VS Code Code Suggest and Explaining Extension

A powerful Visual Studio Code extension that leverages Ollama AI models to analyze, explain, and provide enhancement suggestions for your code directly within your IDE.

Features

Code Analysis

Explain Code: Get detailed explanations of selected code snippets in natural language
Enhancement Suggestions: Receive AI-powered recommendations to improve code quality, performance, and best practices

Interactive Webview Panel

Dedicated sidebar panel with an intuitive interface
Real-time streaming responses for faster feedback
Collapsible sections for better organization
Markdown rendering with syntax highlighting
Support for multiple Ollama models

Language Support

Works with any programming language supported by VS Code
Automatically detects the language of selected code
Context-aware explanations based on language syntax

Prerequisites

Before using this extension, you need to have:

Ollama installed on your system
- Download from ollama.ai
- Ensure Ollama service is running
At least one Ollama model downloaded
- Example: ollama pull codellama
- Recommended models for code analysis:
  - codellama - Meta's code-specialized LLM
  - deepseek-coder - Excellent for code understanding
  - phind-codellama - Fine-tuned for coding tasks
  - mistral - General-purpose with good code capabilities

Installation

From VSIX (Local Installation)

Download the .vsix file
Open VS Code
Go to Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X)
Click the ... menu at the top of the Extensions view
Select "Install from VSIX..."
Choose the downloaded .vsix file

From Source

Clone this repository
Run npm install to install dependencies
Run npm run compile to build the extension
Press F5 to open a new VS Code window with the extension loaded

Usage

Opening the Extension

Click on the Ollama icon in the Activity Bar (left sidebar)
The "Code Explainer" panel will open

Analyzing Code

Select Code: Highlight the code you want to analyze in any file
Choose Model: Select an Ollama model from the dropdown in the panel
Select Mode:
- Explain Code: Get a detailed explanation of what the code does
- Suggest Enhancements: Receive recommendations for improvements
Analyze: Click the "Analyze Selected Code" button
View Results: The analysis will stream in real-time in the panel

Alternative Method

You can also use the Command Palette:

Press Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P
Type "Explain Code with Ollama"
Press Enter (make sure code is selected first)

Features in Detail

Real-time Streaming

The extension uses streaming responses from Ollama, providing instant feedback as the AI generates the analysis. No more waiting for the entire response to complete!

Markdown Support

All responses are rendered as markdown with:

Syntax-highlighted code blocks
Formatted headers and lists
Tables and blockquotes
Inline code formatting

Collapsible Sections

Selected Code: View the code being analyzed with syntax highlighting
Analysis Result: Expandable/collapsible sections keep your workspace organized

Model Management

Dynamically loads all available Ollama models
Refresh models without restarting VS Code
Remembers your last selected model

Troubleshooting

"Failed to load Ollama models"

Ensure Ollama is installed and running
Check if Ollama service is accessible at http://localhost:11434
Verify you have at least one model installed: ollama list

"No Ollama model selected"

Click the "Refresh Models" button in the panel
Ensure at least one model is installed via ollama pull <model-name>

No Response When Analyzing

Make sure you have selected code in the active editor
Verify the selected model is available and running
Check VS Code's Output panel (View � Output � Ollama Code Explainer) for errors

Configuration

Currently, the extension works with default Ollama settings. Future versions will include:

Custom Ollama API endpoint configuration
Temperature and other model parameter controls
Custom prompt templates
History of previous analyses

Development

Building from Source

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Compile TypeScript
npm run compile

# Watch mode for development
npm run watch

# Run tests
npm test

Requirements

VS Code version ^1.105.0 or higher
Ollama service running locally
Node.js for development

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues or pull requests.

Ideas for Contributions

Add support for custom prompts
Implement analysis history/cache
Add more analysis modes (debug, optimize, document)
Support for remote Ollama instances
Integration with other AI providers

Known Issues

Large code selections may take longer to analyze
Requires Ollama to be running locally (no cloud support yet)

Release Notes

0.0.1 (Initial Release)

Initial release of VS Code Code Suggest and Explaining Extension
Code explanation with Ollama integration
Enhancement suggestions mode
Real-time streaming responses
Markdown rendering with syntax highlighting
Multi-model support
Interactive webview panel

Support

If you encounter any issues or have feature requests, please file an issue on the GitHub repository.

Enjoy enhanced code understanding with AI-powered analysis!

My Website

ClarifAI

AbdulkaderSafi