Google Cloud explains when to use Antigravity 2.0, CLI, IDE, and SDK surfaces for agentic development. Pick the right rollout path now safely.
What Antigravity 2.0 Is Trying to Solve
Agentic development is not one workflow. Some teams need a terminal-first loop for scripting and CI. Others need an IDE surface for review and editing. Platform and product teams often need an SDK so agents can call into their own tools and services. Google Cloud positions Antigravity 2.0 as a set of those surfaces—CLI, IDE, and SDK—rather than a single product you adopt all at once.
The practical risk is treating every surface as equally ready for production. A safe rollout starts by matching the surface to the job: who runs the agent, where it runs, what it can change, and how you will observe and revoke that access. Pick one primary path first, prove it on a narrow task, then expand.
When to Prefer the CLI
Use the CLI when the work is scriptable, repeatable, and already lives in shells or pipelines. Good fits include scaffolding, bulk checks, migrations, and headless agent runs on a build machine. The CLI keeps the agent close to existing automation: environment variables, secrets managers, exit codes, and logs you already know how to capture.
Roll out CLI first if your team already trusts terminal workflows and can gate commands with policy (allowed tools, working directories, network egress). Keep the first agents read-only or limited to a single repo and non-production resources. Only after you trust the command surface should you let agents open PRs, apply infrastructure, or touch shared environments.
When the IDE Surface Fits Better
Prefer the IDE when the value is in human-in-the-loop work: reading a diff, steering a plan, accepting or rejecting edits, and explaining intent in the same place code is reviewed. The IDE is the safer path for exploratory refactors and multi-file changes where a human must stay in control of each step.
Start with a small pilot: one project, one class of tasks (for example tests or docs), and clear accept/reject discipline. Do not skip review because the agent “looks confident.” Treat IDE-driven agent output like any other untrusted patch set: lint, test, and review before merge. Expand only when the team’s review load stays manageable and mistakes are cheap to reverse.
When to Invest in the SDK
Choose the SDK when you need agents embedded in your own product or internal platform—custom tools, internal APIs, and policies that do not map cleanly to generic CLI or IDE defaults. The SDK is the right path for durable integrations: authentication to your services, structured tool definitions, and audit hooks you control.
SDK rollouts take longer but reduce long-term drift. Define tool contracts narrowly (one capability per tool), fail closed on missing permissions, and log every agent action with enough context to reconstruct what happened. Do not expose broad “run anything” tools early. Ship one high-value tool path, measure safety and usefulness, then grow the surface.
- CLI — automation, CI, and scripted agents with tight command policy.
- IDE — guided coding with human approval on every meaningful change.
- SDK — product or platform integration with custom tools and audit control.
A safe sequence for most teams is: pilot the IDE or CLI on low-risk work, codify what “good” looks like (scope, review, rollback), then promote proven patterns into the SDK only where you need permanence. You do not need every surface on day one. You need one clear path, clear limits, and a plan to tighten access as capability grows.