---

name: windsurf-known-pitfalls description: | Identify and avoid Windsurf anti-patterns and common integration mistakes. Use when reviewing Windsurf code for issues, onboarding new developers, or auditing existing Windsurf integrations for best practices violations. Trigger with phrases like "windsurf mistakes", "windsurf anti-patterns", "windsurf pitfalls", "windsurf what not to do", "windsurf code review". allowed-tools: Read, Grep version: 1.0.0 license: MIT author: Jeremy Longshore jeremy@intentsolutions.io

Windsurf Known Pitfalls

Overview

Common mistakes and anti-patterns when integrating with Windsurf.

Prerequisites

• Access to Windsurf codebase for review
• Understanding of async/await patterns
• Knowledge of security best practices
• Familiarity with rate limiting concepts

Pitfall #1: Synchronous API Calls in Request Path

❌ Anti-Pattern

Copy// User waits for Windsurf API call
app.post('/checkout', async (req, res) => {
  const payment = await windsurfClient.processPayment(req.body);  // 2-5s latency
  const notification = await windsurfClient.sendEmail(payment);   // Another 1-2s
  res.json({ success: true });  // User waited 3-7s
});

✅ Better Approach

Copy// Return immediately, process async
app.post('/checkout', async (req, res) => {
  const jobId = await queue.enqueue('process-checkout', req.body);
  res.json({ jobId, status: 'processing' });  // 50ms response
});

// Background job
async function processCheckout(data) {
  const payment = await windsurfClient.processPayment(data);
  await windsurfClient.sendEmail(payment);
}

---

Pitfall #2: Not Handling Rate Limits

❌ Anti-Pattern

Copy// Blast requests, crash on 429
for (const item of items) {
  await windsurfClient.process(item);  // Will hit rate limit
}

✅ Better Approach

Copyimport pLimit from 'p-limit';

const limit = pLimit(5);  // Max 5 concurrent
const rateLimiter = new RateLimiter({ tokensPerSecond: 10 });

for (const item of items) {
  await rateLimiter.acquire();
  await limit(() => windsurfClient.process(item));
}

---

Pitfall #3: Leaking API Keys

❌ Anti-Pattern

Copy// In frontend code (visible to users!)
const client = new WindsurfClient({
  apiKey: 'sk_live_ACTUAL_KEY_HERE',  // Anyone can see this
});

// In git history
git commit -m "add API key"  // Exposed forever

✅ Better Approach

Copy// Backend only, environment variable
const client = new WindsurfClient({
  apiKey: process.env.WINDSURF_API_KEY,
});

// Use .gitignore
.env
.env.local
.env.*.local

---

Pitfall #4: Ignoring Idempotency

❌ Anti-Pattern

Copy// Network error on response = duplicate charge!
try {
  await windsurfClient.charge(order);
} catch (error) {
  if (error.code === 'NETWORK_ERROR') {
    await windsurfClient.charge(order);  // Charged twice!
  }
}

✅ Better Approach

Copyconst idempotencyKey = `order-${order.id}-${Date.now()}`;

await windsurfClient.charge(order, {
  idempotencyKey,  // Safe to retry
});

---

Pitfall #5: Not Validating Webhooks

❌ Anti-Pattern

Copy// Trust any incoming request
app.post('/webhook', (req, res) => {
  processWebhook(req.body);  // Attacker can send fake events
  res.sendStatus(200);
});

✅ Better Approach

Copyapp.post('/webhook',
  express.raw({ type: 'application/json' }),
  (req, res) => {
    const signature = req.headers['x-windsurf-signature'];
    if (!verifyWindsurfSignature(req.body, signature)) {
      return res.sendStatus(401);
    }
    processWebhook(JSON.parse(req.body));
    res.sendStatus(200);
  }
);

---

Pitfall #6: Missing Error Handling

❌ Anti-Pattern

Copy// Crashes on any error
const result = await windsurfClient.get(id);
console.log(result.data.nested.value);  // TypeError if missing

✅ Better Approach

Copytry {
  const result = await windsurfClient.get(id);
  console.log(result?.data?.nested?.value ?? 'default');
} catch (error) {
  if (error instanceof WindsurfNotFoundError) {
    return null;
  }
  if (error instanceof WindsurfRateLimitError) {
    await sleep(error.retryAfter);
    return this.get(id);  // Retry
  }
  throw error;  // Rethrow unknown errors
}

---

Pitfall #7: Hardcoding Configuration

❌ Anti-Pattern

Copyconst client = new WindsurfClient({
  timeout: 5000,  // Too short for some operations
  baseUrl: 'https://api.windsurf.com',  // Can't change for staging
});

✅ Better Approach

Copyconst client = new WindsurfClient({
  timeout: parseInt(process.env.WINDSURF_TIMEOUT || '30000'),
  baseUrl: process.env.WINDSURF_BASE_URL || 'https://api.windsurf.com',
});

---

Pitfall #8: Not Implementing Circuit Breaker

❌ Anti-Pattern

Copy// When Windsurf is down, every request hangs
for (const user of users) {
  await windsurfClient.sync(user);  // All timeout sequentially
}

✅ Better Approach

Copyimport CircuitBreaker from 'opossum';

const breaker = new CircuitBreaker(windsurfClient.sync, {
  timeout: 10000,
  errorThresholdPercentage: 50,
  resetTimeout: 30000,
});

// Fails fast when circuit is open
for (const user of users) {
  await breaker.fire(user).catch(handleFailure);
}

---

Pitfall #9: Logging Sensitive Data

❌ Anti-Pattern

Copyconsole.log('Request:', JSON.stringify(request));  // Logs API key, PII
console.log('User:', user);  // Logs email, phone

✅ Better Approach

Copyconst redacted = {
  ...request,
  apiKey: '[REDACTED]',
  user: { id: user.id },  // Only non-sensitive fields
};
console.log('Request:', JSON.stringify(redacted));

---

Pitfall #10: No Graceful Degradation

❌ Anti-Pattern

Copy// Entire feature broken if Windsurf is down
const recommendations = await windsurfClient.getRecommendations(userId);
return renderPage({ recommendations });  // Page crashes

✅ Better Approach

Copylet recommendations;
try {
  recommendations = await windsurfClient.getRecommendations(userId);
} catch (error) {
  recommendations = await getFallbackRecommendations(userId);
  reportDegradedService('windsurf', error);
}
return renderPage({ recommendations, degraded: !recommendations });

---

Instructions

Step 1: Review for Anti-Patterns

Scan codebase for each pitfall pattern.

Step 2: Prioritize Fixes

Address security issues first, then performance.

Step 3: Implement Better Approach

Replace anti-patterns with recommended patterns.

Step 4: Add Prevention

Set up linting and CI checks to prevent recurrence.

Output

• Anti-patterns identified
• Fixes prioritized and implemented
• Prevention measures in place
• Code quality improved

Error Handling

Examples

Quick Pitfall Scan

Copy# Check for common pitfalls
grep -r "sk_live_" --include="*.ts" src/        # Key leakage
grep -r "console.log" --include="*.ts" src/     # Potential PII logging

Resources

• Windsurf Security Guide
• Windsurf Best Practices

Quick Reference Card