- Category
- Developer Tools
- Rank
- No. 1685Tools index
- Pricing
- Open Source
- Type
- TOOL
- Builder
- badlogic
- GitHub
- 41 stars
- Date
About
VS Code extension and MCP server that lets Claude Code open files, show diffs, and manipulate your editor.
What it does
VS Claude gives an AI assistant a visual navigation channel into your active coding workspace. It can bring up files, select relevant line ranges, compare two files, inspect Git states, and handle several requested views in one batch.
Why it's ranked here
The narrow scope is its strength. It turns an assistant’s references into visible editor context, including targeted lines and Git comparisons, without pretending to be a general automation layer. The implementation also accounts for multiple editor windows and partial batch failures.
What's good
Batch requests reduce back-and-forth when an assistant needs to show several related locations. Repeated requests for one file become multiple selections in a single editor. Git comparisons support working files, staged content, and named revisions, while useful errors explain missing repositories or incorrectly opened subfolders.
Tradeoffs
The public command surface handles only opening and comparison tasks. It does not expose editing, terminal control, search, or broader workspace actions. Multiple open windows require explicit window selection. Git comparisons depend on the built-in Git extension and an opened repository root. The settings panel reports success without persisting settings.
How to use it well
Use it when Claude or another MCP client regularly points you toward code that you want displayed and compared inside VS Code. It fits investigation, review, and guided debugging workflows. Keep another tool for changing files, running commands, searching projects, or automating the wider development environment.
Technical notes+
src/extension.ts initializes WindowManager, restores panels, registers setup commands, and checks MCP installation at startup. src/window-manager.ts creates per-window .in, .out, and metadata files under ~/.vs-claude, watches newline-delimited JSON commands, and maintains metadata with a heartbeat. src/command-handler.ts accepts only the open tool and normalizes single arguments into arrays. src/tools/open-tool.ts groups duplicate file requests into multiple selections, invokes VS Code diff views, and uses the built-in Git extension for revision URIs. src/setup.ts selects bundled binaries by operating system and architecture, then directly updates project-scoped MCP configuration in ~/.claude.json. src/panels/settings/panel.ts contains a TODO for persistence and currently acknowledges saves without storing them.
Observed
- License
- MIT, declared in the extension package metadata
- Implementation languages
- TypeScript extension with a Go MCP server
- Install surface
- VS Code Marketplace extension or locally built VSIX package
- Interface
- MCP server exposing an open tool for files, file diffs, and Git diffs
- Platform support
- Bundled server targets macOS Intel and ARM, Linux AMD64, and Windows AMD64
- Runtime requirements
- VS Code 1.74 or newer and Node.js 16 or newer
- Testing structure
- Repository documentation describes a test suite that launches VS Code and verifies file opening and MCP integration
Read from README.md, package.json, src/setup.ts, src/logger.ts, src/extension.ts, src/panel-base.ts, src/webview-base.ts, src/panel-manager.ts, src/window-manager.ts, src/command-handler.ts, src/tools/types.ts, src/tools/open-tool.ts, src/panels/settings/panel.ts, src/panels/settings/webview.ts, src/panels/settings/messages.ts.
What it can do
Open files in VS Code editor
File path or name → File opened in VS Code
Display code differences
Two versions of code or files → Visual diff comparison in editor
Manipulate editor content
Editor commands and target content → Modified code or text in editor
Execute VS Code editor operations
Editor commands through Claude interface → Editor state changes and responses
Browse and navigate file structure
Directory or workspace path → File tree navigation and access
Intel on VS Claude
Tags
Tech Stack
Comments (0)
No comments yet
Editorially curated, with community endorsements as a secondary signal. Corrections welcome.