Devin Desktop for Arch Linux

This project repackages the official Devin Desktop Linux .deb for Arch Linux and derivatives like Manjaro.

Latest Version Available: 3.10.48

Devin Desktop is the successor to Windsurf. The package name is now devin-desktop-bin, but it still provides a compatibility windsurf command symlink for existing shell scripts and workflows.

Installation Methods

Option 1: Quick Install

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/BOTOOM/devin-bin-arch/main/install_windsurf | bash

What this does:

1. Clones this repository to a temporary directory.
2. Prompts you to choose between Standard and Electron versions.
3. Builds and installs the selected package using makepkg.
4. Replaces an installed windsurf-bin package if present.
5. Cleans up temporary files.

Environment Variable:

Set DEVIN_INSTALL_CHOICE to skip the prompt:

• DEVIN_INSTALL_CHOICE=standard for devin-desktop-bin
• DEVIN_INSTALL_CHOICE=electron for devin-desktop-bin-electron-latest

The old WINDSURF_INSTALL_CHOICE variable is still accepted for compatibility.

DEVIN_INSTALL_CHOICE=standard curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/BOTOOM/devin-bin-arch/main/install_windsurf | bash

Option 2: Local Maintenance (Docker Required)

Use this when you want to check the upstream Devin Desktop changelog yourself and rebuild locally.

Prerequisites:

• Docker
• base-devel package group

Usage:

git clone https://github.com/BOTOOM/devin-bin-arch.git
cd devin-bin-arch
./check_and_update_local.sh

What this does:

1. Builds a minimal Docker image.
2. Reads the Devin Desktop changelog and finds the newest Linux x64 .deb URL.
3. Downloads the .deb to calculate the SHA256 hash.
4. Updates package/PKGBUILD with the version, checksum, and full upstream URL.
5. Compares the package version with your installed version.
6. Asks if you want to build and install the update.

Migrating from Windsurf with minimal disruption

The installed system files move from /usr/share/windsurf to /usr/share/devin-desktop, and the main command becomes devin-desktop. This package also installs /usr/bin/windsurf as a compatibility symlink.

According to the official Devin Desktop FAQ, Linux user data is migrated automatically on first launch:

Data	Legacy path read by Devin	New path written by Devin
IDE settings, keybindings, snippets, workspaces, global storage	~/.config/Windsurf/	~/.config/Devin/
Extensions	~/.windsurf/extensions/	~/.devin/extensions/
System-level rules, workflows, skills	/etc/windsurf/	/etc/devin/
Codeium/Windsurf user settings, MCP config, global workflows, global skills, CLI binaries	~/.codeium/	unchanged

During the transition, Devin Desktop reads both legacy Windsurf paths and new Devin paths. New IDE and extension data is written to the Devin paths, while ~/.codeium/ intentionally keeps its existing structure, including subdirectories such as ~/.codeium/windsurf/global_workflows/, ~/.codeium/windsurf/skills/, and ~/.codeium/windsurf/bin/. Do not rename or move ~/.codeium/windsurf to a Devin path.

Before migrating, close Windsurf and make a backup:

mkdir -p "$HOME/windsurf-migration-backup"
cp -a "$HOME/.config/Windsurf" "$HOME/.windsurf" "$HOME/.windsurf-server" "$HOME/.codeium" "$HOME/windsurf-migration-backup/" 2>/dev/null || true

Then install Devin Desktop and launch it once:

devin-desktop

Do not pre-seed the new directories before the first launch. Let Devin Desktop do the official migration first. If extensions, settings, keybindings, snippets, or agent state are still missing after first launch, close Devin Desktop and copy only missing data:

mkdir -p "$HOME/.config/Devin" "$HOME/.devin" "$HOME/.devin-server"

rsync -a --ignore-existing "$HOME/.config/Windsurf/User/" "$HOME/.config/Devin/User/" 2>/dev/null || true
rsync -a --ignore-existing "$HOME/.config/Windsurf/globalStorage/" "$HOME/.config/Devin/globalStorage/" 2>/dev/null || true
rsync -a --ignore-existing "$HOME/.config/Windsurf/Workspaces/" "$HOME/.config/Devin/Workspaces/" 2>/dev/null || true
rsync -a --ignore-existing "$HOME/.windsurf/extensions/" "$HOME/.devin/extensions/" 2>/dev/null || true
rsync -a --ignore-existing "$HOME/.windsurf-server/" "$HOME/.devin-server/" 2>/dev/null || true

Keep the backup and old Windsurf folders until you confirm that extensions, login state, workspaces, rules, workflows, skills, and agent memories are present in Devin Desktop. Do not delete ~/.windsurf, ~/.devin, or ~/.codeium during the transition; the FAQ says legacy Windsurf paths remain readable and the ~/.codeium directory structure remains unchanged in this release.

Project Structure

• install_windsurf: Standalone installation script used by the curl command.
• check_and_update_local.sh: Local maintenance script that orchestrates the Docker check and update process.
• _install_local.sh: Internal script used by check_and_update_local.sh to perform local installation.
• update.sh: Runs Docker and updates package/PKGBUILD from upstream Devin Desktop release data.
• Dockerfile: Docker configuration for the version checker container.
• package/PKGBUILD: Arch Linux package build description.
• .github/workflows/update.yml: GitHub Action that updates the PKGBUILD automatically.
• scripts/check-windsurf-version.sh: Version checker that reads the Devin Desktop changelog.

Manual Installation

git clone https://github.com/BOTOOM/devin-bin-arch.git
cd devin-bin-arch/package

makepkg -sf
sudo pacman -U devin-desktop-bin-3.0.12-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.*

For the Electron package variant:

sudo pacman -U devin-desktop-bin-electron-latest-3.0.12-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.*

Automated Updates

The update workflow runs on a schedule, checks the Devin Desktop changelog, and opens an automated PR when a newer Linux .deb is available.

Notes

This PKGBUILD conflicts with old Windsurf packages because both own overlapping commands and desktop integrations. It provides windsurf and windsurf-bin for compatibility while installing Devin Desktop under its new upstream name.

Disclaimer

This is an unofficial package. Devin Desktop and Windsurf are trademarks of their respective owners. This package repackages the official .deb file distributed by Cognition/Devin.

License

The packaging scripts are licensed under MIT, while Devin Desktop itself has its own license terms.