What Was I Doing?

Never lose your train of thought when returning to code

Features • Installation • Usage • Configuration • Contributing

📖 About

What Was I Doing? is a VS Code extension that automatically tracks your work context and helps you resume exactly where you left off after breaks. Perfect for developers who switch between tasks, take coffee breaks, or need to context-switch frequently.

✨ Features

🔄 Automatic Context Tracking

Seamlessly monitors your coding activity without any manual intervention.

📝 Activity Monitoring - Tracks file edits, cursor movements, and active editors
⏱️ Smart Idle Detection - Automatically detects when you step away
💾 Context Preservation - Saves your exact position, function name, and nearby TODO comments
🚫 Smart Deduplication - Doesn't save duplicate contexts repeatedly

🎯 Instant Resume

Get back to work instantly with helpful context.

📄 Last Active File - Jump to the exact file you were editing
🔍 Function/Method - See the function or class you were in
📝 Next Steps - View TODO/FIXME comments for context
⏰ Time Tracking - Know how long you've been away

📋 Work Session History

Never lose track of your recent work.

🕒 Session Timeline - Browse through recent work sessions
🔍 Quick Navigation - Jump to any previous context instantly
📊 Configurable Size - Keep as many sessions as you need
🗂️ Per-Workspace - Separate history for each project

⚙️ Highly Configurable

Customize the extension to fit your workflow.

⏲️ Idle Timeout - Set from 1-120 minutes (default: 10)
🚫 File Exclusions - Ignore node_modules, .git, etc.
🏷️ Custom Keywords - Define your own TODO keywords
🔔 Auto-Popup - Toggle automatic resume notifications

🚀 Installation

From VS Code Marketplace

Method 1: VS Code UI (Recommended)

Open VS Code
Press Ctrl+Shift+X (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Shift+X (Mac)
Search for "What Was I Doing"
Click Install

Method 2: Command Line

code --install-extension VanshSethi.what-was-i-doing

Method 3: Direct Link

→ Install from VS Code Marketplace

💡 Usage

Quick Start

Install the extension (see Installation)
Start coding - The extension automatically tracks your activity
Take a break - Step away for coffee, meetings, or lunch
Return - See a helpful popup showing where you left off!

Available Commands

Open the Command Palette with Ctrl+Shift+P (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Shift+P (Mac):

Command	Description	Icon
`What Was I Doing: Show Last Context`	View your most recent work context	🕒
`What Was I Doing: View History`	Browse all saved work sessions	📋
`What Was I Doing: Save Current Context`	Manually save your current position	💾
`What Was I Doing: Clear History`	Reset all saved contexts	🗑️

Status Bar Integration

Look for the clock icon (🕒) in your status bar:

Shows time since last activity (e.g., "2m ago", "1h ago")
Click it to quickly view your work history
Hover for tooltip with last active function/file

⚙️ Configuration

Access settings via File > Preferences > Settings or Ctrl+, (Windows/Linux) / Cmd+, (Mac), then search for "What Was I Doing".

📋 All Configuration Options

⏲️ `whatWasIDoing.idleTimeoutMinutes`

Minutes of inactivity before context is automatically saved.

Type: number
Default: 10
Range: 1-120

{
  "whatWasIDoing.idleTimeoutMinutes": 15
}

📚 `whatWasIDoing.maxHistorySize`

Maximum number of work sessions to keep in history.

Type: number
Default: 10
Range: 1-50

{
  "whatWasIDoing.maxHistorySize": 20
}

🔔 `whatWasIDoing.autoShowResumePopup`

Automatically show resume popup when returning to work.

Type: boolean
Default: true

{
  "whatWasIDoing.autoShowResumePopup": false
}

🚫 `whatWasIDoing.excludePatterns`

File path regex patterns to exclude from tracking.

Type: array of strings
Default: [".*node_modules.*", ".*\\.git.*", ".*dist.*", ".*build.*"]

{
  "whatWasIDoing.excludePatterns": [
    ".*node_modules.*",
    ".*\\.git.*",
    ".*test.*",
    ".*\\.cache.*"
  ]
}

🏷️ `whatWasIDoing.todoKeywords`

Keywords to detect in comments for next-step hints.

Type: array of strings
Default: ["TODO", "FIXME", "HACK", "NOTE", "BUG", "XXX"]

{
  "whatWasIDoing.todoKeywords": [
    "TODO",
    "FIXME",
    "WIP",
    "REVIEW"
  ]
}

🎯 Use Cases

Perfect for developers who...

Scenario	How It Helps
☕ Coffee Breaks	Return from a 15-minute break and instantly recall what you were coding
🔀 Context Switching	Jump between multiple projects without losing your place
🌙 End of Day	Close VS Code at 5pm, reopen at 9am, pick up exactly where you left off
📞 Unexpected Meetings	Get pulled into a meeting? Resume your work seamlessly afterward
🐛 Debugging Sessions	Navigate through different files and functions while maintaining context
📚 Code Reviews	Switch between reviewing PRs and your own work effortlessly
🎯 Focus Sessions	Take breaks between Pomodoro sessions without losing momentum

🔒 Privacy & Security

✅ 100% Local Storage	All data stored locally in VS Code's workspace state
✅ No External Servers	Zero network requests - your code stays private
✅ User Control	Clear history anytime with one command
✅ Open Source	Fully auditable code on GitHub

❓ FAQ

Does this extension slow down VS Code?

No! The extension uses efficient event listeners and only activates after VS Code finishes starting up. It has minimal performance impact.

Will it track files in node_modules or .git?

No. Common directories like node_modules, .git, dist, and build are excluded by default. You can customize exclusions in settings.

Can I use this across multiple workspaces?

Yes! Each workspace maintains its own separate history, so contexts don't mix between projects.

What happens if I don't want the auto-popup?

You can disable it in settings with "whatWasIDoing.autoShowResumePopup": false. You can still view history manually via the command palette or status bar.

Does it work with all programming languages?

Yes! Activity tracking works with all languages. Function name detection works best with JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, Java, C++, and other common languages.

🛠️ Development

Building from Source

git clone https://github.com/vansh-121/What-Was-I-Doing-Extension
cd What-Was-I-Doing-Extension
npm install
npm run compile

Testing

Press F5 in VS Code to launch Extension Development Host.

📋 Requirements

Requirement	Version
VS Code	≥ 1.106.0
OS	Windows, macOS, Linux

🐛 Known Issues & Limitations

Issue	Workaround
Symbol detection may not work for all languages	Works best with JS/TS, Python, Java, C++
Very large files (>1MB) may have slower extraction	Excluded by default in most cases
Function detection in complex nested structures	Still captures file and line number

Found a bug? Report it here 🐛

📊 Release Notes

See CHANGELOG.md for detailed release notes.

Latest Version: 1.0.1

✨ Professional extension icon
📖 Enhanced documentation
🔄 Automatic activity tracking
⏰ Smart idle detection
🎯 Instant resume popup
📋 Work session history
🚫 Duplicate context prevention

🤝 Contributing

Contributions, issues, and feature requests are welcome!

Development

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/vansh-121/What-Was-I-Doing-Extension.git
cd What-Was-I-Doing-Extension

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Compile TypeScript
npm run compile

# Run in development mode
# Press F5 in VS Code to launch Extension Development Host

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

💬 Support & Feedback

If you find this extension helpful, please consider:
⭐ Starring the repo on GitHub
⭐ Rating it on the VS Code Marketplace
🐦 Sharing it with your developer friends

Made with ❤️ by Vansh Sethi

VS Code Marketplace • GitHub Repository • Report Issues

What Was I Doing

Vansh Sethi