Trae — Free AI IDE by ByteDance with Claude & GPT-4

What it is

Trae is a free AI-powered IDE by ByteDance that includes built-in access to Claude Sonnet and GPT-4o at no cost. Built on VS Code, it offers two AI modes: Chat for quick questions and inline assistance, and Builder for multi-file agentic editing where the AI plans and executes changes across your project.

Trae is for developers who want AI coding assistance without managing API keys or paying per-token fees. It provides the same model access as paid tools but bundles the cost into the IDE itself.

How it saves time or tokens

Trae eliminates the API key setup and billing management that other AI coding tools require. You download the IDE, open your project, and start using Claude or GPT-4o immediately. There is no usage-based pricing, no credit card required, and no token budgets to manage.

Builder mode goes beyond single-file completions. It plans multi-file changes, shows a diff preview, and applies edits across your project. This is particularly useful for refactoring tasks that touch many files simultaneously.

How to use

1. Download Trae from trae.ai (macOS, Windows, Linux).

1. Open your project in Trae.

1. Use keyboard shortcuts for AI features:

Cmd+I (Ctrl+I on Windows) -- Inline AI chat
Cmd+Shift+Y               -- Builder mode for multi-file edits

1. In Builder mode, describe the change you want:

Refactor the authentication module to use JWT tokens.
Update all API routes that check auth.
Add unit tests for the new JWT validation.

Trae plans the changes, shows diffs for each file, and applies them on approval.

Example

Using Trae's inline chat to add error handling:

# Select this function and press Cmd+I
def process_payment(order_id, amount):
    response = stripe.Charge.create(amount=amount, currency='usd')
    db.update_order(order_id, status='paid')
    return response

# Ask: 'Add error handling for Stripe API failures and database errors'
# Trae generates:
def process_payment(order_id: str, amount: int) -> dict:
    try:
        response = stripe.Charge.create(amount=amount, currency='usd')
    except stripe.error.StripeError as e:
        logger.error(f'Stripe charge failed for order {order_id}: {e}')
        raise PaymentError(f'Payment failed: {e.user_message}') from e
    try:
        db.update_order(order_id, status='paid')
    except DatabaseError as e:
        logger.error(f'DB update failed after charge for order {order_id}')
        # Charge succeeded but DB failed - flag for manual review
        raise PaymentReconciliationError(order_id) from e
    return response

Related on TokRepo

• Coding AI tools -- AI-powered code editors and assistants
• Automation tools -- developer workflow automation

Common pitfalls

• Trae sends your code to ByteDance's servers for AI processing. If your organization has strict data residency requirements, verify compliance before using Trae with proprietary code.
• Builder mode works best with well-structured projects. Large monorepos with complex build systems may produce incomplete multi-file edits.
• VS Code extensions generally work in Trae since it is VS Code-based, but some extensions may have compatibility issues. Test your essential extensions before fully switching.