ChainlessChain IDE Bridge (VS Code)

Current source/package version: 0.37.37, coordinated with [email protected]. Registry availability is verified separately from repository metadata. The bridge protocol and minimum supported CLI version remain unchanged.

Bridges the ChainlessChain cc agent CLI to VS Code. When this extension is active, running cc agent inside the editor's integrated terminal lets the agent read your editor context and propose changes as native diffs.

All seven phases of the IDE bridge design (docs/design/modules/98_IDE桥接对标方案.md) have shipped: discovery, the VS Code + JetBrains extensions, blocking diff review, marketplace releases, live awareness, and the chat panel.

Install — Open VSX only (NOT the Microsoft VS Code Marketplace)

⚠️ This extension is published to Open VSX only. It is not on the official Microsoft VS Code Marketplace, so a search inside stock Microsoft VS Code will not find it.

• VSCodium / Cursor / Windsurf / Gitpod (and anything that uses Open VSX): search "ChainlessChain IDE" in the Extensions panel.
• Stock Microsoft VS Code: download the .vsix from the Open VSX page above (or the direct link below) → Command Palette → Extensions: Install from VSIX…. Direct: https://open-vsx.org/api/chainlesschain/chainlesschain-ide/<version>/file/chainlesschain.chainlesschain-ide-<version>.vsix
• The JetBrains sibling is on the JetBrains Marketplace.

(Why not the Microsoft Marketplace? Publishing there requires an Azure-backed publisher subscription the project doesn't maintain; Open VSX is the open registry used by VSCodium/Cursor/etc.)

How it works

The extension runs a tiny MCP server (Model Context Protocol) on 127.0.0.1 and advertises it two ways:

1. Lockfile — ~/.chainlesschain/ide/<port>.json (file 0600, dir 0700) with the URL, a per-session bearer token, and the workspace folders.
2. Terminal env — CHAINLESSCHAIN_IDE_PORT / CHAINLESSCHAIN_IDE_TOKEN are injected into integrated terminals so cc locks onto this window deterministically (no scanning).

cc agent discovers the server, connects as the reserved MCP server ide, and the editor tools become callable by the model as mcp__ide__*:

| Tool | What it does | | ---------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | getSelection | active file + selected range + text | | getDiagnostics | errors/warnings (optionally scoped to a file) | | getOpenEditors | open tabs, active one flagged | | openDiff | open a native side-by-side diff for review | | executeCode | run code in the active Jupyter notebook's kernel (needs ms-toolsai.jupyter + a running kernel; state persists across calls) |

The token + 127.0.0.1 binding stop other local processes from driving your editor.

Automatic awareness (cc ≥ 0.162.39)

With a current cc CLI the agent doesn't just have these tools — it uses them on its own:

• Your selection rides along with every prompt. Each prompt you submit (one-shot -p, stream, or the interactive REPL) automatically carries an <ide-context> block: active file, open tabs, and the selected text. Ask "what does this do?" without pasting anything. The block is ephemeral — it is never written into the saved session, so --resume replays your words, not a stale editor snapshot.
• Post-edit diagnostics feed back into the loop. After the agent writes or edits a file, the editor's fresh errors/warnings for that file are attached to the tool result, so the model sees — and fixes — what it just broke in the same run.
• @ tab-completion prefers your open tabs. In the REPL, typing @<TAB> completes file references; files open in the editor rank first.

Set CC_IDE_CONTEXT=0 to turn the automatic sharing off (the mcp__ide__* tools stay available for explicit calls).

Project memory (cc ≥ 0.162.41)

The CLI auto-loads file-based project memory — cc.md > CLAUDE.md > AGENTS.md per directory, plus path-scoped .claude/rules — into every agent run, so agents started from this workspace already know your conventions. Two palette commands drive it without leaving the editor:

• ChainlessChain: Generate Project Memory (cc.md) — runs chainlesschain init in the shared terminal (offline folder inventory, or pick AI refine to let a bounded agent fill the Conventions section).
• ChainlessChain: Show Project Memory Files — runs chainlesschain memory files to list exactly what the agent will load.

Everything else from the 0.162.41 batch works in the integrated terminal as-is: REPL steering (queued input, Esc interrupt, /rewind double-Esc), ! <cmd> bash passthrough, # <note> quick-memorize into cc.md, / command TAB completion, and --json-schema structured output for scripted runs.

Configure the LLM (first run)

Run ChainlessChain: Configure LLM from the command palette — pick a provider (volcengine/doubao, Ollama, Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepSeek, DashScope, Kimi, Gemini, Mistral, MiniMax), enter the model/API key/base URL (sane defaults prefilled), and the wizard writes ~/.chainlesschain/config.json via cc config set and verifies connectivity with cc llm test. The chat panel also offers this wizard automatically when nothing is configured or a turn fails to reach the LLM. The API key stays in the local config file — never in VS Code settings.

