🤖 Claude AI Agent for VS Code

The most powerful AI coding agent for VS Code — powered by Claude.

🆕 What's New in v1.2.0

🎯 .clauderules File Support

Customize Claude for each project! Create a .clauderules file in your workspace root to define project-specific AI behavior, coding standards, and restrictions. Auto-loads on startup, watches for changes. Similar to Cursor's .cursorrules.

Quick start: Ctrl+Shift+P → "Claude: Create .clauderules File"

⚡ Model Selector UI

Quick model switching right in the chat header! Dropdown with 6 Claude models (Sonnet, Opus, Haiku + dated versions). Change models in 2 clicks, no need to open Settings.

🔍 Chat History Search

Find old conversations instantly! Search box in sidebar lets you filter through hundreds of chats by title or date. Instant filtering, Escape to clear.

💰 Cost Calculator

Know what you're spending! Real-time $ cost display for every message. Shows per-message cost and session total. Color-coded warnings for expensive queries (green <$0.10, red >$0.10).

⚙️ Quick Settings Panel

Beautiful modal with 7 key settings (model, thinking, tools, safe mode, auto scroll, tokens, compact). Click ⚙️ icon in header, change settings, save — all in 5 seconds!

⚡ Performance Improvements

10-20× faster startup! Fixed all blocking issues. Extension now activates in <200ms (was 2-4s). No more "Window is not responding" errors.

📖 Full Release Notes · 🧪 Testing Guide

✨ Features

🧠 Full Agentic Loop

Claude doesn't just answer — it acts. Give it a task and it will autonomously read files, run commands, edit code, check for errors, and iterate until the job is done.

🛠️ 22+ Built-in Tools

Tool	Description
`bash`	Execute shell commands (npm, git, pip, cargo...)
`read_file`	Read files with partial line support
`write_file`	Create/overwrite files with diff preview
`write_file_chunked`	Write large files in chunks (no size limits)
`replace_in_file`	Surgical text replacement with diff preview
`list_dir`	Browse directory structure
`search_files`	Regex search across all workspace files
`find_files`	Glob pattern file finder
`web_fetch`	Fetch and parse web content
`get_diagnostics`	Read VS Code errors & warnings
`get_selection`	Access currently selected text
`get_open_files`	List all open editor tabs
`get_git_status`	Git branch, diffs, commit history
`get_project_structure`	Full project overview + tech stack
`get_file_info`	File metadata (size, lines, language)
`get_symbols`	Extract functions/classes/methods from files
`run_tests`	Run test suites (auto-detects npm/pytest/cargo/go)
`create_terminal`	Open VS Code terminal and run commands
`format_document`	Format files with VS Code formatters
`get_workspace_info`	VS Code version, settings, environment
`list_checkpoints`	List file change history
`rollback`	Undo file changes to any checkpoint

🔍 Diff Preview System

Every file write/edit shows a side-by-side diff before applying. Accept or reject changes with one click. Full checkpoint history for rollback.

🔒 Safe Mode

Automatically warns before running potentially destructive commands (rm -rf, DROP TABLE, format, etc.). You stay in control at all times.

💬 Chat Features

Sidebar chat with persistent history across sessions
Streaming responses with live token counter
Extended thinking mode (Claude thinks step-by-step)
Context files — pin any file to be included in every message
Image support — paste screenshots directly into chat
Chat export to Markdown
Collapsible tool call blocks — see exactly what Claude did

⌨️ Editor Integration

Right-click context menu on any selection:
- Explain, Fix, Refactor, Add Tests, Add Docs, Inline Chat
Inline Chat (Ctrl+Shift+I) — edit code in place
AI Auto-complete — Tab-triggered suggestions
Smart status bar — model name + generation indicator
Git commit messages — AI-generated from your staged diff

🔁 Retry & Error Handling

3 automatic retries on transient errors (network, rate limits, server errors)
Exponential backoff — 1s → 2s → 4s between retries
Friendly error messages — actionable guidance for auth/network/API errors

📦 Installation

Install from VS Code Marketplace (Recommended)

Open VS Code
Press Ctrl+Shift+X to open Extensions
Search for "Claude AI Agent" or "HuynhLeVu"
Click Install

Or install via command line:

code --install-extension HuynhLeVu.free-claude-vscode

Install from `.vsix` file

code --install-extension free-claude-vscode-1.2.0.vsix

Or in VS Code: Ctrl+Shift+P → Extensions: Install from VSIX... → select the file.

🚀 Quick Start

1. Set your API key

On first install, a setup guide appears automatically. Or run:

Ctrl+Shift+P → Claude: Set Anthropic API Key

Get your API key at console.anthropic.com → API Keys → Create Key

Keys start with sk-ant-api03-...

2. Open the chat panel

Click the Claude icon in the Activity Bar (left sidebar).

