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⟐ Editor View/2026-03-10Beginner

VS Code × Antigravity Migration Guide — Seamlessly Transition Your Dev Environment to an AI IDE

A complete guide to migrating from VS Code to Google Antigravity. Learn how to transfer settings, extensions, keybindings, and effectively use both editors together.

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Google Antigravity is built on a fork of the VS Code codebase, which means VS Code users will feel immediately at home. Your muscle memory, keyboard shortcuts, and workflows transfer almost entirely. However, because Antigravity is a fork rather than an extension, there are important differences in extension compatibility and marketplace access that you need to understand. This guide walks you through a smooth migration from VS Code to Antigravity and shows you how to get the most out of both editors.

Why VS Code Users Are Switching to Antigravity

Shared Foundation

Antigravity inherits the core VS Code editor experience. The file explorer, integrated terminal, source control panel, debugger UI, task runner, and settings system all behave identically. Custom keybindings carry over cleanly, so your existing shortcuts work from day one.

What Antigravity Adds

While VS Code with GitHub Copilot provides AI-assisted code completion, Antigravity takes a fundamentally different approach by embedding AI agents directly into the IDE's core.

  • Agent-driven development: Gemini has direct access to the file system, terminal, and browser, enabling it to plan, implement, and verify code autonomously
  • Manager Surface: A dedicated interface for orchestrating multiple AI agents working in parallel on different tasks
  • Deep context understanding: Project-wide awareness that enables meaningful refactoring suggestions and code analysis
  • MCP server support: Built-in protocol for connecting to external tools and extending your development workflow

Preparing for Migration

Audit Your Current VS Code Setup

Before migrating, take inventory of your current VS Code environment so nothing falls through the cracks.

# Export your installed extensions
code --list-extensions > ~/vscode-extensions.txt
 
# Back up your settings
cp ~/.config/Code/User/settings.json ~/vscode-settings-backup.json
cp ~/.config/Code/User/keybindings.json ~/vscode-keybindings-backup.json
 
# On macOS
cp ~/Library/Application\ Support/Code/User/settings.json ~/vscode-settings-backup.json
cp ~/Library/Application\ Support/Code/User/keybindings.json ~/vscode-keybindings-backup.json

Installing Antigravity

Download Antigravity from antigravity.google. It supports Windows, macOS, and Linux. You will need a Google account to sign in on first launch.

As of March 2026, Antigravity is in public preview and all major features are available for free with a personal Gmail account.

Migrating Your Settings

Using the Automatic Import

Antigravity's first-run setup wizard includes a built-in import feature for existing editors.

  1. Launch Antigravity and the setup wizard appears
  2. Select "Import from VS Code"
  3. Settings, keybindings, and extension candidates are automatically detected
  4. Choose which items to import and click "Continue"

For most users, this automatic import handles everything you need.

Manual Settings Migration

If the auto-import misses something, you can copy settings manually. Open your VS Code settings.json and paste the relevant entries into Antigravity's settings file.

{
  "editor.fontSize": 14,
  "editor.tabSize": 2,
  "editor.wordWrap": "on",
  "editor.formatOnSave": true,
  "editor.minimap.enabled": false,
  "terminal.integrated.fontSize": 13,
  "files.autoSave": "afterDelay",
  "workbench.colorTheme": "One Dark Pro"
}

Antigravity-specific and VS Code-specific settings coexist peacefully. Unknown keys are simply ignored.

Keybinding Migration

Keybindings are fully compatible between VS Code and Antigravity. Copy your keybindings.json directly. You may also want to add bindings for Antigravity-specific features.

[
  {
    "key": "cmd+shift+a",
    "command": "antigravity.openAgentPanel"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+shift+m",
    "command": "antigravity.openManagerSurface"
  }
]

Extension Compatibility

Understanding the OpenVSX Registry

This is the most significant difference between VS Code and Antigravity. Because Antigravity is a fork, Microsoft's Terms of Service prohibit it from accessing the Visual Studio Marketplace. Instead, Antigravity uses OpenVSX, an open-source extension registry maintained by the Eclipse Foundation.

Many popular extensions are published to both registries, but some Microsoft-exclusive extensions are unavailable.

Extensions That Don't Work in Antigravity

Several notable extensions cannot be used in Antigravity due to licensing or dependency restrictions.

