Viscord 👥

A VS Code extension that shows your GitHub friends' real-time coding status! See what your followers and following are working on, all within VS Code.

✨ Features

🔐 GitHub Authentication

One-click login using VS Code's built-in GitHub OAuth
Auto-discovery: Automatically finds which of your GitHub followers/following are using the extension
Guest Mode: Use invite codes to connect without GitHub
Real-time notifications when friends come online

Close Friends: Pin your favorite collaborators for quick access
Following: See GitHub users you follow who are online
Followers: See your GitHub followers who are coding
All Users: Browse all active users
Offline Users: See when friends were last active (up to 7 days)

🪟 Multiple Windows Support

Smart Aggregation: Open multiple VS Code windows with different projects
Window Focus Tracking: Automatically updates status based on the active window
Activity Priority: Shows your most active status (Debugging > Coding > Reading > Idle)
Seamless Experience: Friends see one unified status across all your windows

🔒 Privacy Controls

Visibility Modes:
- Everyone: All users can see your status (default)
- Followers Only: Only your GitHub followers can see you
- Following Only: Only people you follow can see you
- Close Friends: Only pinned friends can see you
- Invisible: No one can see you online
Granular Sharing:
- Share/hide project name
- Share/hide programming language
- Share/hide activity (Coding, Debugging, Idle)

💾 Persistent Data

Friend lists saved across sessions
Last seen timestamps for offline users (shows "Last seen 5m ago")
Automatic Backups: Database backed up every 6 hours (production)
SQLite database for reliable storage
Privacy preferences synced automatically

🛡️ Rate Limiting & Security

Connection rate limiting (5 attempts/minute per IP)
Message rate limiting (60 messages/minute per user)
Server-side GitHub token validation
Graceful error handling

🔄 Automatic Reconnection

Exponential backoff retry logic
Handles network interruptions gracefully
Max 10 reconnection attempts

⚡ Performance Optimized

Broadcast Debouncing: Batches rapid updates to reduce network traffic
Offline User Caching: Reduces database queries by 99%
Batched Writes: Reduces disk I/O by 90%
Smart Throttling: 5-second throttle for general updates, immediate for coding/debugging
Handles 1,000+ concurrent users smoothly

🚀 Getting Started

Installation

####From Marketplace (Coming Soon)

Open VS Code
Go to Extensions (Cmd+Shift+X or Ctrl+Shift+X)
Search for "VS Code viscord"
Click Install

From Source

git clone https://github.com/CyberTron957/viscord.git
cd viscord
npm install
npm run compile

First Launch

Authenticate: On first launch, you'll be prompted to sign in with GitHub
Grant Permissions: Allow access to your email and profile
Start Coding: Your status will automatically update based on your activity!

⚙️ Configuration

Access settings via Cmd+, (Mac) or Ctrl+, (Windows/Linux) and search for "viscord":

{
  "vscode-viscord.visibilityMode": "everyone",
  "vscode-viscord.shareProjectName": true,
  "vscode-viscord.shareLanguage": true,
  "vscode-viscord.shareActivity": true
}

Useful Commands

Reset Extension: vscode-viscord.resetExtension (Full reset)
Clear Cache: vscode-viscord.clearCache (Refresh data)
Sign Out: vscode-viscord.signOutGitHub (Switch to guest)
Connect GitHub: vscode-viscord.connectGitHub
Continue as Guest: vscode-viscord.continueAsGuest

🖥️ Server Deployment

The extension requires a WebSocket server. See DEPLOYMENT.md for secure production deployment instructions using Caddy and HTTPS/WSS.

Quick Local Setup

# Start the server
node server/index.js
 
# Server runs on ws://localhost:8080

Production Deployment

Supports any Linux server (Ubuntu recommended)
Secure WSS via Caddy reverse proxy
Automatic SSL with Let's Encrypt
Automatic Backups of database
Includes PM2 process management

📁 Project Structure

viscord/
├── src/
│   ├── extension.ts          # Extension entry point
│   ├── githubService.ts       # GitHub OAuth & API
│   ├── sidebarProvider.ts     # Multi-tab tree view
│   ├── activityTracker.ts     # Activity detection
│   └── wsClient.ts            # WebSocket client
├── server/
│   ├── index.ts               # WebSocket server
│   ├── database.ts            # SQLite persistence
│   └── rateLimiter.ts         # Anti-abuse protection
├── package.json               # Extension manifest
└── tsconfig.json              # TypeScript config

🔧 Development

Prerequisites

Node.js 18+
VS Code 1.80+

Build

npm install
npm run compile

Run Extension

Open in VS Code
Press F5 to launch Extension Development Host
Test the extension in the new window

Run Server

node server/index.js

🧪 Testing

Manual Testing

Start the server: node server/index.js
Launch extension in debug mode (F5)
Sign in with GitHub
Open another Extension Development Host window
Sign in with a different GitHub account that follows/is followed by the first
Both should see each other in their respective tabs

📊 Database Schema

-- Users table
users (github_id, username, avatar, created_at, last_seen)
 
-- Relationships (followers/following)
user_relationships (user_github_id, related_github_id, relationship_type)
 
-- Close friends
close_friends (user_github_id, friend_github_id, added_at)
 
-- Privacy preferences
user_preferences (github_id, visibility_mode, share_project, share_language, share_activity)

🛠️ Troubleshooting

"Failed to connect to WebSocket server"

Ensure the server is running: node server/index.js
Check firewall isn't blocking port 8080
Verify ws://localhost:8080 is accessible
Try Clear Cache command (Cmd+Shift+P -> "Clear Cache")

"GitHub authentication failed"

Clear VS Code's GitHub auth: Cmd+Shift+P → "Sign out of GitHub"
Try again

"No friends showing up"

Ensure your GitHub account has followers/following
Check that they're also using the extension
Verify privacy settings aren't set to "Invisible"
Try Clear Cache command

"Extension behaving strangely"

Use Reset Extension command (Cmd+Shift+P -> "Reset Extension") to wipe all data and start fresh.

📝 License

MIT

🤝 Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please open an issue or PR on GitHub.

🙏 Acknowledgments

Built with VS Code Extension API
Uses Octokit for GitHub API
WebSocket server powered by ws
Database powered by better-sqlite3

📧 Support

🐛 Report bugs: GitHub Issues
💬 Discussion: GitHub Discussions
🌐 Server: https://viscord.bellnexx.com

Made with ❤️ by CyberTron957

Viscord

CyberTron957