The Eclipse Foundation has announced that its Theia IDE will now have AI-based features. Theia AI is an open framework that lets tool builders integrate Large Language Models (LLMs) into custom tools and IDEs, while Theia IDE is an open source software development environment built on the Theia AI framework. 

Eclipse Foundation released Theia IDE in 2024 as a modern, open, and flexible coding tool based on the Theia Platform, which offers an open source alternative to Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code.

When Theia was first announced in 2017 the Eclipse Foundation described it as an extensible platform to develop multi-language Cloud and Desktop IDEs, and the project team said this ensures that as an adopter you don't need to make an upfront decision about whether your new developer product should run in the cloud, on the desktop, or both.

The addition of the AI features has been made possible because they have been donated by EclipseSource, who specialize in AI-native tool development.

Theia  AI is described as an open framework that allows tool builders to integrate Large Language Models (LLMs) of their choice into custom tools and IDEs, enabling agentic workflows, context-aware AI suggestions, and intelligent assistance. 

Mike Milinkovich, executive director of the Eclipse Foundation, said the additions are a reaction to the situation where proprietary AI development platforms are locking developers and tool builders into inflexible,  opaque, and single vendor ecosystems:

"With Theia AI, we are putting control back in the hands of developers, enabling them to integrate AI on their own terms—fully open, extensible, and adaptable to their needs."

As an open source framework, Theia AI lets developers select the most suitable LLM, whether cloud-based, self-hosted, or fully local. It also lets developers orchestrate the entire prompt engineering flow, define agentic behaviors, and determine which data and knowledge sources are used. 

The framework provides intelligent coding agents, AI-powered terminal support, and context-sensitive assistants. It includes Model Contextual Protocol (MCP) integration so developers can connect AI-driven workflows with external tools, services, and contextual data. It also includes SCANOSS integration that analyses AI-generated code for open source licensing compliance.

Both Theia AI and the AI-powered Theia IDE are now available.  

More Information

Theia IDE Website

Related Articles

Eclipse Releases Theia IDE

Eclipse Releases Theia - Open Source VSCode Alternative

Gitpod Launches VS Code Browser Server

Gitpod Goes Open Source

To be informed about new articles on I Programmer, sign up for our weekly newsletter, subscribe to the RSS feed and follow us on Twitter, Facebook or Linkedin.

Comments

Make a Comment or View Existing Comments Using Disqus

or email your comment to: comments@i-programmer.info