Agent Cowork
Agent Cowork simplifies Visual Studio Code into a clean, friendly workspace designed for non-technical professionals co-working with AI coding agents.
It strips away intimidating developer clutter (complex git panels, crowded tab bars, tiny font sizes) and gives you a welcoming, browser-like environment with an eye-friendly theme and visual markdown reading.
✨ Key Features
🌿 Agent Cowork Light Theme
A modern, soothing light theme featuring emerald accents (#059669), clear high-contrast text, and a calming workspace canvas that reduces eye strain during long sessions.
🌐 Browser-Style Tabs
Tabs that behave like your favorite web browser:
- Shrink smoothly to fit window width before scrolling horizontally.
- No accidental tab overwriting (Preview mode disabled by default).
- Larger, comfortable click targets and legible labels.
📁 Distraction-Free Workspace Explorer
- Streamlined sidebar focusing only on your workspace folder and files.
- Hides overwhelming developer drawers (Outline, Timeline, Source Control).
- Quickly create and manage files with one-click header actions.
🤖 Friendly File Indicators
- Distinct robot indicators for markdown files, clearly signaling your AI instructions, prompt files, and task logs.
- Clean document icons for other files in your project.
📝 Integrated Markdown Viewer
Double-click markdown files to read rich formatted notes, AI plans, and project documentation effortlessly without raw syntax distractions.
🚀 Getting Started
- Install Agent Cowork from the Visual Studio Marketplace.
- Open any folder or workspace containing your project.
- Use the simplified workspace view in the sidebar to browse your files.
- Enjoy a clutter-free co-working experience with your AI assistant!
⚙️ Extension Settings
Agent Cowork includes customizable preferences under Settings > Extensions > Agent Cowork:
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
agentCowork.showWelcomeOnStartup |
true |
Show the Agent Cowork welcome dashboard on launch. |
agentCowork.simplifyLayout |
true |
Simplify UI layout and hide complex developer activity bars. |
agentCowork.browserTabs |
true |
Enable web browser-style tab sizing and behavior. |
agentCowork.hideGitAndDrawers |
true |
Hide Git drawers and secondary panels for a clean interface. |
🛠️ Development & Build Tutorial
Follow these steps to set up the project locally, build the extension, run tests, and package a .vsix file.
Prerequisites
1. Clone & Install Dependencies
git clone https://github.com/agruenb/agent-cowork.git
cd agent-cowork
npm install
2. Development & Watching
To start incremental compilation and watch for changes in both the extension host and webview bundles:
npm run watch
# or
npm run dev
3. Debugging in VS Code
- Open the project folder in VS Code:
code .
- Press F5 (or open the Run & Debug view and select Run Extension).
- A new Extension Development Host window will open with the Agent Cowork extension active.
4. Running Tests & Type Checking
Ensure types and tests pass:
# Type check TypeScript
npm run check-types
# Run linter
npm run lint
# Run unit tests (Mocha with tsx)
npm test
5. Production Build & Packaging (.vsix)
To create an optimized production build:
npm run package
To package the extension into an installable .vsix file (for local installation or distribution):
npm run package-vsix
This generates agent-cowork-<version>.vsix in the project root. You can install it directly in VS Code using:
code --install-extension agent-cowork-*.vsix
📄 License
Distributed under the MIT License.
