Chatbot to Agent (VS Code Extension)

A small VS Code extension that let you use your chatbot like a coding agent. It helps you prepare a single, ready-to-paste context file for your LLM chatbot. You type your question, attach the relevant files, and the extension produces a filled context.md containing:

1. Task / Question — what you typed.
2. Codebase Tree — an auto-generated tree of your workspace (ignoring node_modules, .git, anything in .gitignore, etc.).
3. Relevant File Contents — the full contents of the files you attached, each in a fenced code block.

Why?

Coding agents have become a de facto standard for software development, but they are not accessible to everyone for different reasons such as:

• High cost for entry level and independent developers
• Some companies restrict access to LLM APIs for security reasons while providing access to a local chatbot

Install

Option A — Package & install a .vsix (recommended)

Requires Node.js.

# from inside the chatbot-to-agent/ folder
npx @vscode/vsce package
# -> produces chatbot-to-agent-0.2.0.vsix

code --install-extension chatbot-to-agent-0.2.0.vsix

Or in VS Code: Extensions view → "..." menu → Install from VSIX… and pick the file.

If vsce shows warnings about the placeholder repository field, you can ignore them or edit package.json.

Option B — Run from source (development)

1. Open the chatbot-to-agent/ folder in VS Code.
2. Press F5 to launch an Extension Development Host window with the extension loaded.

Usage

1. Open the Command Palette (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+P) and run "Chatbot to Agent: Open Builder".
2. Type your Task / Question.
3. Attach files using any of these:
   • Add files… button (multi-select picker of workspace files), or
   • Add open editors button, or
   • Right-click files in the Explorer → "Chatbot to Agent: Add File to Builder".
4. (Optional) Toggle Include codebase tree and add any paths/patterns to Exclude from tree.
5. (Optional) Pick an Output mode.
6. Click Generate.
7. Paste/attach the generated markdown into your LLM chat.

Excluding files from the tree

The generated tree omits, in addition to the configured ignore names:

• Everything matched by the workspace-root .gitignore (when chatbotToAgent.useGitignore is enabled).
• Anything you type in the Exclude from tree field. This accepts comma-separated entries using .gitignore-style glob semantics, for example:
  • *.wav — files with that extension anywhere in the tree
  • **/*.png — same idea, explicit recursive form
  • src/generated — a specific folder path
  • dist/, *.map — multiple entries

Output modes

Settings

Notes

• The generated file uses dynamic code-fence lengths, so files that themselves contain triple backticks won't break the Markdown.
• .gitignore support reads the workspace-root .gitignore and supports common glob rules (*, **, ?, leading / anchoring, trailing / dir-only, and ! negation). Nested per-directory .gitignore files are not parsed.
• This extension is published under the MohsenGoodarzi publisher id (set in package.json).