Branchport for Cursor and VS Code
Checkpoint status and handoff controls for the Branchport
desktop client, without leaving the editor.
One extension covers both editors: Cursor installs it from Open VSX, VS Code from
the Visual Studio Marketplace.
What it shows
A status-bar item for the repository you are working in:
| What the status bar shows |
Meaning |
| Shield — Branchport: 4m ago |
A checkpoint reached the relay four minutes ago |
| Upload — Branchport: sending |
Checkpoints are on their way |
| Inbox — Branchport: handoff waiting |
Unfinished work from another device is waiting for review |
| Warning — Branchport: 1 failed |
A checkpoint could not be delivered — that work is not on any other device |
| Pause — Branchport: paused |
Monitoring is paused for this repository |
| Empty circle — Branchport: not protected |
This folder is not one of the repositories Branchport protects |
| Crossed-out circle — Branchport, with no time |
The desktop client is not running, or is not installed |
Two things it deliberately does not claim:
- The shield is about delivery, not about your current edits. It reports when
a checkpoint last reached the relay. Whether you have changed something since
is a question your editor answers better than a status file can.
- An unrecognised account state is never shown as protected. If the client
reports a state this extension does not know to allow new checkpoints, the
status bar warns instead of reassuring.
What it does
| Command |
What happens |
| Branchport: Show Status |
The status-bar click target: what is going on, and the actions available here |
| Branchport: Create Checkpoint Now |
Runs branchport checkpoint <repository>, then watches for the result |
| Branchport: Review Incoming Handoff |
Opens the desktop client, where the review and preflight live |
| Branchport: Protect This Folder |
Runs branchport --add-repository <folder> |
| Branchport: Open Branchport |
Opens the desktop client |
Checkpoints, encryption, restores and the safety rules around them all belong to
the desktop client. This extension never reads a repository, never touches Git
and never talks to the network — it reads one status file and runs the client's
own command line.
Requirements
The Branchport desktop client, running on Windows. Without it the status bar
says so and the commands explain themselves; on macOS and Linux the extension
stays quiet, because the client does not run there yet.
Settings
| Setting |
Default |
Purpose |
branchport.statusFile |
(empty) |
Path to editor-status.json, or to the folder holding it. Needed only for a portable install, where the client writes into BranchportData next to branchport.exe |
branchport.executablePath |
(empty) |
Path to branchport.exe. Only needed if the client has never run on this computer |
branchport.showStatusBar |
true |
Show the status-bar item |
branchport.staleAfterSeconds |
45 |
How old the client's status may be before it counts as not running |
An installed client needs none of these: it publishes to
%APPDATA%\Branchport\editor-status.json and reports its own location there.
How it works
The desktop client republishes a small JSON snapshot — repositories, last
delivered checkpoint, queue counts, waiting handoffs — every ten seconds and
whenever something changes. This extension polls that file while the window has
focus and stops when it does not.
There is no port, no IPC and no second reader of the client's database: a status
file is the one channel that cannot interfere with the process doing the actual
work.
Documentation
Setup, the desktop client itself and everything checkpoints do live at
branchport.hu/docs.
