Windsurf Advanced Troubleshooting

Overview

Deep debugging techniques for Windsurf issues that resist standard troubleshooting. Covers Cascade context corruption, indexing engine problems, extension conflicts, MCP failures, and workspace configuration debugging.

Prerequisites

• Standard troubleshooting attempted (see windsurf-common-errors)
• Terminal access
• Understanding of Windsurf's architecture (VS Code base + Codeium AI layer)

Instructions

Step 1: Isolate Windsurf Layer vs VS Code Layer

Windsurf = VS Code + Codeium AI Layer

If the issue is:
- Editor crashes, rendering, file system → VS Code layer
- AI suggestions wrong, Cascade fails, indexing stuck → Codeium layer
- Extension not working → Extension compatibility layer

Test VS Code layer:
  windsurf --disable-extensions  # Run without extensions
  # If issue persists → VS Code layer problem

Test Codeium layer:
  # Disable Codeium: Extensions > search "codeium" > Disable
  # If issue resolves → Codeium layer problem

Step 2: Debug Cascade Context Issues

When Cascade consistently gives wrong or irrelevant suggestions:

set -euo pipefail
echo "=== Cascade Context Debug ==="

# 1. Check rules file
echo "--- .windsurfrules ---"
if [ -f .windsurfrules ]; then
  CHARS=$(wc -c < .windsurfrules)
  echo "Size: $CHARS chars (limit: 6000)"
  [ "$CHARS" -gt 6000 ] && echo "WARNING: Over limit — content truncated!"
else
  echo "MISSING — Cascade has no project context"
fi

# 2. Check workspace rules
echo "--- Workspace Rules ---"
TOTAL_RULE_CHARS=0
if [ -d .windsurf/rules ]; then
  for rule in .windsurf/rules/*.md; do
    [ -f "$rule" ] || continue
    CHARS=$(wc -c < "$rule")
    TOTAL_RULE_CHARS=$((TOTAL_RULE_CHARS + CHARS))
    HAS_TRIGGER=$(grep -c "^trigger:" "$rule" || true)
    echo "  $(basename "$rule"): $CHARS chars, trigger: $([[ $HAS_TRIGGER -gt 0 ]] && echo 'YES' || echo 'MISSING')"
  done
  echo "Total: $TOTAL_RULE_CHARS chars"
else
  echo "No .windsurf/rules/ directory"
fi

# 3. Check total rules budget
RULES_CHARS=$(wc -c < .windsurfrules 2>/dev/null || echo 0)
GLOBAL_CHARS=$(wc -c < ~/.windsurf/global_rules.md 2>/dev/null || echo 0)
TOTAL=$((RULES_CHARS + GLOBAL_CHARS))
echo "--- Total Rules Budget ---"
echo "Project rules: $RULES_CHARS + Global rules: $GLOBAL_CHARS = $TOTAL chars (limit: 12000)"
[ "$TOTAL" -gt 12000 ] && echo "WARNING: Over 12000 total — rules will be truncated!"

# 4. Check memories
echo "--- Memories ---"
MEMORY_DIR="$HOME/.codeium/windsurf/memories"
if [ -d "$MEMORY_DIR" ]; then
  MEMORY_COUNT=$(find "$MEMORY_DIR" -type f | wc -l)
  echo "Memory files: $MEMORY_COUNT"
  [ "$MEMORY_COUNT" -gt 50 ] && echo "WARNING: Many memories — may cause conflicting context"
else
  echo "No memories directory"
fi

Step 3: Debug Indexing Problems

set -euo pipefail
echo "=== Indexing Debug ==="

# Count files that would be indexed
TOTAL_FILES=$(find . -type f -not -path '*/node_modules/*' -not -path '*/.git/*' | wc -l)
echo "Total files (excluding node_modules, .git): $TOTAL_FILES"

# Check for large files that slow indexing
echo "--- Large files (>1MB, not in node_modules) ---"
find . -type f -size +1M -not -path '*/node_modules/*' -not -path '*/.git/*' | head -10

# Check .codeiumignore effectiveness
if [ -f .codeiumignore ]; then
  echo "--- .codeiumignore patterns ---"
  wc -l < .codeiumignore
  echo "patterns defined"
else
  echo "WARNING: No .codeiumignore — indexing everything"
fi

# Recommendations
if [ "$TOTAL_FILES" -gt 10000 ]; then
  echo ""
  echo "RECOMMENDATION: >10K files. Open a subdirectory instead of root."
  echo "RECOMMENDATION: Add more patterns to .codeiumignore"
fi

Step 4: Debug Extension Conflicts

set -euo pipefail
echo "=== Extension Conflict Check ==="

# List all installed extensions
windsurf --list-extensions 2>/dev/null | while read ext; do
  # Check for known conflicts
  case "$ext" in
    *copilot*|*tabnine*|*cody*|*intellicode*|*aws-toolkit*codewhisperer*)
      echo "CONFLICT: $ext — competes with Supercomplete/Cascade"
      ;;
    *remote*|*liveshare*|*container*)
      echo "OK: $ext — compatible but may affect performance"
      ;;
    *)
      echo "OK: $ext"
      ;;
  esac
done

echo ""
echo "Resolution: Disable conflicting extensions or run:"
echo "  windsurf --disable-extensions  # Test in clean mode"

Step 5: Debug MCP Server Issues

set -euo pipefail
echo "=== MCP Debug ==="

MCP_CONFIG="$HOME/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json"
if [ -f "$MCP_CONFIG" ]; then
  echo "MCP config exists"
  # Validate JSON
  python3 -c "import json; json.load(open('$MCP_CONFIG'))" 2>&1 && echo "JSON: valid" || echo "JSON: INVALID"

  # Check each server command
  python3 -c "
import json
config = json.load(open('$MCP_CONFIG'))
for name, server in config.get('mcpServers', {}).items():
    cmd = server.get('command', 'N/A')
    print(f'  {name}: command={cmd}')
  "
else
  echo "No MCP config at $MCP_CONFIG"
fi

Step 6: Nuclear Reset Options

When nothing else works:

## Progressive Reset (least to most destructive)

1. Restart Cascade
   Command Palette > "Cascade: Restart"

2. Reset Indexing
   Command Palette > "Codeium: Reset Indexing"

3. Reload Window
   Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+P > "Developer: Reload Window"

4. Clear Memories
   Delete contents of ~/.codeium/windsurf/memories/

5. Reset All Codeium State
   Close Windsurf
   rm -rf ~/.codeium/windsurf/cache/
   Reopen Windsurf (re-indexes, re-authenticates)

6. Clean Install
   Uninstall Windsurf
   rm -rf ~/.codeium/
   rm -rf ~/.config/Windsurf/  # Linux
   # or: rm -rf ~/Library/Application Support/Windsurf/  # macOS
   Reinstall from windsurf.com/download

Error Handling

Examples

Quick Diagnostic One-Liner

echo "WS files: $(find . -not -path '*/node_modules/*' -not -path '*/.git/*' -type f | wc -l) | Rules: $(wc -c < .windsurfrules 2>/dev/null || echo 0)c | Ignore: $(wc -l < .codeiumignore 2>/dev/null || echo 0) patterns | Exts: $(windsurf --list-extensions 2>/dev/null | wc -l)"

Submit Support Ticket

Attach:
1. Output from all diagnostic scripts above
2. Debug bundle from windsurf-debug-bundle
3. Exact prompts that produce wrong results
4. Expected vs actual Cascade behavior

Resources

• Windsurf GitHub Issues
• Windsurf Status Page

Next Steps

For load and scale patterns, see windsurf-load-scale.