
JetBrains has introduced a new AI coding agent called Junie, now in private preview for Mac and Linux only, a move towards agentic AI for developers, rather than just coding assistance.
Agentic AI implies the ability to complete tasks, rather than just proposing code. Developers type an instruction such as “Implement CRUD operations to manage bookmarks with user interface” (an example taken from a JetBrains introductory video) and the agent will complete the task, though with the usual caveats about the need for human review and refinement.
The JetBrains introductory post is short on detail. We asked the company to clarify what kinds of task Junie can accomplish. The company told us that the Junie preview, for which there is a waitlist, will work on release versions of IDEA Ultimate and PyCharm (the Python-specific IDE) from versions 23.3 (first released December 2023) onwards, the same release in which JetBrains AI Assistant went live. Support for other IDEs will follow.

Currently Junie is limited to code in Python, Kotlin and Java. Concerning framework support, we were told there are “no limitations on frameworks,” though whether Junie is equally skilled in Django, Flask and Reflex, for example (all Python web frameworks) is an open question.
What are Junie’s capabilities? Andrew Zakonov, product leader for Junie, told us of five:
- Developing new product features, even if they require updates across different parts of the project.
- Fixing bugs or resolving compilation issues.
- Adding or updating documentation to keep project resources accurate and up to date.
- Adding new tests to ensure code quality and coverage.
- Investigating and addressing problems with existing failed tests.
While that all sounds good, we note that the existing JetBrains AI Assistant is not especially well regarded. “The code is incorrect and irrelevant” said one review this week, and another, “even free AI editors deliver a far superior development experience.” At the time of writing, the add-in has 2.0 stars (out of 5) from 950 ratings, and with more than 18 million downloads.
This suggests that JetBrains is right to re-think its AI assistance offering, and the move towards agentic capabilities is in tune with where the industry is moving. For example, the newly launched Trae has a “builder mode” which “automatically breaks down and executes tasks.” Vercel’s v0 will build a full-stack application from prompts. GitHub Copilot Workspace, currently in technical preview, is described as “an agentic dev environment.” Cognition’s Devin, generally available since December 2024, is presented as a “collaborative AI teammate” which can be instructed to perform tasks. AWS Q Developer now has agentic capabilities, such as performing tasks in response to instructions given via a /dev prompt.
Put another way, Junie has plenty of competition, and JetBrains has work to do convincing developers that it can lead rather than follow in this space.