Generate a PR-style diff from two branches (or an Azure DevOps PR URL) and open GitHub Copilot Chat with @reviewer ready to review.
It’s designed to make local code review easier and more effective. By consolidating all changes into a single diff and pairing it with a structured prompt, you can get useful Copilot feedback early, before opening a PR or asking teammates to review.
Quick start (2 minutes)
Open a folder that contains a git repo.
Make sure GitHub Copilot Chat is enabled in VS Code (and you’re signed in).
Open the Command Palette(Ctrl+Shift+P) and run AI PR Review.
Pick:
source branch = the branch with changes
target branch = the branch you’re comparing against
The extension will:
fetch from your configured remote
write a diff file into your workspace
open the diff
open Copilot Chat with @reviewer pre-filled
What it does (under the hood)
Ask for source + target branches
Run git diff target...source and save it to a workspace file
Open the diff in an editor tab
Open Copilot Chat with a dedicated participant (@reviewer) and your configured prompt template
Settings
ai-pr-review.fileName: Filename for the generated diff in your workspace (default: ai_code_review.diff).
ai-pr-review.promptComment: Template used when opening Copilot Chat. Supports ${FILE_NAME} placeholder which is replaced with the generated diff file name.
ai-pr-review.gitRemote: Git remote name used for fetch/diff operations (default: origin).
ai-pr-review.azureDevops.patEnvVar: Environment variable name containing your Azure DevOps PAT (default: AZURE_DEVOPS_EXT_PAT).
Azure DevOps PAT requirement
The AI PR Review: Review Azure DevOps PR URL command reads your PAT from the VS Code process environment.
If you set the PAT after VS Code is already running, you may need to restart VS Code so the extension can see it.
Your PAT needs sufficient scope to read PR metadata (typically Code (Read)).
Commands
AI PR Review (ai-pr-review.run): Generate diff and open Copilot Chat.
AI PR Review: Review Azure DevOps PR URL (ai-pr-review.reviewAzurePr): Paste an Azure DevOps PR URL, fetch PR title/description + branches, generate a local diff, and open Copilot Chat.
AI PR Review: Edit File Name (ai-pr-review.setFileName): Open Settings to change the diff file name.
AI PR Review: Edit Prompt (ai-pr-review.setPromptComment): Open Settings to change the review prompt template.
AI Chat Participant
A participant named reviewer is registered in the Chat view. It consumes your generated diff and responds using the review rubric (Correctness, Performance, Readability, Security).
After running AI PR Review, the Chat view opens with @reviewer prefilled.
You can use intents like:
review — full rubric-based review of the diff
summarize — high-level summary of changes and risk areas
tests — propose missing test cases
security — scan for insecure patterns
refactor — suggest maintainability improvements
Tips
If no diff file exists, run AI PR Review from the Command Palette.
You can also paste or type code snippets directly in Chat; the participant will consider them in context.
Release
Automated (recommended):
Merge changes into main using Conventional Commits (examples: feat: ..., fix: ..., chore: ...).
GitHub Actions Release Please will open (or update) a release PR that bumps package.json + CHANGELOG.md.
Merge the release PR → it will create a git tag like v0.2.6, which triggers the Release workflow to build and upload a .vsix (and publish if configured).
Manual (fallback):
Tag a commit (e.g., v0.2.6) to build and upload a .vsix artifact via GitHub Actions.
Publish to Marketplace
Set a repository secret named VSCE_PAT containing your Visual Studio Marketplace Personal Access Token.
On tag push (v*), the release workflow will publish automatically if VSCE_PAT is present.
