MainPath does not tie you to one tool. The shared editor configuration in your project’s local-configuration repository feeds VS Code, Cursor, Antigravity and JetBrains with the same settings. Rules for AI agents come from the agent plugin (mp agent install). The MainPath Toolbox installs the tools on request and opens projects with one click in the program you set as the default tool in its settings.
Recommended starting point: VS Code
For getting started we recommend Visual Studio Code, for three reasons. MainPath extension, which the MainPath Toolbox installs alongside, shows a welcome page with all repositories of the project and starts every application with a button that runs mp run-local, so you do not have to memorize commands. VS Code is free, runs on macOS, Windows and Linux, and is available as VS Code Web in the browser inside a remote workspace. And because Cursor and Antigravity are built on VS Code, the same extension works there too; switching later does not change your settings. What the extension does in detail is described in Cursor, VS Code and Antigravity.
If you work with AI agents
Claude Code and Codex run as agents in the terminal or as desktop apps and can be combined with any editor. They get skills, rules and MCP through mp agent install and therefore know MainPath rules before you write the first prompt. The differences between the two are covered in Claude Code and Codex. Cursor and Antigravity bring their agent inside the editor and use the same plugin.
JetBrains
IntelliJ IDEA and other JetBrains IDEs work with platform projects, because the code consists of ordinary Git repositories. The integration is leaner: there is no extension, you start applications in the terminal with mp run-local, and you create run configurations yourself. What MainPath provides there is described in JetBrains.
You maintain your own working rules for all agents in one place, as described in Your own rules for AI agents.