# Choose your editor

VS Code is the recommended starting point, and Cursor, Antigravity, JetBrains, Claude Code and Codex work with the same configuration from local-configuration.

> Source: https://www.application-platform.com/en/docs/choosing-your-ide/

The platform does not tie you to one tool. The shared configuration in your project's `local-configuration` repository feeds all supported editors and AI agents with the same rules and settings. The [setup app]({{< relref "local-app" >}}) 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. The Application Platform extension, which the setup app installs alongside, shows a welcome page with all repositories of the project and starts every application with a button that runs `ap 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]({{< relref "workspaces-overview" >}}). 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]({{< relref "vscode-cursor-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 read `AGENTS.md` and `CLAUDE.md` from `local-configuration` and therefore know the platform rules before you write the first prompt. The differences between the two are covered in [Claude Code]({{< relref "claude-code" >}}) and [Codex]({{< relref "codex" >}}). Cursor and Antigravity bring their agent inside the editor and read the same rules.

## 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 `ap run-local`, and you create run configurations yourself. What the platform provides there is described in [JetBrains]({{< relref "jetbrains" >}}).

You maintain your own working rules for all agents in one place, as described in [Your own rules for AI agents]({{< relref "ai-instructions" >}}).