  • C# Dev Kit: Licensed exclusively for VS Code and Visual Studio
  • Live Share: Depends on Microsoft services that are not available outside VS Code
  • Remote - SSH (Microsoft version): Use Open Remote SSH as an alternative
  • GitHub Copilot: Not needed — Antigravity includes built-in Gemini AI that provides more comprehensive assistance

Installing Extensions via VSIX

When an extension is not available on OpenVSX, you can often install it manually using a VSIX file.

# Install using Antigravity's CLI (not the `code` command)
# macOS
/Applications/Antigravity.app/Contents/Resources/app/bin/antigravity \
  --install-extension path/to/extension.vsix
 
# Linux
antigravity --install-extension path/to/extension.vsix

Important: The code --install-extension command installs extensions only for VS Code. Each editor fork maintains its own separate extension directory.

Switching the Marketplace URL (Advanced)

It is technically possible to reconfigure Antigravity to query the VS Code Marketplace directly by changing the marketplace URL in Antigravity's settings. However, this may violate Microsoft's Terms of Service and should be done at your own risk.

  1. Open Antigravity Settings (Cmd+, / Ctrl+,)
  2. Navigate to "Antigravity Settings" → "Editor"
  3. Update the marketplace URL configuration
  4. Restart Antigravity

Using VS Code and Antigravity Side by Side

When to Use Which Editor

You do not need to go all-in on Antigravity. Each editor excels in different scenarios.

Choose Antigravity for:

  • Greenfield projects where agents can scaffold the entire structure
  • Large-scale refactoring that benefits from project-wide AI understanding
  • Complex debugging where agents can analyze logs, trace issues, and implement fixes
  • Rapid prototyping with automated planning and implementation

Choose VS Code for:

  • C# and .NET development requiring C# Dev Kit
  • Real-time collaboration via Live Share
  • Workflows that depend on Microsoft-specific extensions
  • Lightweight editing and note-taking

Sharing Workspaces

Both editors can open the same project folder simultaneously. The .vscode directory and its configuration files are shared between them, so most workspace settings sync automatically.

Antigravity stores its own configuration in the .antigravity directory. If you are using version control, consider whether you want to track or ignore these files.

# Antigravity-specific settings (optional)
.antigravity/

Unified Git Workflow

Both editors integrate with Git, but Antigravity's agent capabilities add an extra dimension. The AI can generate commit messages, help resolve merge conflicts, create pull requests, and even review changes before committing.

# Example: Ask the agent to handle Git operations
# In the Agent panel:
"Review my recent changes and generate appropriate commit messages"

Troubleshooting Common Migration Issues

Missing Extensions

If an extension is not found in OpenVSX, try these steps in order.

  1. Search Open VSX Registry directly — some extensions use different names
  2. Download the VSIX file from the extension's GitHub repository
  3. Look for open-source alternatives that provide equivalent functionality

Theme Issues

Most popular VS Code themes are published to OpenVSX, but some require manual installation. These themes are readily available.

One Dark Pro
Dracula Official
Tokyo Night
Catppuccin
GitHub Theme

Performance Optimization

Antigravity runs AI features continuously in the background, which consumes more resources than vanilla VS Code. If you experience slowdowns, adjust these settings.

{
  "antigravity.ai.backgroundAnalysis": false,
  "antigravity.ai.autoSuggestions": "onDemand",
  "editor.minimap.enabled": false,
  "files.watcherExclude": {
    "**/node_modules/**": true,
    "**/.git/**": true
  }
}

Japanese Language Support

The Japanese Language Pack for VS Code is available on OpenVSX and works in Antigravity. Search for "Japanese" in the extensions panel and install it to switch the UI to Japanese.

Migration Checklist

Follow this checklist to ensure a complete and smooth migration.

  1. Preparation: Back up your VS Code extension list, settings, and keybindings
  2. Install: Download and install Antigravity from the official site
  3. Import settings: Use the first-run wizard to auto-import from VS Code
  4. Check extensions: Verify that required extensions are available on OpenVSX and manually install any that are missing
  5. Apply theme: Set up your preferred color theme
  6. Test AI features: Confirm that Gemini integration is working properly
  7. Project test: Open a real project and verify that build, debug, and test workflows function correctly
  8. Workflow refinement: Explore agent-driven workflows that leverage Antigravity's unique capabilities
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