Guardian VSCode Extension

Beta Release — This extension is under active development. Core features work but you may encounter minor issues. Bug reports welcome via GitHub Issues.

Architectural intelligence inside your editor. Auto-extracts architecture context on save, shows drift status in the status bar, and keeps CLAUDE.md fresh for AI coding tools.

Prerequisites

This extension requires the Guardian CLI (@toolbaux/guardian) to be installed:

npm install -g @toolbaux/guardian

The extension invokes the CLI for all extraction, drift, and context operations. Without it, no commands will work.

Features

Status Bar — Shows ✓ Guardian: stable · 35 ep · 8 pg. Click to run drift check. Turns amber on critical drift.
Background Auto-Extract — On file save, extracts architecture snapshots and injects context into CLAUDE.md (5s debounce, code files only).
Command Palette — 8 commands for init, drift, constraints, simulation.
Diagnostics — Surfaces duplicate functions and drift warnings as VS Code diagnostics.

Installation

Symlink (development):

ln -sf /path/to/guardian/vscode-extension ~/.vscode/extensions/guardian-vscode
# Cmd+Shift+P → "Reload Window"

Package as .vsix:

cd guardian/vscode-extension
npx vsce package --allow-missing-repository
# Cmd+Shift+P → "Extensions: Install from VSIX" → pick the .vsix

Requires @toolbaux/guardian CLI — see Prerequisites above.

Commands

Command	Description
Guardian: Initialize Project	Creates .specs/, config, pre-commit hook, CLAUDE.md
Guardian: Generate AI Context	Generates architecture-context.md
Guardian: Drift Check	Computes drift metrics
Guardian: Generate Constraints	Finds duplicates, cycles, similar endpoints
Guardian: Copy Constraints Prompt	Copies LLM guardrail prompt to clipboard
Guardian: Simulate Drift	Simulates drift without a patch
Guardian: Guard Patch (Simulate)	Picks a .patch file and simulates impact
Guardian: Guarded Run	Constraints + simulation in one step

Settings

Setting	Default	Description
`guardian.autoExtract`	`true`	Auto-run extract + context injection on save
`guardian.runOnSave`	`false`	Also run drift check on save
`guardian.backendRoot`	`""`	Backend root override (auto-detected if empty)
`guardian.frontendRoot`	`""`	Frontend root override (auto-detected if empty)
`guardian.configPath`	`""`	Path to guardian.config.json
`guardian.commandPath`	`""`	Custom path to guardian CLI
`guardian.debounceMs`	`750`	Debounce for drift-on-save
`guardian.showOutputOnRun`	`false`	Show output panel on run

How It Works

File saved (.py, .ts, .tsx, .js, etc.)
    ↓ (5s debounce)
guardian extract → .specs/
guardian generate --ai-context → .specs/
guardian context → CLAUDE.md
    ↓
Status bar updated with endpoint count, page count, drift status

View logs: Output panel (Cmd+Shift+U) → select "Guardian" from dropdown.

ToolBaux Guardian

ToolBaux