3. Start coding!

"Create a REST API in Express with user authentication and JWT"
"Find and fix all TypeScript errors in this project"
"Refactor this file to use async/await instead of callbacks"
"Run the tests and fix any failures"
"Generate a complete React dashboard with charts"

⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+Shift+I`	Inline Chat (edit selected code)
`Ctrl+Shift+N`	New Chat
`Ctrl+Shift+A`	Add current file to context
`Ctrl+Shift+E`	Analyze & fix all errors
`Ctrl+Shift+X`	Explain selection
`Escape`	Stop generation

⚙️ Configuration

Open Ctrl+, and search for "Claude", or press Ctrl+Shift+P → Claude: Open Settings.

Setting	Default	Description
`freeClaude.model`	`claude-sonnet-4-5`	Claude model to use
`freeClaude.apiBase`	`https://api.anthropic.com`	API base URL
`freeClaude.apiKeyType`	`anthropic`	Key type: `anthropic` or `proxy`
`freeClaude.maxTokens`	`16384`	Max output tokens per response
`freeClaude.thinkingBudget`	`0`	Extended thinking tokens (0 = off)
`freeClaude.enableTools`	`true`	Enable built-in tools
`freeClaude.maxToolIterations`	`30`	Max agentic loop iterations
`freeClaude.enableDiffPreview`	`true`	Show diff before file changes
`freeClaude.safeMode`	`true`	Warn before destructive commands
`freeClaude.enableAutoComplete`	`false`	AI Tab auto-complete
`freeClaude.showTokenCount`	`true`	Show token usage
`freeClaude.autoSaveChat`	`true`	Persist chat history
`freeClaude.maxChatHistory`	`100`	Max saved chat sessions
`freeClaude.fontSize`	`13`	Chat panel font size

Available Models

Model	Speed	Intelligence	Best For
`claude-sonnet-4-5`	⚡⚡⚡	★★★★☆	Daily coding (recommended)
`claude-opus-4-5`	⚡⚡	★★★★★	Complex architecture & reasoning
`claude-haiku-4-5`	⚡⚡⚡⚡	★★★☆☆	Quick edits, auto-complete

💡 Tips & Tricks

Use Context Files

Pin important files (e.g. types.ts, schema.sql) so Claude always has context:

Right-click any file → Free Claude: Add File to Context
Or Ctrl+Shift+A in the editor

Extended Thinking

For complex architectural decisions, enable thinking mode:

Ctrl+Shift+P → Free Claude: Toggle Extended Thinking
Recommended budget: 10000–32000 tokens

Inline Chat

The fastest way to edit code:

Select the code you want to change
Press Ctrl+Shift+I
Type your instruction — Claude edits in place with diff preview

Large File Generation

Claude automatically handles files of any size using chunked writing. Just ask naturally:

"Create a complete landing page in index.html"
"Generate a 500-line Express API with full CRUD operations"

Agentic Tasks

Claude works best with clear, specific goals:

✅ "Add input validation to all API endpoints in src/routes/"
✅ "Migrate this project from JavaScript to TypeScript"
✅ "Find all TODO comments and implement them"
❌ "Improve the code" (too vague)

Rollback

If Claude makes a mistake, you can undo:

Ctrl+Shift+P → Claude: Rollback File to Checkpoint
Or ask Claude: "Rollback the last change to src/index.ts"

🏗️ Project Structure

free-claude-vscode/
├── src/
│   ├── extension.ts        # Commands, keybindings, status bar, auto-complete
│   ├── chatViewProvider.ts # Webview provider, agentic loop, streaming
│   ├── apiClient.ts        # Anthropic API client with retry logic
│   ├── tools.ts            # 22+ built-in tools implementation
│   ├── diffManager.ts      # Diff preview & checkpoint system
│   └── auth.ts             # Secure token storage (VS Code SecretStorage)
├── webview/
│   ├── index.html          # Chat UI (dark/light/monokai/dracula themes)
│   └── icons/
├── package.json
├── CHANGELOG.md
└── README.md

🔧 Troubleshooting

❌ "Authentication failed (401)"

→ Run Ctrl+Shift+P → Claude: Set Anthropic API Key and re-enter your key.
→ Make sure freeClaude.apiKeyType is set to anthropic for official keys.

❌ "Connection refused" or "DNS error"

→ Check your internet connection.
→ Verify freeClaude.apiBase is https://api.anthropic.com.

❌ "Rate limited (429)"

→ Wait a few seconds — Claude will retry automatically (3× with backoff).

❌ Tool calls not working

→ Check that freeClaude.enableTools is true in settings.

❌ Diff preview not showing

→ Check that freeClaude.enableDiffPreview is true.

❌ Large file not writing completely

→ Claude uses write_file_chunked automatically for large files. If it stops mid-way, just say "continue" or "keep going".

❌ Build errors

cd free-claude-vscode
npm install
npm run compile

📄 License

MIT — free to use, modify, and distribute.

🙏 Credits

Built with:

Anthropic Claude API — AI backbone
VS Code Extension API — editor integration
TypeScript + Node.js

⬇️ Install from Marketplace · 📖 Documentation · 🐛 Report Issue

Made with ❤️ — Claude AI Agent v1.2.0

Claude AI Agent

HuynhLeVu