HelpMyCode

What happens if I delete this?

Select a file, function, class, or variable and ask VS Code exactly what depends on it — before you delete, rename, or refactor it. Direct references, dependency chains, tests, and an explainable risk level, computed 100% locally.

This is the Free Beta. Everything in this extension is free, with no account and no license key. A Pro tier (whole-project scans, Git-changes impact analysis) is being built separately and isn't part of this release — see Roadmap below.

Example

HELPMYCODE

calculatePrice()

CRITICAL IMPACT

23 references across 11 files

AFFECTED FILES
checkout.ts
cart.ts
invoice.ts
order.ts

POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCES
• Checkout calculation may fail
• Invoice generation may fail
• 4 tests may fail

[ View Dependencies ]   [ Explain with AI ]

Notice the language: "may fail," "potentially affected." HelpMyCode never claims certainty a static analysis can't back up — see docs/architecture.md for how the risk score is computed and why every level ships with a reasons[] explanation.

Features (all free, today)

• What Happens If I Delete This? — right-click any .ts/.tsx/.js/.jsx/.py file to see everything that references it, with a non-destructive preview (Cancel / Open affected files / Continue anyway). Nothing is ever deleted without an explicit, modal confirmation, and deletions go to the OS trash/recycle bin. Place your cursor on a symbol instead and run Analyze Impact (Symbol) for the same reference analysis scoped to a function/class/variable.
• Explainable risk levels — LOW / MEDIUM / HIGH / CRITICAL / UNKNOWN, every one backed by a "Why?" list of the actual signals found.
• Honest about uncertainty — dynamic import(), require(variable), eval(), and Python's eval/exec/importlib.import_module are detected and surfaced as a caveat, not silently ignored.
• Explain with AI (optional) — turn an analysis into a plain-language explanation using your own OpenAI or Anthropic API key. Never required, never automatic, never sent without your explicit setup consent via Configure AI Provider.

Privacy

Your code stays on your machine. Analysis runs locally — via the TypeScript compiler API for TypeScript/JavaScript, and a local text-based parser for Python — no server, no account, no telemetry. This Beta makes no network calls at all unless you explicitly set up Explain with AI with your own API key. See docs/privacy.md.

Language support

TypeScript, JavaScript (including JSX/TSX), and Python today. See docs/languages.md for exactly what's reliable in each, what's roadmapped, and how new languages get added without an engine rewrite.

Getting started

1. Install the extension.
2. Open a TypeScript, JavaScript, or Python project.
3. Right-click a file in the Explorer → What Happens If I Delete This?

No configuration required. Two settings are available if you want them: helpmycode.criticalDependentThreshold (default 10) and helpmycode.excludeGlobs.

Roadmap

The engine behind this extension (helpmycode-core, MIT-licensed) is built so a Pro tier can be added later without rewriting anything free today. That Pro-tier code (whole-project scanning, Git-changes impact analysis, licensing) already exists and works — it lives in a separate, private package (helpmycode-pro) and simply isn't wired into this Beta build yet. It'll ship once the Free tier has real usage behind it, not before.

Feedback

This Beta is actively looking for feedback. Run HelpMyCode: Give Feedback from the Command Palette to open a GitHub issue (bug report or general feedback) — nothing is sent automatically, it just opens your browser.

Documentation

• Architecture
• Language support
• Licensing (roadmap)
• Privacy
• Development
• Contributing
• Changelog

Before publishing to the Marketplace

This Beta needs no payment setup at all — it's entirely free. Still pending:

• [x] images/icon.png (128×128, plus images/icon.svg source) — done, set in package.json.
• [ ] Screenshots/GIFs for the Marketplace listing.
• [ ] Set publisher, repository, homepage, bugs in package.json to your real values.
• [ ] Create a Marketplace publisher at https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/manage and a Personal Access Token (Azure DevOps → User Settings → Personal Access Tokens → Marketplace: Manage).
• [ ] npx vsce login <publisher-id>, then npm run package to build the .vsix and sanity-check it locally (code --install-extension helpmycode-<version>.vsix), then npx vsce publish.

License

See LICENSE.