PII Guardian
Filter PII from code and chat before sending to LLMs.
Features
Free
| Feature |
Description |
| PII Highlighting |
Detected PII highlighted with orange background + scrollbar marks. Hover to see entity type and confidence. |
| Code Action (Lightbulb) |
Click on PII text and a lightbulb offers "Anonymize this". Also works on selections. |
| Anonymize Selection |
Replace PII with placeholder (<EMAIL_1>) or mask (***). |
| Restore PII |
Reverse anonymization (requires mapping from a prior session). |
| Detected Types |
EMAIL, PHONE, CREDIT_CARD, SSN, IP_ADDRESS, URL |
Pro (requires license key)
| Feature |
Description |
| Advanced PII Detection |
PERSON, LOCATION, DATE — names, cities, and dates |
| Hash Redaction |
[EMAIL_a1b2c3d4] — deterministic, consistent across runs |
| Inline PII Warnings |
Ghost text hints when typing a line containing PII |
| Chat Participant |
@pii-guardian in VS Code Chat — anonymizes prompts, de-anonymizes responses |
Requirements
- Visual Studio Code 1.85+
- For chat features: Ollama (local) or an OpenAI-compatible API endpoint
Configuration
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
piiGuardian.enabled |
true |
Enable/disable PII filtering |
piiGuardian.entities |
EMAIL, PHONE, CREDIT_CARD, SSN, IP_ADDRESS, PERSON |
PII types to detect (advanced types require Pro) |
piiGuardian.redactWith |
placeholder |
Redaction method: placeholder, mask (free); hash (Pro) |
piiGuardian.licenseKey |
"" |
Pro license key |
piiGuardian.enableDeAnonymization |
true |
Restore original PII in LLM responses |
piiGuardian.ollamaEndpoint |
http://localhost:11434 |
Ollama server URL |
piiGuardian.ollamaModel |
auto-detect |
Ollama model to use |
piiGuardian.llmEndpoint |
"" |
OpenAI-compatible API endpoint |
piiGuardian.apiKey |
"" |
API key for the LLM endpoint |
Detected PII Types
Free
- EMAIL —
user@example.com
- PHONE —
+1 (555) 123-4567
- CREDIT_CARD —
4111-1111-1111-1111
- SSN —
123-45-6789
- IP_ADDRESS —
192.168.1.1
- URL —
https://example.com
Pro (advanced entities)
- PERSON —
John Smith
- LOCATION — Major US cities
- DATE —
01/15/2024
Commands
PII Guardian: Anonymize PII in Selection — Replace PII with placeholders (free)PII Guardian: Restore PII in Selection — Attempt to restore original PII values (free)
Usage
Editor
Open any file. PII is automatically highlighted. Click the lightbulb or use the command palette to anonymize.
Chat (Pro)
Open VS Code Chat and use @pii-guardian:
@pii-guardian What's the email in this code?
Your message is scanned for PII, redacted before reaching the LLM, and the response has PII restored.
License
MIT
Feedback
Found a bug or have a suggestion? Submit feedback.
This extension uses Microsoft Presidio (MIT License) for PII detection patterns.
© Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. Licensed under the MIT License.
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