"When agents write 80% of your code in 20% of the time, engineering is 80% judgment" - Paireto (the Parrot)

Paireto brings pair-programming to your TUI coding agents in VS Code: planning, review, editing, and worktree management, in one engineer-grade workflow.

Contents

• Contents
• Why I Built Paireto
• Features at a glance
• Installation
  • Agent harness setup
• Agent support
• Workflows
  • Plan Mode
  • Review Mode
  • Changed Files view
  • Switch repo or worktree
• Troubleshooting

Why I Built Paireto

Agentic coding changed software over-night. But for high-craft engineering, the direction between tools and the reality of engineering work keeps widening.

I’m an engineer working with engineers. My code still has to meet a human standard. I don’t need a vibe-coding tool.

I tried the Conductor immitators, with worktrees, git diffs, and agent sessions alongside my editor. They were useful, but high-friction. The moment I needed LSP feedback, linter errors, or a quick manual edit, I was back in VS Code. They were a second app with weaker versions of feature my editor already had.

I tried GUI agents, but they pulled me toward more mouse-driven workflows or a new editor ecosystem.

I tried TUI agents, and loved the ease they integrated with my editor workflows, but they struggle with structured planning, review, editor integration, and human reading comprehension.

I increasingly found myself editing code from Git Diff tabs, so I can track what the agent has changed and refine it. But had no way to prepare agent feedback easily.

I tried Plannotator, and it clicked: planning and review are the missing pieces in my workflow. But I still had to jump between windows, and work outside my editor during code review and editing.

I didn't need a second app, I needed a tighter integration between my TUI and editor. So I built this...

Features at a glance

Installation

Paireto comes in two parts:

1. The VS Code extension
2. An agent-harness integration

Agent harness setup

On first install a Welcome wizard will take you through setup of your agents, you can return to this screen as any time via the Command Palette by opening Paireto: Open Welcome

After plugin setup, Restart your agent to load the Paireto integration. That's it — open a repo in VS Code, start the agent in its terminal, and the agent appears in the Paireto sidebar.

Agent support

Paireto's architecture is agent-agnostic, but still in development. We currently support

Workflows

Plan Mode

When your agent finishes planning, the plan opens in VS Code and the agent waits. You may leave inline comments from the VS Code editor, then click Approve or Send Feedback to instruct the agent

Review Mode

When your agent tries to end its turn with any changes made, a review is (by default) started automatically. You can also start a review at any time with the /paireto:paireto-review skill.

Diffs are fully functional editors with LSPs and linters working as normal. Add inline comment from VS Code edit or diff tabs. Click Send Feedback to hand over your comments, or Approve to let the agent finish.

Changed Files view

Changed Files is the native git panel with extras: pick what to Compare To (HEAD, merge-base, default branch, or any other ref), add review comments for your agent, and step in manually to fix code.

Switch repo or worktree

Hit Cmd+Shift+K for the switcher: current window, worktrees, and recent repos, each showing its agent activity. Manage all your VS Code windows and worktrees from any other window.

Troubleshooting

• Agent doesn't appear in the sidebar. Make sure you restarted the agent after installing, and that the repo is open in VS Code. Enable paireto.debug and check the Paireto output channel.
• Plugin didn't register. Re-run the manual command from Register the agent-side plugin, then restart the agent.
• No sound on notifications. Confirm paireto.notify.type is sound and paireto.notify.sound names a valid system sound or file path.