capabilities that position it uniquely in the AI coding assistant market.

Released across versions 1.12.28 through 1.12.44, these features transform how development teams interact with AI coding assistants. Rather than treating AI as a simple autocomplete tool, Windsurf positions Cascade as a customizable workflow engine that adapts to your team's policies, compliance requirements, and development patterns.

SWE-1.5 Proprietary Model: 950 tok/s Speed Champion

SWE-1.5, introduced in v1.12.31, represents Windsurf's commitment to purpose-built coding models. Unlike generic LLMs adapted for coding, SWE-1.5 was trained specifically for software engineering tasks using end-to-end reinforcement learning on real task environments with the Cascade agent harness.

SWE Model Family Comparison

Cognition Acquisition Context

In July 2025, Cognition (creators of Devin AI) acquired Windsurf after Google hired away CEO Varun Mohan in a $2.4B reverse-acquihire. The deal brought Cognition $82M ARR, 350+ enterprise customers, and a world-class IDE platform. By September 2025, Cognition raised $400M at a $10.2B valuation—signaling strong market confidence in the Devin + Windsurf combination.

SWE-Bench Performance: Speed vs Accuracy Tradeoffs

SWE-1.5's value proposition isn't raw benchmark scores—it's the speed-to-accuracy ratio. While Cursor Composer leads on SWE-Bench Pro at 52.1%, SWE-1.5's 40% score at 950 tok/s often delivers better practical outcomes for iterative development workflows.

Cascade Hooks: Enterprise Compliance Automation

Cascade Hooks, released in v1.12.41, provide programmatic control over every AI interaction in your workflow. Unlike simple prompt templates, hooks execute custom logic at specific points in the Cascade pipeline—enabling SOC 2 compliance, data sanitization, and policy enforcement automatically.

Hook Types

Configuration Example

Hooks are defined in your project's .windsurf/hooks.json file:

{
  "hooks": {
    "pre_prompt": [
      {
        "name": "sanitize_secrets",
        "script": "./hooks/sanitize.ts",
        "enabled": true
      },
      {
        "name": "inject_context",
        "script": "./hooks/context.ts",
        "config": {
          "include_recent_commits": true,
          "max_files": 10
        }
      }
    ],
    "post_response": [
      {
        "name": "audit_log",
        "script": "./hooks/audit.ts",
        "destination": "s3://logs/cascade/"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Enterprise Compliance Use Cases

• SOC 2 Auditing: Capture every prompt and response with timestamps, user IDs, and project context for compliance reporting
• Data Loss Prevention: Automatically detect and redact credentials, API keys, or PII before they reach external models
• Approval Workflows: Require human approval for destructive operations like database migrations or production deployments

Codemaps: AI-Generated Architecture Visualization

Codemaps, expanded in v1.12.28, brings visual code architecture to Windsurf. The feature automatically generates Mermaid diagrams representing your codebase structure, making complex systems understandable at a glance. Unlike traditional documentation, Codemaps show execution order and component relationships—not just symbol descriptions.

Diagram Types

Cascade Integration

Codemaps integrates directly with Cascade chat. Ask questions like "Show me the data flow from user registration to database" and receive an interactive Mermaid diagram with explanations. Diagrams can be exported, embedded in documentation, or shared as web-view links. Use @-mentions in Cascade to reference Codemaps context.

Fast Context: 2,800+ tok/s Code Search

Fast Context, powered by SWE-grep models served via Cerebras infrastructure, is a specialized subagent that dramatically accelerates code search during agentic workflows. Traditional agents spend 60%+ of their first turn just retrieving context—Fast Context eliminates this bottleneck.

How It Works

When Cascade needs to understand your codebase, Fast Context triggers automatically (or via Cmd+Enter). The SWE-grep model family includes a high-intelligence variant for complex retrieval and SWE-grep-mini at 2,800+ tok/s for rapid searches. Both are trained using reinforcement learning specifically for codebase navigation.

Windsurf Pricing 2025: Free vs Pro vs Enterprise

Windsurf offers competitive pricing with a generous free tier. At $15/month for Pro, it undercuts Cursor ($20/month) by 25% while offering comparable features and enterprise-specific capabilities through Cascade Hooks.

Windsurf vs Cursor vs GitHub Copilot: 2025 Comparison

Choosing between Windsurf, Cursor, and GitHub Copilot depends on your priorities: speed and enterprise compliance (Windsurf), cutting-edge AI-native features (Cursor), or GitHub ecosystem integration (Copilot).

See our complete comparison: GitHub Copilot vs Cursor vs Windsurf: Complete 2025 Comparison

Cost Optimization: Managing Your Prompt Credits

With 500 credits/month on Pro, smart model selection is essential. Here are proven strategies to maximize value:

Real Agency Applications

Here's how agencies leverage Windsurf's features for concrete client deliverables with measurable ROI:

Common Mistakes: What NOT to Do with Windsurf

When NOT to Use Windsurf: Honest Limitations

Getting Started

All features are available in Windsurf v1.12.31 and later. Here's how to enable and configure each capability:

Conclusion

Windsurf has evolved from a Codeium rebrand to a serious enterprise contender backed by Cognition's $10.2B valuation. The SWE-1.5 model at 950 tok/s, Cascade Hooks for compliance automation, Codemaps for visual documentation, and Fast Context's 2,800+ tok/s search create a uniquely positioned agentic IDE.

For agencies managing multiple client projects with varying compliance needs, Windsurf provides the customization layer that generic AI assistants lack. At $15/month with the Cognition backing ensuring long-term development, it's a compelling Cursor alternative for teams prioritizing speed, compliance, and workflow automation.

Frequently Asked Questions