AgentSmithy VSCode

AgentSmithy VS Code Extension

Status: Alpha. APIs and UX are still evolving. Expect breaking changes and rough edges.
Provider support: OpenAI only (for now).
Requirement: You must bring your own OpenAI API key.

AgentSmithy is an AI coding assistant that runs as a server and integrates into VS Code / Code-OSS.

Supports Code-OSS, VSCodium, and other VS Code forks.

AgentSmithy server

This extension is a client UI for the standalone AgentSmithy server: AgentSmithyAI/agentsmithy-agent.

The server:

Runs locally as a self-hosted AI coding assistant
Orchestrates the LLM with tools, RAG over your repository, and safe multi-step edits
Exposes an HTTP API (FastAPI) with real-time streaming via SSE
Stores configuration on disk and hot-reloads changes without restarts

For deeper technical details (architecture, API, RAG, checkpoints, etc.), see the server documentation in the agentsmithy-agent repository.

Requirements

VS Code / Code‑OSS / VSCodium (1.100.0+)
OpenAI API key – required for all AI features
OpenAI streaming enabled – your OpenAI account must allow streaming responses for the models you configure

Quick start

Install the extension
- From Marketplace (when available): search for AgentSmithy in the Extensions view and click Install, or
- From a VSIX file (see Installation for details).
Get an OpenAI API key
- Create or sign in to your OpenAI account.
- Generate an API key and keep it somewhere safe.
Configure AgentSmithy (recommended: config panel)
- Open the Command Palette: Ctrl+Shift+P.
- Run AgentSmithy: Open Configuration.
- In the configuration webview:
  - Add an OpenAI provider if it’s not already present.
  - Paste your OpenAI API key.
  - Select a chat model (for example gpt-4o) and, optionally, an embeddings model.
- Click Save Configuration.
Start using AgentSmithy
- Click the AgentSmithy icon in the Activity Bar to open the chat view.
- On first use, the extension will automatically download and start the server.
- Start chatting with your AI assistant, or send code selections as context.

Configuration

Most users should configure AgentSmithy entirely through the built‑in configuration panel.

Configuration via VS Code panel (recommended)

Open the AgentSmithy view from the Activity Bar (left sidebar) and click the settings (gear) button, or
Open Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) → AgentSmithy: Open Configuration.
Use the configuration webview tabs to:
- Manage providers (currently only OpenAI is supported in this alpha build)
- Define workloads (e.g. reasoning vs embeddings)
- Bind model slots for agents and tools
- Adjust other runtime options
Changes are applied via hot reload on the server side — no manual restart required.

See configuration management documentation for more details.

Global configuration file (advanced)

Under the hood, the configuration is stored on the server side:

Linux: ~/.config/agentsmithy/config.json (respects XDG_CONFIG_HOME)
macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/AgentSmithy/config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%/AgentSmithy/config.json

You can edit this file directly if you prefer managing JSON, but the config panel is recommended and kept in sync with the file.

Note: The exact shape of configuration may change during the alpha phase. Prefer using the configuration panel when possible.

Usage

Server management

By default, the extension manages the AgentSmithy server for you:

On first use, it downloads the matching binary for your platform.
It starts, restarts, and stops the server as needed.

You can control it via Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P):

AgentSmithy: Start Server – Manually start the server
AgentSmithy: Stop Server – Stop the running server
AgentSmithy: Restart Server – Restart the server
AgentSmithy: Show Server Status – Check current server health

Monitoring logs

Open View → Output, then choose AgentSmithy Server from the dropdown to see server logs.
This is the best place to look if the server fails to start or if configuration validation fails.

Manual server management (advanced / optional)

If you prefer to manage the server yourself instead of using the built‑in manager:

Set agentsmithy.autoStartServer to false in VS Code settings.
Download the AgentSmithy server binary from the agentsmithy-agent releases.

Start it manually, pointing it at your workspace:

./agentsmithy --workdir /path/to/your/project --ide vscode

See server management documentation for more details and CLI options.

Installation

From Open VSX Registry

For VSCodium, Code‑OSS, and other VS Code alternatives:

Open the Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X).
Search for "AgentSmithy".
Click Install.

Or visit the extension page on Open VSX:
https://open-vsx.org/extension/agentsmithy/agentsmithy

From VSIX (user)

Download the latest .vsix from the releases page (for example, agentsmithy.agentsmithy-<version>.vsix).
In VS Code / Code‑OSS / VSCodium, open the Command Palette: Ctrl+Shift+P.
Run Extensions: Install from VSIX... and select the downloaded file.

From source (building the VSIX)

For contributors or if you want to build the extension yourself:

npm ci
npm run compile
npx @vscode/vsce package

This produces a .vsix file in the project root (for example, agentsmithy.agentsmithy-<version>.vsix), which you can then install as described above.

Limitations (Alpha)

The extension is in alpha – APIs, configuration format, and UX may change without backward compatibility.
Other providers (Anthropic, etc.) are not yet wired through the VS Code extension, even if present in the server codebase.
Some features described in the server / CLI docs may not yet be exposed in the VS Code UI.

Feedback & support

File bugs and feature requests via GitHub Issues.
When reporting a problem, please include:
- Extension version
- VS Code / Code‑OSS version
- OS and architecture
- Relevant snippets from the AgentSmithy Server output channel

License

Apache License 2.0 – see the LICENSE file.

AgentSmithy