Chat panel

Activity Bar → ChainlessChain IDE → Chat: a sidebar conversation with the agent, no terminal needed. Under the hood it keeps one persistent cc agent duplex process (--input/output-format stream-json) and streams replies token by token, with a live tool-call trace. Because the child runs inside this window's bridge, the agent automatically knows your selection and open tabs, pulls diagnostics after its edits, and can review edits as native diffs. Needs the cc CLI installed (npm i -g chainlesschain); point chainlesschain.cli.path at a custom binary if it is not on PATH. Conversations survive restarts (cc ≥ 0.162.40): the panel resumes this workspace's last session automatically. The New button starts a fresh conversation (also /new, /sessions, /plan, /stop… — type /help); chainlesschain.chat.provider / chainlesschain.chat.model pick the panel LLM (empty = the CLI default).

In the input box, @ mentions workspace files (ranked dropdown — Tab/Enter inserts @relative/path, and the CLI pulls that file into the conversation), and you can paste screenshots straight from the clipboard (📷 chips, up to 4 per message; needs cc ≥ 0.162.47 and a vision-capable model). Replies render markdown: code blocks, inline code, bold/italic, headings, bordered tables and ☐/☑ task lists — through an escape-first whitelist renderer, so the panel stays XSS-safe by construction.

Try it

1. Run the extension (F5 → Extension Development Host), open a folder.
2. In that window's integrated terminal: cc ide status should show the bridge, then cc agent -p "what's selected?" will see your selection.
3. cc ide doctor explains discovery if something is off.

No-extension self-check: the whole protocol is covered by packages/cli/__tests__/unit/vscode-ext-ide-bridge.test.js, which drives this extension's MCP server with the real CLI MCP client.

Visualization (0.2.0)

The bridge surfaces live state three ways, all fed by one activity log (onActivity hook on the MCP server → status bar / tree / dashboard):

• Status bar (bottom-right): ◉ IDE :<port> →N — running + port + tool-call count, flashes the active tool on each call. Click opens the dashboard.
• Sidebar (Activity Bar → ChainlessChain IDE): a tree of status, workspace folders, the bridge tools, and the recent tool-call log.
• Dashboard (ChainlessChain IDE: Open Dashboard): status cards + a live tool-call stream + a Restart button.

The bearer token is never displayed in any of these.

Status

• ✅ MCP server + lockfile + env injection + 7 tools (incl. executeCode, openMultiDiff, getTerminalOutput), wired and tested.
• ✅ openDiff blocking review with accept/reject + user-edited finalText.
• ✅ Live awareness with cc ≥ 0.162.39: selection shared per prompt, post-edit diagnostics fed back, edit approvals as native diffs.
• ✅ Chat panel (0.4.x): sidebar conversation over a persistent cc agent stream-json child.
• ✅ Status bar + sidebar tree + dashboard fed by one activity log.
• ✅ Published on Open VSX; the JetBrains sibling plugin is live on the JetBrains Marketplace.
• ✅ Chat session resume across panel/editor restarts (0.5.0, cc ≥ 0.162.40).
• ✅ Plan mode in the chat panel: Plan → live plan card → Approve & run (0.6.0).
• ✅ Turn interrupt: Stop/Esc aborts the in-flight turn, conversation survives (0.7.0).
• ✅ Approve/Deny cards for risky actions (0.9.0, cc ≥ 0.162.45) — no more silent fail-closed in the panel.
• ✅ Hunk-level partial accept: "Pick hunks…" multi-select on diff review (0.12.0).
• ✅ Markdown replies (md-lite, 0.13.0) + GFM tables and ☐/☑ task lists (0.17.0).
• ✅ Closing the diff tab rejects the review immediately (0.14.0).
• ✅ @ file mentions with a ranked completion dropdown (0.15.0).
• ✅ Paste screenshots as vision input (0.16.0, cc ≥ 0.162.47).
• ✅ Mid-session IDE restart hot-reconnect (cc ≥ 0.162.47): a window reload no longer kills the agent's IDE tools — the next call re-finds the new instance.
• ✅ Keybindings + Insert File Reference + @selection/@diagnostics hints (0.18.0).
• ✅ Fix with ChainlessChain: QuickFix lightbulb on diagnostics seeds a scoped fix request (0.19.0).
• ✅ Explain / Refactor selection (right-click) + /cost and /context panel commands (0.20.0).
• ✅ Workspace-symbol @-mention: find a file by a function/class name (0.21.0).
• ✅ Conversation tabs (0.22.0): multiple chats, each its own cc agent process; switching restores that tab's transcript.
• ✅ App Preview (0.22.0): run the project's dev server and open it in the built-in Simple Browser; the dev server's HMR live-reloads on edits.
• ✅ Inline diff comments — "Request changes…" (0.22.0): annotate diff lines with revision notes that the agent revises against.
• ✅ Batch multi-file diff — openMultiDiff (0.22.0): review a whole changeset in one native multi-file diff (Accept all / pick a subset / Reject).
• ✅ Terminal-context sharing — getTerminalOutput (0.23.0): the agent sees recent integrated-terminal commands + their output + exit code (VS Code 1.93+ shell integration), so it knows what you just ran and how it failed.
• ✅ CLI version-sync (0.24.0): on activation, checks cc --version and offers a one-click upgrade if your chainlesschain CLI is older than the extension needs — keeps the extension and the npm CLI in step.
• ✅ ChainlessChain: Upgrade CLI command (0.26.0): command-palette action to run npm i -g chainlesschain@latest on demand — update cc from the IDE any time.
• ✅ @terminal mention + App Preview crash recovery (0.27.0): @-completion offers @terminal (pulls recent terminal commands/output into the prompt); a crashed dev server now offers a one-click Restart.
• ✅ Background-tab completion signal (0.28.0): a turn finishing in a conversation tab you're not looking at flags the tab with a green ● dot and offers a "Show" toast to jump to it — no more silently-finished background chats.
• ✅ /rewind to an agent checkpoint (0.29.0, needs cc ≥ 0.162.70): the panel auto-snapshots the work tree before each file edit; /rewind lists this session's checkpoints in a QuickPick and restores the one you pick (the current state is snapshotted first, so the rewind is itself undoable).
• ✅ / slash-command autocomplete (0.29.0): typing / opens a dropdown of the panel commands (with descriptions), filtered as you type — Tab/Enter to fill, ↑/↓ to move, Esc to dismiss. Same dropdown as @-mentions.
• ✅ Copy button on code blocks (0.29.0): each fenced code block in a reply shows a hover Copy button that copies the block to the clipboard.
• ✅ /retry regenerate (0.29.0): re-send your last prompt as a fresh turn without retyping it.
• ✅ Approval-mode selector (0.30.0): /auto auto-accepts file edits, /bypass skips all approvals, /normal restores the default per-action prompts. Per conversation; switching restarts the agent child with the new --permission-mode and resumes the same session so context carries over.
• ✅ New-conversation & reopen-closed shortcuts (0.30.0): Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+N opens a fresh chat tab from anywhere; Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+T (chat focused) reopens the last-closed tab, resuming its session. Also a ＋ button in the view title.
• ✅ Persistent context-window indicator (0.30.0): a subtle ⊟ context 12.3k / 200k (6%) line under the chat, refreshed after each turn from cc context --json (authoritative window math). Turns red on overflow; disable with chainlesschain.chat.contextIndicator: false.
• ✅ Extended-thinking toggle + live reasoning (0.30.0): /think on, /ultrathink max budget, /think-off off. Per conversation; respawns the agent with --think/--ultrathink (Anthropic only). When on, the model's reasoning streams into a dimmed, collapsible block above the answer (auto-collapses once answered; click to re-open).
• ✅ Pending-approval tab dot (0.30.0): an approval awaiting you in a background tab shows a blue dot (vs the green "done" dot) + a toast; switching to the tab re-surfaces the approval card.
• ✅ @file#L5-10 line ranges (0.30.0): Insert File Reference with a selection appends the line range (@src/app.ts#L5-10); the CLI expands only those lines (needs cc ≥ 0.162.71). No selection → whole file as before.

