Copy4AI

Copy code with its dependencies in AI-optimized Markdown format.

Copy4AI is a VS Code extension that lets you select code, automatically resolve its dependencies (up to 3 levels deep), and copy everything as a structured Markdown snippet ready to paste into Claude, ChatGPT, or any other AI assistant. It also supports applying AI-generated code changes back into your files with a single shortcut.

Features

Copy with Context (Ctrl+Shift+C / Cmd+Shift+C)

Select any code in your editor and Copy4AI will:

• Resolve dependencies recursively using VS Code's native definition provider
• Generate AI-optimized Markdown with line numbers, file paths, and structured formatting
• Copy to clipboard in a format that AI assistants can immediately understand and work with

Paste from AI (Ctrl+Shift+V / Cmd+Shift+V)

Parse AI-generated code responses and apply changes directly to your workspace files. Supports multiple response formats and lets you review each change before applying.

Interactive Panel

A rich webview panel gives you full control over what gets copied:

• Code preview with syntax highlighting
• Dependency tree with checkboxes to include/exclude individual items
• Depth control (1-3 levels) to fine-tune how deep dependency resolution goes
• Markdown preview to inspect the output before copying
• Filtering by dependency type (types, functions, small snippets)

AI-Powered JSDoc Generation

Generate documentation for your selected code using AI credits or your own API key (Anthropic or OpenAI).

Sidebar

• GitHub OAuth authentication (PKCE)
• Team and project selection
• Credit quota tracking (daily and weekly)
• Copy history (last 5 snippets)

Supported Languages

For unsupported languages, Copy4AI still copies the selected code -- dependency resolution is skipped gracefully with a warning banner.

Installation

From Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/copy4ai/extension.git
cd extension

# Install dependencies
pnpm install

# Build the extension
pnpm run build:dev

# Open in VS Code and press F5 to launch the Extension Development Host
code .

From VS Code Marketplace

Search for Copy4AI in the VS Code Extensions panel, or install via the command line:

code --install-extension copy4ai.copy4ai

Usage

1. Select code in any supported file
2. Press Ctrl+Shift+C (or Cmd+Shift+C on macOS), or right-click and choose "Copy with Copy4AI"
3. The Copy4AI panel opens with your code and its resolved dependencies
4. Adjust depth, toggle dependencies, and preview the Markdown output
5. Click Copy to copy the AI-optimized Markdown to your clipboard
6. Paste into your AI assistant of choice

Applying AI Responses

1. Copy the AI's code response to your clipboard
2. Press Ctrl+Shift+V (or Cmd+Shift+V on macOS)
3. Copy4AI parses the response and applies changes to the correct files

The paste command understands the structured <<<FILE: ... | LINES: ...>>> format as well as common code-fence variations that AI assistants produce.

Configuration

Available settings under copy4ai.* in VS Code:

Architecture

src/
  commands/           Command handlers (copy, paste)
  parsers/            Language-specific import extractors (TS, Python, Go)
  providers/          VS Code webview providers (panel, sidebar)
  services/           Core business logic
    apiClient.ts        REST API communication
    authService.ts      PKCE OAuth authentication
    config.ts           Environment configuration
    dependencyResolver.ts  Recursive dependency discovery
    historyService.ts   Local copy history
    markdownBuilder.ts  AI-optimized Markdown generation
  types/              Shared TypeScript interfaces
  utils/              Constants, token/credit estimation
  webview/
    panel/
      components/     React UI components (12+ components)
      hooks/          VS Code message handling hooks
      utils/          Syntax highlighting utilities
  extension.ts        Extension entry point

media/                Icons and CSS stylesheets
esbuild.js           Build configuration (dual-bundle)

Key Design Decisions

• Zero runtime dependencies -- everything is self-contained; no npm packages bundled at runtime
• Dual esbuild bundles -- one for the Node.js extension host (CommonJS), one for the browser-based webview (IIFE with React)
• VS Code native APIs for definition resolution -- no custom language servers or AST parsers for dependency traversal
• Regex-based import parsing per language, with a strategy pattern for extensibility
• PKCE OAuth for secure authentication without exposing client secrets
• Message-based communication between extension and webview via a typed protocol

Development

# Development build (with source maps)
pnpm run build:dev

# Production build (minified)
pnpm run build:prod

# Watch mode (rebuilds on file changes)
pnpm run watch

# Lint
pnpm run lint

Adding a New Language Parser

1. Create a new file in src/parsers/ implementing the parser interface
2. Export extractIdentifiers(code: string): string[] and optionally extractNamespaceImports(code: string): string[]
3. Register the parser in src/parsers/index.ts
4. Add the language ID to SUPPORTED_LANGUAGES in src/utils/constants.ts

How It Works

1. Selection -- user selects code and triggers the copy command
2. Parsing -- a language-specific parser extracts imported identifiers from the selection (falls back to file-level imports filtered by usage)
3. Resolution -- the DependencyResolver uses VS Code's vscode.executeDefinitionProvider to locate each identifier's source, skipping node_modules and circular references
4. Recursion -- dependencies of dependencies are resolved up to the configured depth (max 3)
5. Markdown generation -- the MarkdownBuilder assembles a structured Markdown document with AI instructions, file paths, line numbers, and code blocks
6. Clipboard -- the result is copied and the interactive panel opens for review

Credits and Pricing

Copy4AI uses a credit system for AI-powered features (JSDoc generation). Copy operations themselves are free. You can:

• Use Copy4AI credits (included with your account)
• Bring your own Anthropic or OpenAI API key

Credit costs scale with code size:

Requirements

• VS Code 1.85 or later
• Node.js 20+ (for development)
• pnpm (for development)

License

See LICENSE for details.