Google Antigravity launched in November 2025 alongside Gemini 3, and it quickly became one of the most talked-about AI coding tools. It promises autonomous agents that can plan, code, debug, and deploy with minimal hand-holding. That sounds great until you realize you're handing an AI full access to your terminal and codebase.
So, is Antigravity actually safe to build with? We dug into its permission model, data handling, and the security risks you should know about before trusting it with your next project.
TL;DR
Antigravity is safe for most development work if you configure its permissions correctly. The platform has a solid Allow/Deny List system for terminal commands, but your source code is sent to Google's servers for AI processing. The real risks: overly permissive terminal access, unreviewed generated code, and 94+ inherited Chromium vulnerabilities shared with every VS Code fork. Lock down permissions, review what the agent does, and scan your output before shipping.
Our Verdict
Use with CautionWhat's Good
- Granular permission system (Allow/Deny Lists)
- Sandboxed agent environments
- Google's infrastructure and security team behind it
- Free public preview with generous rate limits
- Works with multiple AI models (Gemini, Claude, GPT)
What to Watch
- Source code sent to cloud for every AI interaction
- Agent can attempt risky terminal commands
- Ambiguous telemetry and "product improvement" language
- Built on VS Code fork with inherited Chromium vulnerabilities
- Still in public preview, not production-hardened
How Antigravity Handles Your Code
Every time you ask Antigravity to plan or write code, your source code context gets transmitted to Google's servers. This is how all cloud-based AI coding tools work, but it matters more here because Antigravity's agentic mode sends broader context than a simple autocomplete tool.
What gets sent:
- Files you're editing and files the agent decides are relevant
- Your prompts, instructions, and conversation history
- Terminal output from commands the agent runs
- Error messages and stack traces
Google says this data is processed and not stored long-term. The public preview includes a telemetry toggle, but the language around "product improvement" is vague enough to warrant caution if you're working on anything proprietary.
Watch out: Unlike a simple code completion tool, Antigravity's agentic mode can read across your entire project to build context. If you have .env files, private keys, or credentials anywhere in your repo, the agent might pull them into the context window. Set up proper exclusion rules before your first session.
The Permission System (Your Main Defense)
Antigravity's security model revolves around three controls:
Terminal Command Auto Execution controls whether the agent can run shell commands without asking you first. Keep this restricted. When set to permissive mode, the agent can run any command it thinks will help, and its judgment isn't always sound.
Allow Lists define which commands the agent can run automatically. You might allow npm test, git status, or ls without interruption.
Deny Lists block specific commands entirely. Add dangerous operations here: rm -rf, chmod, curl | bash, anything that modifies permissions or downloads arbitrary scripts.
Start restrictive. Begin with Auto Execution disabled and an empty Allow List. As you learn which commands the agent needs for your workflow, add them one at a time. It takes 10 minutes to set up, and it prevents the agent from doing something you'll regret.
The chmod 777 Incident
Early adopters reported an Antigravity agent attempting to run chmod -R 777 on a project directory. The agent hit a "Permission Denied" error while fixing a bug and decided the fastest solution was to give read, write, and execute permissions to everyone on the system.
This wasn't a security vulnerability in Antigravity itself. It was the AI optimizing for "make the error go away" without understanding the security implications. But it shows exactly why broad terminal permissions are dangerous. An AI agent will take the shortest path to solving a problem, even if that path opens your system to anyone on the network.
If you had Auto Execution enabled with no Deny List, that command would have run without asking.
Add these to your Deny List immediately: chmod, chown, rm -rf, curl | bash, wget | sh, sudo, and any command that modifies system permissions or downloads and executes remote scripts.
Inherited Chromium Vulnerabilities
Antigravity is built on a VS Code fork, which means it bundles Electron, which bundles Chromium. This matters because of a problem shared by Cursor and Windsurf: VS Code forks often ship with outdated Chromium versions.
Security researchers found 94 known vulnerabilities in the Chromium builds used by AI IDEs, affecting over 1.8 million developers. These aren't theoretical risks. They include memory corruption bugs that enable arbitrary code execution.
