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
• Context Compression Resilience: Breadcrumb tracking via session action survives AI context resets
• Issue Tracking: Create, update, and manage issues without leaving your editor
• Quick Workflow: chainlink quick creates, labels, and starts work in one command
• Issue Templates: Built-in templates for bugs, features, audits, investigations, and more
• JSON & Quiet Modes: --json for structured output, --quiet for pipe-friendly results
• Stale Session Detection: Auto-ends sessions idle >4 hours on next startup
• 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

Requirements

• Python 3.6+: Required for Claude Code hooks to function. The extension will warn you if Python is not detected in your PATH.

Installation

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

Commands

All commands are available from the VS Code Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P).

Session Management

Issue Creation

Issue Management

Comments, Labels & Dependencies

Navigation & Search

Setup & Daemon

Tip: All commands also work via CLI. Add --quiet / -q for minimal output, or --json for structured output.

Configuration

VS Code Settings

Hook Configuration

AI behavior is controlled by .chainlink/hook-config.json in your project:

{
  "tracking_mode": "strict",
  "blocked_git_commands": ["git push", "git commit", "..."],
  "allowed_bash_prefixes": ["chainlink ", "git status", "..."]
}

Tracking Mode

Each mode loads its wording from .chainlink/rules/tracking-{mode}.md — edit these files to customize the prompt language.

Git Command Blocking

Git mutation commands (push, commit, merge, rebase, etc.) are permanently blocked in all modes. Read-only commands (status, diff, log) are always allowed. Both lists are customizable in hook-config.json.

Customizable Rules

Rules in .chainlink/rules/ control what gets injected into AI prompts:

Edit any file and changes take effect on the next prompt. Reset with chainlink init --force.

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

1. Open the vscode-extension folder in VS Code
2. Press F5 to launch Extension Development Host
3. 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

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