Lore Source Control for VS Code

loregui-lore — full, native source control for Epic Games' lore VCS, driven by the loregui lorevm engine (not Epic's public lore CLI). It plugs lore into VS Code the way the bundled Git extension plugs in Git — and then goes further, with a dedicated Lore activity-bar with Branches, History, and Locks tree views.

Docs & marketplace listing: https://loregui.com/docs/vscode Part of loregui. Tracking ticket: SBAI-4080.

What you get

A Perforce-class experience for lore, entirely inside VS Code:

Native Source Control view — Staged Changes / Changes groups with A / M / D / move / copy / conflict decorations, a commit (check-in) input box, and inline + context-menu actions on every file.
Stage / unstage / discard per file or for the whole group.
Check in (commit), Sync (pull), Push, and Revert to a revision from the Source Control title bar or the command palette.
Side-by-side diff (working ↔ committed baseline, or working ↔ any chosen revision) plus the quick-diff gutter that marks edited lines live.
Lore activity bar with three tree views:
- Branches — list, switch (inline), and create branches.
- History — the branch revision log with revision number, message, and author; click a revision to open its overview (metadata + changed files).
- Locks — who holds which file lock on the current branch; release your own locks inline, or request one held by someone else.
Status bar — current branch + revision + a dirty indicator; click to Sync.
File decorations in the Explorer — an L badge on locked files, themed one way for locked by you and another for locked by someone else.
First-run walkthrough and an in-editor Open Documentation command.

Quick start

Install the extension (or build the .vsix — see below).
Connect the engine. The extension drives the lorevm binary. It is resolved in this order: the lore.lorevmPath setting → the LOREVM_BIN environment variable → lorevm on your PATH → a loregui target/{release,debug}/lorevm build under the workspace or an ancestor → the binary bundled inside the extension's bin/ folder. If none is found the Source Control view still appears, with a clear "lorevm not found — set lore.lorevmPath" message in the input box and status bar. To build it: cargo build -p lorevm-cli in the loregui repo.
Open a lore repo folder (one containing a .lore directory). The Source Control view shows a Lore provider; the Lore icon appears in the Activity Bar.
Run Lore: Getting Started Walkthrough from the command palette for a guided tour.

Everyday workflow

You want to…	Do this
See what changed	Open the Source Control view (the Lore provider).
Stage a file	Hover the file in Changes → click ＋, or right-click → Stage Changes.
Stage everything	Hover the Changes group header → click ＋.
Discard local edits	Right-click a file in Changes → Discard Changes (confirmed).
Check in (commit)	Type a message in the input box → Ctrl/Cmd+Enter (or the ✓ in the title bar).
Pull updates	Title-bar Sync (Pull) / `Lore: Sync (Pull)`.
Publish revisions	Title-bar Push / `Lore: Push`.
Revert the tree	`Lore: Revert to Revision…` → pick a revision.
Diff a file	Click the file in the SCM view, or right-click → Open Changes.
Diff against an old revision	Right-click → Compare with Revision….
Browse a file's history	Right-click → View File History → pick a revision to diff.
Switch / create a branch	Lore activity bar → Branches (inline switch; ＋ to create).
Browse the log	Lore activity bar → History; click a revision for its overview.
See / manage locks	Lore activity bar → Locks; release your own inline.
Lock a file	Right-click a file in the SCM view → Acquire Lock.

How it drives lore

The extension never reimplements lore logic. It spawns the lorevm JSON CLI (crates/lorevm-cli in the loregui repo) — the exact same contract the lore-mcp server uses:

lorevm <domain>.<op> --dir <workspace> [--offline] [--identity <id>] --args '<json>'

lorevm binds the upstream lore engine in-process. The extension's LorevmClient (src/lorevmClient.ts) is a thin wrapper: spawn → parse JSON → raise a structured LorevmError on {"error": {...}}.

