Chainlink Issue Tracker - VS Code Extension

A simple, lean issue tracker for AI-assisted development, integrated directly into VS Code.

Features

Session Management: Start/end work sessions with handoff notes for context preservation
Issue Tracking: Create, update, and manage issues without leaving your editor
Daemon Auto-Start: Background daemon keeps session state fresh
Cross-Platform: Works on Windows, Linux, and macOS
Agent-Agnostic: Context provider script works with any AI coding assistant

Installation

Install from the VS Code Extensions Marketplace (search "Chainlink Issue Tracker")
Open a project folder
Run Chainlink: Initialize Project from the command palette

Commands

Command	Description
`Chainlink: Initialize Project`	Initialize chainlink in current workspace
`Chainlink: Start Session`	Start a new work session
`Chainlink: End Session`	End session with optional handoff notes
`Chainlink: Session Status`	Show current session info
`Chainlink: Start Daemon`	Manually start the background daemon
`Chainlink: Stop Daemon`	Stop the background daemon
`Chainlink: Daemon Status`	Check if daemon is running
`Chainlink: List Issues`	Show all open issues
`Chainlink: Create Issue`	Create a new issue
`Chainlink: Show Issue Details`	View details of a specific issue

Configuration

Setting	Default	Description
`chainlink.binaryPath`	`""`	Override path to chainlink binary (for development)
`chainlink.autoStartDaemon`	`true`	Auto-start daemon when .chainlink project detected
`chainlink.showOutputChannel`	`false`	Show output channel for daemon logs

Development

Building the Extension

# Install dependencies
cd vscode-extension
npm install

# Compile TypeScript
npm run compile

# Build binaries for all platforms
npm run build:binaries

# Package the extension
npm run package

Building Binaries

The extension bundles platform-specific binaries. To build them:

# Build all platforms (Windows native, Linux via WSL)
node scripts/build-binaries.js

# Build specific platform
node scripts/build-binaries.js --platform windows
node scripts/build-binaries.js --platform linux

Requirements:

Windows: Visual Studio Build Tools with Rust
Linux: WSL with Fedora 42 (or another distro with Rust installed)
macOS: Xcode Command Line Tools with Rust

Testing Locally

Open the vscode-extension folder in VS Code
Press F5 to launch Extension Development Host
Set chainlink.binaryPath to your local debug binary path

Architecture

vscode-extension/
├── src/
│   ├── extension.ts    # Extension entry point, command registration
│   ├── daemon.ts       # Daemon lifecycle management
│   └── platform.ts     # Platform detection, binary resolution
├── bin/                # Platform binaries (populated by build script)
│   ├── chainlink-win.exe
│   ├── chainlink-linux
│   └── chainlink-darwin
├── scripts/
│   └── build-binaries.js  # Cross-compilation orchestration
└── package.json

Daemon Behavior

The daemon runs as a background process that:

Auto-flushes session state every 30 seconds
Self-terminates when VS Code closes (zombie prevention via stdin monitoring)
Writes logs to .chainlink/daemon.log

Using with Any AI Agent

Chainlink includes a context provider script that works with any AI coding assistant, not just Claude Code.

Context Provider

After running Chainlink: Initialize Project, you'll have a context provider at:

.chainlink/integrations/context-provider.py

This script generates intelligent context including:

Current session state and handoff notes
Open/ready issues
Project structure
Language-specific coding rules

Shell Aliases

Add to your ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or PowerShell profile:

Bash/Zsh:

# Copy chainlink context to clipboard
chainlink-ctx() {
    python .chainlink/integrations/context-provider.py --clipboard
}

# Aider with chainlink context
aider-cl() {
    python .chainlink/integrations/context-provider.py --format md > /tmp/cl-ctx.md
    aider --read /tmp/cl-ctx.md "$@"
}

PowerShell:

function chainlink-ctx {
    python .chainlink\integrations\context-provider.py | Set-Clipboard
}

Usage Examples

# Full context (XML format, best for LLMs)
python .chainlink/integrations/context-provider.py

# Markdown format (human readable)
python .chainlink/integrations/context-provider.py --format md

# Just coding rules
python .chainlink/integrations/context-provider.py --rules

# Copy to clipboard for web UIs
python .chainlink/integrations/context-provider.py --clipboard

# Generate .cursorrules for Cursor
python .chainlink/integrations/context-provider.py --format md --rules > .cursorrules

Agent-Specific Integration

Agent	Method
Cursor	`python context-provider.py --format md --rules > .cursorrules`
Aider	`aider --read context.md` (generate context.md first)
Continue.dev	Add exec context provider in `.continue/config.json`
Web UIs	`--clipboard` then paste as first message
Claude Code	Built-in hooks, no setup needed

What Gets Injected

<chainlink-session>
Session [#5](https://github.com/dollspace-gay/chainlink/issues/5) active
Working on: [#12](https://github.com/dollspace-gay/chainlink/issues/12) Fix authentication bug
</chainlink-session>

<chainlink-issues>
Ready issues (unblocked):
  [#12](https://github.com/dollspace-gay/chainlink/issues/12)   high     Fix authentication bug
</chainlink-issues>

<coding-rules>
### Rust Best Practices
- Use `?` operator over `.unwrap()`
...
</coding-rules>

For full documentation, see the main README.

License

MIT

Chainlink Issue Tracker

Dollspace