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简体中文 | English

Trae Best Practices

Trae is an AI IDE by ByteDance (based on VS Code) with a free tier. Developer-friendly for the Chinese market — Chinese UI, plus a separate edition for mainland China. Great for getting started with AI coding and budget-conscious teams.

⚠️ Key changes in 2025-2026:

  • No more Claude: after Anthropic restricted Chinese-controlled companies from using Claude in 2025-09, Trae removed all Claude models.
  • Renamed: the IDE was renamed TraeCode in 2026-08; the former SOLO was renamed TRAE Work on 2026-06-09. trae.ai now offers two downloads: TraeCode and TraeWork.
  • Two editions: the international trae.ai and the mainland trae.cn are separate products; the mainland edition uses domestic models and is directly reachable in China (check trae.cn for its current model list).

Core Concepts

Concept Description Use Case
Agent Built-in Agent (called Builder in older versions) + custom agents (prompt + tools + MCP), plus SOLO Coder Complex tasks, cross-file changes
Chat Sidebar conversation Q&A, understanding code
Completion Inline code completion Daily coding
Rules Any .md under .trae/rules/ Project-level rules
MCP One-click add from the MCP marketplace, or project-level .trae/mcp.json Connect external tools
@ References @file @folder @web Pinpoint context precisely

Getting Started

Installation

Download TraeCode from trae.ai (users in mainland China can use trae.cn). Supports macOS / Windows / Linux.

After signing up you can start using it right away — no API key needed. International pricing (see trae.ai/pricing for the latest):

Plan Price Notes
Free $0 Auto mode only (model picked for you), limited usage, 5,000 completions/month
Pro $20/month Auto + all models, unlimited completions
Pro+ $60/month Higher usage
Ultra $200/month Highest usage

Rules — Project Rules

Create .trae/rules/project_rules.md (any .md under .trae/rules/ is read, recursively through subfolders up to three levels deep):

---
alwaysApply: true
---

# Project Rules

## Tech Stack
React + TypeScript + Ant Design + UmiJS

## Code Standards
- Use functional components + Hooks
- State management: @umijs/max built-in Model
- Use umi-request for HTTP calls, not fetch/axios directly
- Use CSS Modules for styling

## Localization Standards
- Comments in Chinese
- Commit messages in Chinese
- Variable names in English

alwaysApply: true in the frontmatter means the rule always applies; alternatively use globs (applies to matching files) or description (the AI decides when it applies). If your project already has AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md, turn on "Include AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md in context" under Settings > Rules to reuse them.

Agent Mode

Agent is Trae's autonomous execution mode (called Builder in older versions), similar to Cursor's Agent. Besides the built-in Agent, you can create custom agents with their own prompts, toolsets, and MCP servers:

Use Agent mode.
Reference the pattern in src/pages/user/list.tsx,
create a new order list page at src/pages/order/list.tsx.
Requirements:
1. Table uses Ant Design ProTable
2. Support filtering by date, status, and amount
3. Support Excel export
4. Action column: view details, cancel order, refund

Prompting Tips

1. Match Mode and Model to the Task

The Free plan only offers Auto mode (Trae picks the model); Pro and above let you choose models manually. Allocate wisely:

# Complex tasks — Agent mode + the strongest model available to you
Agent mode: refactor the entire auth module

# Simple tasks — Chat mode, Auto is fine
Chat mode: explain this code / write a comment

2. Chinese-Friendly

Trae has the best Chinese language support — you can interact entirely in Chinese:

Refactor the request wrapper in src/utils/request.ts:
1. Add unified loading state management
2. Show errors using Ant Design's message component
3. Auto-redirect to login on 401 errors
4. Set network timeout to 10 seconds

3. Ant Design Ecosystem

Trae works well with popular Chinese component libraries:

@https://ant-design.antgroup.com/components/table-cn
Refer to the Ant Design docs,
add a custom row expansion feature to ProTable
that shows order item details when expanded.

How It Differs from Cursor

Dimension Trae Cursor
Price Free tier (Auto mode only); Pro $20/month $20/month
Chinese support 3/3 (Chinese UI) 1/3 (English only)
Access in China 3/3 (direct access via the trae.cn edition) 1/3 (requires proxy)
Agent capabilities 2/3 3/3
Rules system 2/3 3/3 (glob-based on-demand loading)
Extension ecosystem 2/3 (VS Code compatible) 3/3 (VS Code compatible)
Best for Getting started, budget-conscious, China-based teams Advanced users, willing to pay, want the strongest tools

Common Pitfalls

Pitfall Description Solution
Agent runs slow The Free plan uses the standard queue and may wait Use Agent for non-urgent tasks, Chat for urgent ones; or upgrade to a paid plan (fast queue)
Can't find Claude Claude was removed in 2025-09 Use another available model; switch tools if you must have Claude
Rules not working Wrong file path, nesting depth, or frontmatter Ensure files are under .trae/rules/ (max three subfolder levels), in .md format; check alwaysApply / globs

Configuration Templates

Template Purpose
project_rules.md Project rules template (React + UmiJS + Ant Design), copy to .trae/rules/

Further Reading