Tracybot VS Code Extension

A VS Code extension that traces AI generated code back to prompts by displaying original prompts.

What It Does

The extension queries the Git repository to reconstruct the history of AI interactions by:

1. Reading hidden commits from refs/tracy/* and the active local chain in refs/tracy-local/* when present
2. Extracting metadata from commit objects
3. Building a timeline that maps code changes to AI interactions

It also handles setup automatically: initializing Tracybot in a newly opened repository, and installing the plugin for whichever supported agent (OpenCode, Claude Code, Codex) is detected on your machine. No setup steps are required beyond installing the extension itself.

Installation

Installing the extension is the recommended way to get started with Tracybot.

VS Code Marketplace (recommended)

You can install the extension directly within VS Code:

1. Open VS Code and go to the Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X or Cmd+Shift+X).
2. Search for Tracybot.
3. Click Install.

Alternatively, visit the Tracybot VS Code Marketplace page and follow the instructions on the marketplace page.

CLI Install

Alternatively, install scripts for Windows, Linux, and macOS are provided. The install scripts use the code CLI, so make sure the VS Code command line tools are available first.

Linux and macOS

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/TracyTeam/tracybot/main/vscode-extension/install.sh | bash

Windows (Powershell)

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/TracyTeam/tracybot/main/vscode-extension/install.ps1 | iex

Usage

1. Open a Git repository in VS Code.
2. Click the AI Blame status bar item, or run Tracybot: Open AI Blame window from the command palette.

Requirements

• VS Code 1.110.0 or later
• A Git repository

Node.js and npm are only required for developing the extension from source.

AI Blame Tab

Displays the history of AI-generated code changes in a dedicated editor tab. The AI Blame button is shown in the right side of the VS Code status bar.

• Highlighted lines: Each file highlights AI-generated lines
• Tasklet details: Click on any highlighted line to see the originating tasklet, including which agent (OpenCode, Claude Code, or Codex) produced it
  • For OpenCode, a tasklet consists of 0 or more plan prompts followed by a build prompt
  • Claude Code and Codex have no separate planning stage, so their tasklets are a single prompt/response turn
• File history: View all tasklets that modified the current version of the file

Research Mode

An optional, opt-in feature to share your Tasklet history for a research study on AI-assisted coding behavior. Off by default, decided per-repository, and can be disabled at any time from the Research Mode status bar item. See docs/research-mode.md in the main repository for what's collected and how consent works.

Keybindings

• Cmd+Shift+0 (Mac) / Ctrl+Shift+0 (Windows/Linux) - Open AI Blame window

Contributing

Building or debugging the extension from source? See DEVELOPMENT.md.