EasyMod VS Code Extension

VS Code sidebar chat extension for EasyMod backend gateway APIs.

What It Does

• Adds an EasyMod Activity Bar view with a webview chat panel.
• Sends chat requests through backend POST /api/vscode/send (including streaming).
• Supports extension sign-in with auth code exchange + refresh token flow.
• Supports organization-aware requests (org_id) and model loading.
• Chat model dropdown includes an Auto option (sends model: "auto"; backend performs routing selection) alongside concrete models; a small resolved-model badge is shown on assistant messages that were answered by an Auto turn.
• Includes local workspace tool loop (rg, file read, file list) for retrieval-style workflows.
• Adds persistent workspace memory index (.easymod/workspace-memory.json) for cross-language symbol/impact recall between turns.
• Supports assistant patch preview/apply from unified diff output with workspace safety checks.
• Supports multiple local chat sessions (new/switch/rename/delete/clear).
• Keeps in-flight assistant streaming alive across Activity Bar/sidebar switches by retaining and rehydrating the chat webview state.

Requirements

• VS Code ^1.90.0
• Node/npm for build and test
• EasyMod backend reachable from easymod.apiUrl

Setup

npm install
npm run compile

For development:

npm run watch

Run extension in Extension Development Host with F5.

Test

npm test

This rebuilds out/ and runs Node tests from compiled output (out/test/**/*.test.js) if present.

Development Tools

• npm run compile runs the TypeScript strict compile check.
• npm run watch keeps TypeScript compiling during extension development.
• npm test runs the repository safety gates (check-db-safety, check-test-suite), rebuilds out/, and then runs the compiled Node test suite.

Commands

• EasyMod: Open Chat Panel
• EasyMod: Focus Chat View
• EasyMod: Sign In
• EasyMod: Sign Out
• EasyMod: Switch Organization
• EasyMod: Set Manual JWT Session
• EasyMod: Toggle Full File Access

Settings (easymod.*)

Core connection/auth:

• apiUrl (default: https://backend.easymodularity.com)
• model (default: empty; uses the EasyMod default chat model)
• defaultOrgId (default: empty)
• extensionAuthBridgeUrl (default: https://easymodularity.com/extension-auth/bridge/start; set empty to use <apiUrl>/extension-auth/bridge/start)
• extensionId (default: empty)
• mcpJson (default: empty JSON string field)

Context and prompt assembly:

• includeSelection (default: true)
• includeWholeFile (default: false)
• contextMode (focused | fullActiveFile, default: focused)
• maxContextChars (default: 32000)
• maxPromptChars (default: 52000)
• reservedResponseChars (default: 12000)
• maxPromptTokens (default: 32000)
• maxContextTokens (default: 12000)
• reservedResponseTokens (default: 4000)
• historyMaxTokens (default: 3000)
• memorySummaryMaxTokens (default: 800)

Retrieval and memory behavior:

• contextLedgerEnabled (default: true)
• contextLedgerMaxEntries (default: 24)
• minRelevanceScore (default: 24)
• retrievalChunkLines (default: 80)
• retrievalChunkOverlapLines (default: 8)
• retrievalMaxFiles (default: 80)
• retrievalMaxSnippets (default: 3)
• retrievalPerFileCharLimit (default: 120000)
• maxToolResultChars (default: 30000)

Patch and tooling behavior:

• autoApplyPatchWithConfirmation (default: true, legacy/unused)
• enableWorkspaceToolLoop (default: true)
• commandLoopEnabled (default: true)
• commandLoopMaxRetries (default: 2)
• commandExecTimeoutMs (default: 120000)
• alwaysAutoRunCommands (default: false)
• autoRunProjectStartup (default: false)
• fullFileAccess (default: false)
• enableDeveloperDebugPage (default: false)
• apiKey is legacy/unused in JWT backend mode.

Patch flow notes:

• fullFileAccess: true means new assistant patches auto-apply, and it also turns on trusted command auto-run plus startup auto-run.
• fullFileAccess: false means new assistant patches stay in preview mode until manually applied from the latest patch card.
• When a prompt explicitly names a target workspace root (e.g. in easymod-api workspace, … or in easymod-api, create …) and that name matches no existing root, auto-apply is blocked before any patch is applied; the extension surfaces the available roots and asks you to re-send.
• alwaysAutoRunCommands: true skips the manual confirmation dialog only for trusted command runs that pass the extension policy.
• autoRunProjectStartup: true lets EasyMod auto-start exactly one trusted startup command after prompts like "serve this project", "run this app", or natural variants such as "help me serve it". Auto-run is now allowlist-based: only common local startup commands such as npm run dev, npm start, npx serve, npx http-server, python -m http.server, php artisan serve, vite, and similar dev-server patterns qualify. Before launching a long-running startup command in the terminal, EasyMod now performs a short startup probe. If the command fails immediately, the captured stderr/stdout is fed into the command repair loop instead of being lost in terminal-only output. It still skips auto-run when there are multiple commands, the command is not startup-like, the command is outside the trusted auto-run allowlist, or a patch is still waiting for manual apply. The terminal working directory is anchored at the workspace root whose basename matches the command's leading cd <target> prefix, and the redundant root-name segment is stripped from the cd before the command is sent to the terminal (e.g. cd easymod-api/calculator && npm run dev spawns in the easymod-api root and sends cd calculator && npm run dev; bare-root cd easymod-api && npm run dev drops the cd entirely and sends npm run dev). Commands with no cd prefix or an unrecognized first segment fall back to the active-editor folder or the first workspace folder, and are sent verbatim.

Local Dev Tip

For local development against a local backend/frontend, use workspace overrides in .vscode/settings.json instead of changing defaults in package.json.

Example:

{
  "easymod.apiUrl": "http://127.0.0.1:8010",
  "easymod.extensionAuthBridgeUrl": "https://easymodularity.com/extension-auth/bridge/start",
  "easymod.autoRunProjectStartup": true,
  "easymod.fullFileAccess": false,
  "easymod.enableDeveloperDebugPage": true
}

Notes

• Backend remains source of truth for auth, org access, and request handling.
• Extension-side tool loop and context assembly are configurable and can be disabled.
• Patch writes are guarded by workspace boundary checks and optional confirmation.
• In-flight assistant streams continue in the extension host even if the EasyMod sidebar is temporarily hidden; reopening the view rehydrates the current streamed text instead of starting from a blank panel.

Stream Log Semantics

• chat stream chunk means raw bytes/chunks were read from backend SSE/stream transport.
• assistant delta received means user-visible assistant text delta was emitted into the extension turn pipeline.
• ui first flush is tied to the first assistant delta received, not the first chat stream chunk.
• In tool-loop or multi-turn synthesis flows, chat stream chunk can appear long before first UI flush.

Example A (small-talk, fast path):

• chat stream chunk at ~5ms
• assistant delta received at ~600ms
• ui first flush immediately after first delta

Example B (tool-loop heavy prompt):

• early chat stream chunk events appear quickly (transport is active)
• multiple loop/follow-up turns happen
• first assistant delta received may appear much later (for example 50s+)
• ui first flush then occurs right after that first assistant delta