Op mapping (≥ Perforce coverage)

Feature	Command	lorevm op
Status / refresh	`lore.refresh`	`repository.status` (`scan:true`)
Stage / stage all	`lore.stage` / `lore.stageAll`	`file.stage`
Unstage / unstage all	`lore.unstage` / `lore.unstageAll`	`file.unstage`
Discard	`lore.discard`	`file.reset`
Check in (commit)	`lore.commit`	`revision.commit`
Diff / diff vs revision	`lore.openDiff` / `lore.diffWithRevision`	`file.diff`
File history	`lore.fileHistory`	`file.history`
Sync (pull)	`lore.sync`	`revision.sync`
Push	`lore.push`	`branch.push`
Revert	`lore.revert`	`revision.revert`
Branch list	`lore.branchList` / Branches view	`branch.list`
Branch create	`lore.branchCreate`	`branch.create`
Branch switch	`lore.branchSwitch`	`branch.switch`
Revision log + overview	History view / `lore.openRevisionDiff`	`revision.history` + `revision.info`
Lock badges / list	Locks view, decorations	`lock.file_status`, `lock.file_query`
Acquire / release lock	`lore.lockAcquire` / `lore.lockRelease`	`lock.file_acquire`, `lock.file_release`

Lock requests (stubbed — SBAI-4044)

Lore: Request Lock from Owner is a clearly-marked stub. Acquiring a lock another user holds needs a cross-network "request → tray message → reply" round trip, which depends on SBAI-4044. Until then the command explains the limitation; acquiring an unheld lock via Acquire Lock works today.

Configuration

Setting	Default	Meaning
`lore.lorevmPath`	`""`	Explicit path to `lorevm`.
`lore.offline`	`true`	Pass `--offline` (local repos with no remote).
`lore.identity`	`""`	`--identity` value; also used for locked-by-me detection and releasing your own locks.
`lore.autoRefresh`	`true`	Refresh the views on workspace file changes.
`lore.docs`	`https://loregui.com/docs/vscode`	Target of Lore: Open Documentation.

The settings page links to the docs, and Lore: Open Documentation opens them from anywhere.

Why the Source Control view always appears now

Earlier builds only registered the SCM provider after a successful status shell-out, so a missing engine or any status error left the view invisible and the failure silent. This build detects a lore repo by the presence of a .lore directory (a cheap filesystem check, no binary required), registers the provider unconditionally, and surfaces a clear "lorevm not found" state if the engine can't be resolved — then layers status in best-effort on top.

Develop / debug (F5)

cd vscode-extension && npm install
npm run compile (or npm run watch for incremental rebuilds)
Build the engine once, from the loregui repo root: cargo build -p lorevm-cli (produces target/debug/lorevm).
Open the vscode-extension/ folder in VS Code and press F5 (the "Run Extension" launch config). This opens an Extension Development Host.
In that window, open a folder that is a lore repo (a .lore directory). The Source Control view shows the Lore provider; the Lore activity bar appears. With lore.offline on (default), a purely local repo works with no remote.

If lorevm isn't on PATH, set LOREVM_BIN in the launch env or the lore.lorevmPath setting — the dev host inherits the parent VS Code's environment.

Package a `.vsix`

cd vscode-extension
npm install
npm run compile
# Bundle a per-platform lorevm (CI) — or ship runtime-resolved:
LOREVM_BUNDLE_OPTIONAL=1 npx @vscode/vsce package   # → loregui-lore-0.2.0.vsix

Install it with code --install-extension loregui-lore-0.2.0.vsix.

Open-core seam

This is the lore-SCM layer. The StudioBrain entity-aware premium layer (template-driven validation, cross-reference decorations, asset previews) is a later gated addon that reuses this extension's LorevmClient — see the PREMIUM SEAM markers in src/extension.ts.

License

Proprietary. Copyright © 2026 Biloxi Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved. See LICENSE.txt. This extension is published inside the otherwise MIT-licensed loregui repository for development convenience; that placement does not make the extension MIT — LICENSE.txt governs the vscode-extension/ directory.

Lore Source Control

Biloxi Studios Inc