an AI coding IDE that runs on every free model
Softy's IDE is a GUI-first coding agent. A real editor, a file tree, live diffs you can revert, and a chat panel where you watch the model reason, call tools, and edit your code. Eight free models. No API key. No sign-up.
Terminal agents are fine until you want to see what changed. Softy's IDE gives you the whole thing — and a second opinion on every edit.
One prompt fans out to all eight models at once. Each answer streams into its own card, and the fastest gets a medal. It's the quickest way to learn which free model suits which kind of question.
Every model is free, so there's no reason to send a one-line rename to a heavyweight reasoner. Softy's IDE picks per turn from the shape of the request — and tells you why.
mechanical edit, short request → North Mini Code
multi-step reasoning → Big PickleAfter the agent edits files, a different free model reads the diff and says whether it looks right. It never sees the conversation — it judges the change, not the reasoning.
Free models rate-limit. When one returns a 429 or a 5xx before producing any output, the agent rotates to the next free model and tells you it did. Once tokens are flowing it never swaps mid-answer.
The agent's writes are recorded as changes with a real line diff. Click any change pill to see it, hit Revert to undo it. Nothing the agent does to your files is a black box.
Big Pickle and DeepSeek stream a separate reasoning channel, rendered as a collapsible block. Tool calls appear as cards that go pending → running → done with their duration.
Reverting file by file is tedious and easy to leave half-done. The useful unit is "put it back the way it was before I asked" — so every turn that changed files gets one button that unwinds all of them.
Sent first, before Softy's IDE's own instructions, and explicitly marked as taking precedence. Saved to ~/.softys-ide/config.json, so it applies in every project.
Always use British spelling. Prefer small pure functions.
Never add a dependency without asking first.Three layers, in order of authority: your prompt → the project's rules → Softy's IDE's defaults.
Type @ in the composer to complete a path. Picking one attaches the file, so the agent gets its contents rather than just its name.
Explain, Refactor, Find bugs, or Write tests. The selected code goes to the agent with the intent already attached.
Completions from your own modules, not just the open file. Go-to-definition across files, hover types from JSDoc, inline diagnostics. No language server process, no extra dependency.
npm init, git commit, anything that asks a question. The prompt turns amber when a command wants input, and Ctrl+C interrupts the real process rather than just dropping your end of the stream.
Every one supports streaming and tool calling, which is why the agent loop works identically across the whole set.
| Model | Tier | Notes |
|---|---|---|
big-pickle | deep | Heavyweight reasoner, streams its thinking |
deepseek-v4-flash-free | balanced | Fast reasoner — the default |
north-mini-code-free | fast | Code-specialised, snappy tool loops |
mimo-v2.5-free | balanced | Well-rounded generalist |
ling-3.0-flash-free | fast | Lowest latency of the set |
nemotron-3-ultra-free | deep | Verbose and thorough |
laguna-s-2.1-free | balanced | Reliable fallback |
longcat-2.0-free | deep | The one and only, streams its thinking |
Setting OPENCODE_API_KEY is optional — it unlocks the paid Zen catalogue through the same endpoint, but nothing requires it.
No .env, no account, no API key. The eight free models accept unauthenticated requests out of the box.
Download Softys IDE_1.1.21_x64-setup.exe and run it. A real application — own window, icon, Start Menu entry, tray icon. It bundles its own Node runtime, so there are no prerequisites at all.
Prefer the command line? Needs Node 20+.
npx softys-ide # run without installing
npm install -g softys-ide # install, then just: softyssoftys # open the current folder
softys ../some-project # open a different folder
softys --port 8080 # pin the port
softys --no-open # don't launch a browser
softys --list-models # print the catalogue and check it's live
softys --update # install the latest published version
softys --version # print the versionGrab the latest build. Older versions stay available too.
loading releases…
Cycle with the moon button or >Cycle theme. Monaco is re-themed from the same CSS custom properties, so the editor always matches the chrome.