What is Windsurf?
Windsurf is an AI-powered IDE from Codeium featuring Cascade, an agentic AI assistant that can write, run, and refactor code with full context awareness. Unlike traditional code editors, Windsurf is purpose-built for AI collaboration.Project Rules
Create a rules file in.windsurf/rules/tk.md to give Cascade context about tk:
Rule Activation
Windsurf supports different rule activation modes:Always On
Rule applies to every Cascade interaction automatically
Manual
Activate by @mentioning the rule in Cascade chat
Model Decision
Cascade decides when to apply based on context
MCP Integration
Install theticket-mcp MCP server to give Cascade direct access to your issues:
Installation
Add to your Windsurf settings (~/.windsurf/settings.json or workspace .windsurf/settings.json):
Requirements
Requirements
uv installed via:
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | shPython version 3.10 or higher (installed automatically by uv)Verify Installation
Restart Windsurf and check thatticket-mcp appears in the MCP section of Windsurf settings. Cascade will now have access to:
tk triage- AI recommendationstk ready- Unblocked issuestk create- Create issuestk show- View issue detailstk update- Modify issuestk close- Complete worktk dep tree- Dependency visualization- And all other tk commands
Workflow Tips
Starting a Session
Ask Cascade: “Run tk triage and show me what I should work on today” Cascade will executetk triage and present AI-powered recommendations with context.
Creating Issues
Ask Cascade: “Create a high-priority bug for the login timeout issue” Cascade will run:Closing Work
Ask Cascade: “Close tk-abc123, I just fixed it” Cascade will mark the issue as completed and can optionally show what’s now unblocked.Dependency Management
Ask Cascade: “Show me the dependency tree for tk-xyz789” Cascade will runtk dep tree tk-xyz789 and visualize the relationships.
Project Health
Ask Cascade: “Run tk doctor and fix any issues” Cascade will diagnose problems and suggest fixes.Cascade-Specific Features
Windsurf’s Cascade AI can leverage tk in powerful ways:Context-Aware Issue Creation
Context-Aware Issue Creation
Cascade can analyze your current code changes and automatically create appropriately scoped issues with correct types and priorities.
Dependency Inference
Dependency Inference
When you ask Cascade to create a feature, it can analyze the codebase and
automatically add
deps for prerequisite issues.Workflow Automation
Workflow Automation
Combine tk commands with Cascade workflows to automate common patterns like
create-branch-implement-test-close workflows.
Natural Language Queries
Natural Language Queries
Ask complex questions like “What’s blocking the authentication epic?” and Cascade will run the right tk commands to answer.
Global vs Workspace Rules
Windsurf supports both global and workspace-level rules:Workspace Rules (Project-Specific)
Location:.windsurf/rules/tk.md in your project
Best for: Project-specific tk configuration, custom workflows
Global Rules (All Projects)
Location varies by OS:- macOS:
~/Library/Application Support/Windsurf/User/globalStorage/rules/ - Linux:
~/.config/Windsurf/User/globalStorage/rules/ - Windows:
%APPDATA%\Windsurf\User\globalStorage\rules\
Total combined characters for global + workspace rules cannot exceed 12,000.
Keep tk rules focused and concise.
Performance
tk’s analytics cache ensures instant performance:- Cache hits: <10ms (instant)
- Cache rebuilds: <20ms (imperceptible)
- Auto-invalidation: Updates when files change
tk triage, tk ready, and other analytics commands.
Example Cascade Interactions
Morning Triage
You: “What should I work on today?”
Cascade: Runs tk triage, explains top recommendations with reasoning
Feature Planning
You: “I want to add OAuth authentication. What needs to happen?”
Cascade: Creates epic, breaks down into tasks with dependencies, runs tk dep tree to visualize
Dependency Check
You: “What’s blocking tk-abc123?”
Cascade: Runs tk show tk-abc123, lists blocking issues, offers to show their status
Health Check
You: “How healthy is this project?”
Cascade: Runs tk insights, explains PageRank scores, betweenness centrality, critical path
Troubleshooting
Cascade doesn't recognize tk commands
Cascade doesn't recognize tk commands
Make sure the
.windsurf/rules/tk.md file exists and is set to “Always On” mode in Windsurf settings.MCP server not connecting
MCP server not connecting
Check that
uvx is in your PATH and restart Windsurf. Verify in Windsurf
settings that ticket-mcp shows as active.Rules not applying
Rules not applying
Check file size - each rule file is limited to 6000 characters. Split into
multiple files if needed.
Slow tk commands
Slow tk commands
Enable caching with
tk cache info to verify cache is working. Cache should show recent hits.Next Steps
CLI Reference
Complete tk command documentation
MCP Server
Deep dive into MCP server capabilities
Graph Analytics
Learn about PageRank and dependency analysis
Windsurf Docs
Official Windsurf documentation