Training course · Windsurf · React & Front End

Windsurf for React and Front-End Developers

Develop with the Windsurf AI IDE and its Cascade agent: flows, memories, rules, workflows and safe use across the team.

Duration
2 days (14 hrs)
Format
Online or on-site
Language
German or English
Participants
open dates or exclusive for your team
Certificate
Certificate of attendance

Overview

This course connects Windsurf with the everyday processes of React & Front End. Participants work on realistic scenarios and leave with prompts, workflows and checklists they can use straight away.

Windsurf is an AI-powered development environment built around its agent, Cascade. Cascade understands the structure of your project, follows your actions in the editor and terminal, and works with you according to the flow principle: you and the agent take turns on the same task without having to re-explain context over and over. In this two-day course you will learn how to use Cascade effectively for features, debugging and refactoring, and how to make the most of intelligent completion in your daily development work.

To keep results consistent across a team, you steer Cascade with global and workspace rules, rely on memories for lasting project knowledge and automate recurring procedures with workflows that run from a slash command. You will connect external tools through MCP, control how terminal commands are executed and decide which data Cascade is allowed to see. Finally, you will define rules for code review, security and data protection so that Windsurf can be used responsibly within your organisation and its existing processes.

Front-end development today means component architectures, state management, server components, design systems, accessibility and performance budgets – often all at once. AI coding assistants and agents speed up exactly the work that eats time: deriving components from designs, converting class components to hooks, writing Storybook stories and Testing Library tests, fixing ARIA issues or tracking down unnecessary re-renders. Because front-end code thrives on conventions, context is everything: design tokens, folder structure, styling approach and preferred libraries must be known to the assistant. This course shows you how to set those guardrails and how to verify results reliably, both visually and technically.

The course is delivered live – either online in a virtual classroom or on-site in our training rooms in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart and Kaiserslautern. We can also run it exclusively for your team.

Who is this course for?

  • React developers in product teams and agencies
  • Front-end engineers working with Next.js, Vite or similar frameworks
  • Maintainers of design systems and component libraries
  • Full-stack developers with a front-end focus
  • UI engineers responsible for accessibility and performance

Typical challenges we address

  • Inconsistent components and styles despite an existing design system
  • Hard-to-trace re-renders, bloated bundles and weak Core Web Vitals
  • Accessibility gaps and growing pressure from legal requirements
  • Legacy code with class components, outdated patterns and missing tests

What you will be able to do

  • You use Cascade productively in flow for features, debugging and refactoring.
  • You steer Windsurf’s context precisely and keep sensitive content protected.
  • You maintain memories and rules that reliably enforce your project conventions.
  • You automate recurring procedures with workflows and connect external tools via MCP.
  • Have AI agents generate components, stories and tests that match your design system.
  • Use AI deliberately to improve accessibility, performance and legacy code in a systematic way.
  • Check generated front-end code visually, functionally and for maintainability before it ships.

Course outline

Day 1

Module 1 Getting to know Windsurf and Cascade
  • Installation, importing existing editor settings and basic configuration
  • Cascade in code and chat mode: when the agent edits and when it only advises
  • The flow principle: how Cascade takes your editor and terminal actions into account
  • Intelligent completion and inline commands in everyday development
Module 2 Steering context
  • Understanding codebase indexing and referencing relevant files or directories
  • Bringing documentation, web sources and terminal output into context
  • Excluding sensitive content from context with ignore files
  • Structuring sessions and starting afresh when the topic changes
Module 3 Memories and rules for consistent results
  • Reviewing and maintaining auto-generated and manually created memories
  • Creating and versioning global and workspace rules
  • Expressing architecture, style and testing guidelines as effective rules
  • Activating rules selectively by file pattern or occasion
Module 4 Workflows and automation
  • Defining recurring procedures as workflows and launching them via slash command
  • Building workflows for release preparation, testing or code maintenance
  • Connecting MCP servers for issue trackers, databases or internal services
  • Controlling terminal command execution with allow and deny lists

Day 2

Module 5 Quality, review and governance
  • Tracing Cascade’s changes, accepting them partially or reverting them
  • Using a test-driven approach and preview features for verification
  • Team settings, data protection options and handling of secrets
  • Defining review processes and accountability for AI-generated code
Module 6 Practice lab: React & Front End
  • Building components from designs
  • Testing Library tests
  • Auditing and improving accessibility
  • Modernising legacy code
  • Optimising performance
  • Forms and data fetching
Module 7 Data protection, quality & transfer to daily work
  • Under the European Accessibility Act and its national implementations, many digital services must be accessible, so generated UI code needs proper checks. Also watch the licences of reused components and icons, keep secrets out of the client bundle and make sure tracking and consent logic complies with GDPR and ePrivacy rules.
  • Ground rules for safe AI use in your team
  • Checking results: facts, sources, tests and the four-eyes principle
  • Personal action plan for the next 30 days
  • Open questions, outlook and resources for further learning

Practical scenarios from your field

Building components from designs

From screenshots, design specs or Figma exports, the assistant produces typed React components that use your existing design tokens and libraries, and adds Storybook stories covering every state.

