A VS Code extension for running live-coding and take-home interview challenges.
Enter the code your interviewer gave you, pick a folder for the project, then let the extension check
your toolchain and install dependencies. A live interview waits for its interviewer; a take-home
offers Start when setup is ready. The challenge files arrive only when the session starts, so the slow
part happens before the clock does. While it runs, the status bar keeps the remaining time visible and
turns red for the final five minutes.
How it works
Enter your code. The Challenge Setup panel in the activity bar is where the session begins.
Choose where it runs. Setting up a challenge runs code its author wrote, including whatever
their dependencies run during install. A container keeps that away from the rest of your machine
and is the recommendation; running on your own machine is offered too.
Pick a folder. An empty one — VS Code reopens there, and may ask whether you trust it. Nothing
runs until you say yes.
Check and install. The extension verifies the toolchain the challenge needs, then shows you the
exact commands it will run to install dependencies before it runs any of them.
Start. For a live interview the panel waits for your interviewer; a take-home starts when you
click Start. The challenge files land, the timer begins, and the coding agent unlocks.
Finish. Submit when you are done, or step away — both are recorded, and the files stay in your
folder either way.
The panels
Activity bar — Tech Challenge container with the Challenge Setup panel, where you set up,
start, and finish a challenge.
Secondary sidebar — Challenge Agent container with the Agent panel, where the coding agent
lives. Open it with ⌥⌘B / Ctrl+Alt+B.
Both are also reachable from the command palette, as Tech Challenge: Open Setup Panel and
Tech Challenge: Open Agent Panel.
Requirements
VS Code 1.125 or newer.
To run a challenge in a container: Docker, and the
Dev Containers
extension.