How this affects you in practice:
- A malicious file opened in the editor could exploit a Chromium vulnerability
- Extensions running in the IDE share the same vulnerable runtime
- The attack surface grows if you use the IDE's built-in browser or preview features
Google has better resources than most companies to keep their fork updated, but the public preview has shipped with Chromium versions that lag behind stable Chrome by several releases. Check your Antigravity version regularly and update when patches drop.
Generated Code Security
The code Antigravity produces carries the same risks as every other AI coding tool. Gemini-generated code tends to:
| Risk | Likelihood | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Hardcoded API keys | Medium | Grep for string literals that look like tokens |
| Missing authentication | High | Verify every endpoint checks auth |
| Permissive CORS | Medium | Check for Access-Control-Allow-Origin: * |
| SQL injection | Low-Medium | Confirm parameterized queries |
| Missing input validation | High | Test edge cases on all user inputs |
The agentic mode makes this worse, not better. When Antigravity works autonomously across multiple files, it can introduce inconsistencies: auth middleware in one route but not another, validation on the frontend but not the API, environment variables in some files and hardcoded values in others.
Tip: After any agentic coding session, run a security scan on the full project, not just the files you know were changed. The agent may have touched files you didn't expect. If you're building with Antigravity, a tool like CheckYourVibe catches the patterns AI agents miss.
Antigravity vs Cursor vs Windsurf
| Feature | Antigravity | Cursor | Windsurf |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent company | Anysphere | Codeium | |
| Permission system | Allow/Deny Lists | Limited | Settings-based |
| Terminal access control | Granular policies | Basic approval | Basic approval |
| Code training opt-out | Default (claimed) | Privacy Mode | Enterprise |
| SOC 2 | Pending | Yes | Yes |
| Compliance certs | None yet | SOC 2 only | SOC 2, HIPAA, FedRAMP |
| Self-hosted option | No | Enterprise | No |
| Agentic capabilities | Full (browser + terminal) | Agent mode | Cascade |
Antigravity has the most granular permission controls, but it's also the newest and least battle-tested. Windsurf leads on compliance certifications. Cursor has the longest track record in the AI IDE space.
For a deeper comparison, see our Cursor vs Windsurf breakdown.
How to Use Antigravity Safely
Lock down terminal permissions
Disable Auto Execution. Create a Deny List that blocks destructive commands (rm -rf, chmod, sudo, curl | bash). Only add commands to the Allow List after you've verified they're safe for your project.
Exclude sensitive files
Configure Antigravity to ignore .env files, private keys, certificates, and any files containing credentials. The agent doesn't need your Stripe secret key to help you build a checkout form.
Review agent actions before approving
When Antigravity asks to run a command or make a change, read what it wants to do. Don't click "approve" on autopilot. Pay special attention to commands that modify files outside your project directory.
Scan generated code before deploying
AI agents introduce security gaps that are easy to miss in manual review. Run an automated scan after every major coding session, especially when the agent worked across multiple files. MCP server integrations add another layer of risk worth checking.
Keep Antigravity updated
Google pushes updates frequently during the preview period. Each update may include Chromium patches and security fixes. Don't run an outdated version.
Is Google Antigravity safe for production code?
Antigravity is safe for most development work, but it sends source code to Google's servers for AI processing. Use the Allow/Deny List system to exclude sensitive files, review its terminal commands before approving, and always scan the generated code before deploying to production.
Does Antigravity store my source code?
Google states that source code is processed for AI features but not stored long-term or used for training in the default configuration. Enterprise users get additional data isolation guarantees. However, your code does leave your machine during AI interactions.
Is Antigravity safer than Cursor or Windsurf?
Antigravity has a more granular permission system than most competitors, with Terminal Command Auto Execution policies and Allow/Deny Lists. However, Cursor and Windsurf share a similar security profile. The bigger risk with all three tools is the generated code, not the platform.
Can Antigravity run dangerous commands on my machine?
Yes, if you grant broad terminal permissions. Antigravity's agent can execute shell commands, and there have been reports of agents attempting risky operations like chmod 777 when encountering permission errors. Keep Auto Execution restricted and review commands before approving them.
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