Testing Library tests

The AI writes user-centred component tests with React Testing Library and Vitest or Jest, simulates interactions, mocks API calls and covers loading, error and empty states.

Auditing and improving accessibility

The agent reviews components for semantic HTML, ARIA attributes, focus management and contrast, interprets axe results and fixes findings transparently against WCAG success criteria. Keyboard and screen reader behaviour is covered too.

Modernising legacy code

Class components are converted to function components with hooks, prop drilling is replaced by context or a proper state management approach and PropTypes give way to TypeScript types – with tests as a safety net.

Optimising performance

The AI pinpoints unnecessary re-renders, proposes memoisation, code splitting and lazy loading, analyses bundle reports and explains how each measure affects metrics such as LCP and INP.

Forms and data fetching

Complex forms with validation schemas, error messages and optimistic updates are generated alongside data-fetching logic with caching, retries and clean handling of loading and error states.

Possible hands-on projects

Interactive KPI dashboard

A React dashboard with charts, filters and a responsive layout that loads data from a REST API, built entirely by an AI agent from a short specification.

Component library with Storybook

A small, accessible component library with buttons, dialogs and form fields, including design tokens, Storybook documentation and automated tests. It forms the basis for consistent interfaces across several projects.

Accessibility checker for pull requests

A script that runs axe against Storybook stories automatically and turns the findings into a clear report attached to pull requests.

Prerequisites

You program regularly in at least one language and are familiar with Git and a modern IDE. Hands-on experience with React and modern JavaScript or TypeScript, plus a working knowledge of CSS, npm and Git.

Technical requirements

Your own laptop with the Windsurf editor, Git and your usual toolchain installed; a Windsurf account with access to Cascade is required.

Data protection & compliance

Under the European Accessibility Act and its national implementations, many digital services must be accessible, so generated UI code needs proper checks. Also watch the licences of reused components and icons, keep secrets out of the client bundle and make sure tracking and consent logic complies with GDPR and ePrivacy rules.

Suggested dates

All dates are suggestions – your preferred date is always possible.

  • Thu, 26 November 2026 – Fri, 27 November 2026 Online Request
  • Mon, 7 December 2026 – Tue, 8 December 2026 Berlin Request
  • Tue, 15 December 2026 – Wed, 16 December 2026 Online Request
  • Tue, 12 January 2027 – Wed, 13 January 2027 Online Request
  • Wed, 27 January 2027 – Thu, 28 January 2027 Stuttgart Request
  • Thu, 11 February 2027 – Fri, 12 February 2027 Online Request

Frequently asked questions

What does Windsurf mean by flows?

Flows describe the close collaboration between you and Cascade. The agent observes what you do in the editor and terminal and takes those actions into account in its next steps. As a result you do not have to keep explaining where you are, and you can move smoothly between doing the work yourself and delegating it to the agent.

How do memories, rules and workflows differ?

Memories store knowledge that Cascade has gathered while working or that you have explicitly recorded. Rules are guidelines you write that shape the agent’s behaviour permanently. Workflows are reusable sequences of steps for recurring tasks, launched with a slash command. Together they keep results consistent across the whole team.

Can I use Windsurf with my existing projects and languages?

Yes. Windsurf is language-agnostic and works with your existing toolchain, including build tools, package managers and test frameworks. Whether you work on back end, front end, data processing or infrastructure code, what matters is giving Cascade good rules and clear context. Each course variant adds the specific focus for your field.

Can AI implement designs pixel-perfectly?

AI assistants now translate layouts from screenshots or specs remarkably well, especially when they know your design tokens and components. Pixel-perfect results still come from iteration, though. On the course you learn to feed back visual deviations precisely and to use Storybook and visual tests as your control mechanism.

Does the framework I use matter?

The course centres on React, but the working methods transfer to Next.js, Remix or Vite-based setups. We show how to capture framework-specific rules such as server and client components or routing conventions in instruction files, so the assistant produces code that fits your stack.

How much does “Windsurf for React and Front-End Developers” cost?

The course costs a flat €949 plus VAT per participant – whether online or on-site. This includes 2 training day(s) with a live trainer, course materials, a lab environment and a certificate of attendance.

Can I suggest my own date?

Yes. Our suggested dates are just a guide. In the request form you can always describe your preferred date or period in free text – we check availability and confirm within one working day.

Is the course online or on-site?

Both are possible: live online in a virtual classroom or on-site in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart or Kaiserslautern. We can also run the course exclusively for your team.

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