Packaging

npx @vscode/vsce package --no-dependencies   # produces a .vsix

The extension has no runtime npm dependencies (pure Node + the VS Code API).

Public capability contract (generated)

This summary is pinned to the repository's versioned, secret-free PUBLIC_IDE_CAPABILITY_MANIFEST.generated.json. The base IDE/Doctor contract requires cc >= 0.162.47; feature-specific sections below may require a newer CLI.

• VS Code commands: 44 registered entries
• Doctor entries: chainlesschain.ide.doctor, chainlesschain.remote.doctor
• Bridge capability schema: v1 (19 mapped tools)
• Drift check: npm run ide:capabilities:check from the repository root

• chainlesschain.ide.showStatus
• chainlesschain.ide.restart
• chainlesschain.ide.openDashboard
• chainlesschain.complete.trigger
• chainlesschain.ide.doctor
• chainlesschain.ide.exportDiagnostics
• chainlesschain.team.monitor
• chainlesschain.session.prStatus
• chainlesschain.background.agents
• chainlesschain.sessions.workbench
• chainlesschain.remote.control
• chainlesschain.usage.show
• chainlesschain.plugins.manage
• chainlesschain.worktree.tasks
• chainlesschain.chrome.connector
• chainlesschain.artifacts.show
• chainlesschain.policy.show
• chainlesschain.workspace.scanAutoExec
• chainlesschain.remote.doctor
• chainlesschain.lens.explain
• chainlesschain.lens.refactor
• chainlesschain.diff.accept
• chainlesschain.diff.reject
• chainlesschain.memory.init
• chainlesschain.memory.files
• chainlesschain.llm.configure
• chainlesschain.llm.configureVision
• chainlesschain.chat.insertReference
• chainlesschain.chat.fixDiagnostics
• chainlesschain.chat.explainSelection
• chainlesschain.chat.refactorSelection
• chainlesschain.chat.newConversation
• chainlesschain.chat.reopenClosedSession
• chainlesschain.plan.approve
• chainlesschain.plan.requestChanges
• chainlesschain.plan.regenerate
• chainlesschain.plan.reject
• chainlesschain.preview.start
• chainlesschain.preview.stop
• chainlesschain.cli.upgrade
• chainlesschain.cli.checkUpdate
• chainlesschain.cli.whatsNew
• chainlesschain.cli.installManaged
• chainlesschain.cli.rollbackManaged