CodeStream

CodeStream is a developer collaboration platform that integrates all of your essential dev tools, such as GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Slack, Teams, Jira, Trello and more, into VS Code. CodeStream increases developer productivity by eliminating distractions inherent to context-switching and makes it incredibly easy for development teams, especially remote teams, to discuss and review code in a more natural and contextual way.

Requirements

• CodeStream requires a current version of Visual Studio Code.
• Your repository must be managed by Git, or a Git hosting service like GitHub.

Guided Installation Option

Help us improve CodeStream for first-time users by participating in a 20-minute zoom call: screen-share your installation experience while we guide you along the way and demonstrate CodeStream's capabilities. If you work on a team with at least 10 developers please schedule a time here.

Create and Review Pull Requests in VS Code

Frustrated by having to jump out of your IDE to deal with pull requests? With CodeStream you can create, review and merge pull requests without ever leaving your IDE. All with full source-tree and full file access, your favorite keybindings, and all the code intelligence embedded in VS Code.

It can take as long as 25 minutes to regain focus once it's lost and context-switching between windows can lead to distraction. CodeStream increases productivity by bringing all your essential development tools right into your editor.

Get Feedback on Work-in-Progress with Pre-PR Code Reviews

CodeStream's lightweight feedback requests let you get feedback on your changes regardless of the current state of your repo, without the friction of committing, pushing or issuing a pull request. Your teammates can review your changes right in their IDE, with full file context, and with no need to set aside their current work to switch branches or pull the latest.

CodeStream’s feedback requests are so easy that you can start doing them throughout the development process instead of waiting until the end. You’re a few days into a sprint and have some work stubbed out? Maybe some work that hasn’t even been committed. Get feedback on your work-in-progress so that you can identify and resolve issues early instead of saving those gotchas for when you need to get the code merged.

Discuss Any Block of Code, at Any Time

Whether it's code someone else wrote years ago, or some code you wrote minutes ago, simply select a block of code and type your question or comment. Teammates can participate in the discussion right from their IDE.

You can optionally share the discussion on Slack or Microsoft Teams so teammates can participate from their chat clients as well.

Build the Knowledge Base Behind Your Codebase

CodeStream turns conversation into documentation by capturing all of the discussion about your code, and saving it with your code. Comment and code review threads are automatically repositioned as your code changes, even across branches. All with zero effort on your part.

Previously discussed questions and issues that explain important decisions are now accessible right where you need them, when you need them. Just click on the codemark to expand it and see how something works or why something was done a certain way.

Team Transparency through Live View

Development is a collaborative activity, yet much of it happens in isolation, with work only shared with the team at the end of a cycle, or sprint. CodeStream’s “LiveView” increases transparency by making the local edits of individual developers visible to team members, so that everyone knows what everyone else is working on, in real-time.

As developers write code, whether editing existing files or creating new files, a summary of their changes, including the repo(s), files, and lines changed is exposed to their teammates through CodeStream. The information is displayed contextually, in the IDE, and even warns teammates of potential merge conflicts… before they happen!

Frequently Asked Questions

Where are messages stored?

Your team’s codemarks, which include the message text and the code snippet, are stored in the cloud on CodeStream’s servers. CodeStream uses best practices when it comes to security, but if your team has stringent infosec requirements we also offer an on-prem solution.

What access to Git does CodeStream require?

You won’t need to provide CodeStream with any Git (or GitHub, Bitbucket, etc.) credentials, as the extension simply leverages your IDE’s access to Git. CodeStream uses Git to do things like automatically mention the most recent author when you share a block of code in a post, and to maintain the connection between that block of code and where it’s located in the source file as the file evolves over time (and commits).

Help & Feedback

Check out our user guide for more information on getting started with CodeStream. Please follow @teamcodestream for product updates and to share feedback and questions. You can also email us at support@codestream.com.