Too Many Cooks - VSCode Extension
Visualize multi-agent coordination in real-time. See file locks, messages, and plans across AI agents working on your codebase.
Prerequisites
Node.js and the too-many-cooks MCP server must be installed:
npm install -g too-many-cooks
Features
- Agents Panel: View all registered agents and their activity status
- File Locks Panel: See which files are locked and by whom
- Messages Panel: Monitor inter-agent communication
- Plans Panel: Track agent goals and current tasks
- Real-time Updates: Auto-refreshes to show latest status
Usage
- Install the extension
- The extension auto-connects on startup (configurable)
- Open the "Too Many Cooks" view in the Activity Bar (chef icon)
- View agents, locks, messages, and plans in real-time
Commands
Too Many Cooks: Connect to MCP Server - Connect to the serverToo Many Cooks: Disconnect - Disconnect from the serverToo Many Cooks: Refresh Status - Manually refresh all panelsToo Many Cooks: Show Dashboard - Open the dashboard view
Configuration
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
tooManyCooks.serverPath |
"" |
Path to MCP server (empty = auto-detect via npx) |
tooManyCooks.autoConnect |
true |
Auto-connect on startup |
Architecture
The extension connects to the Too Many Cooks MCP server which coordinates multiple AI agents editing the same codebase:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ VSCode Extension │
│ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ │
│ │ Agents │ │ Locks │ │ Messages │ │ Plans │ │
│ └────┬─────┘ └────┬─────┘ └────┬─────┘ └────┬─────┘ │
│ └────────────┴────────────┴────────────┘ │
│ │ │
└───────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┘
│ MCP Protocol
▼
┌────────────────────────┐
│ too-many-cooks MCP │
│ Server │
└───────────┬────────────┘
│
▼
┌────────────────────────┐
│ ~/.too_many_cooks/ │
│ data.db │
└────────────────────────┘
License
MIT
| |
