Code Context Memory

🧠 What is Code Context Memory?

Remember why you wrote code, when you last touched it, and what you were thinking. Code Context Memory is the missing layer between comments and documentation—your personal, persistent memory for code.

The Problem

As developers, we constantly forget:

• Why we made specific decisions
• When we last worked on a file
• What context we had that's no longer in our heads

Traditional solutions are inadequate:

• 📝 Comments clutter code and get stale
• 🗂️ Git commits are hard to search and disconnected from the code
• 📚 Documentation is formal and time-consuming

Code Context Memory fills this gap with a personal, editor-native memory system.

✨ Features

📌 Personal Context Notes

Add quick, personal notes to any line of code explaining your thought process:

• Right-click any line → "Add Context Note"
• Or use keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+N (Mac: Cmd+Shift+N)
• Notes appear as gutter icons with rich hover tooltips

🔍 Automatic Context Resurfacing

The extension remembers when you last worked on files and reminds you:

• Notifications when returning to code after 24+ hours
• Shows your context notes automatically
• "You last worked on this 3 days ago—here's what you were thinking"

📊 Context Memory Sidebar

Browse all your notes in one place:

• Organized by file
• Sortable by date
• Click to jump to any note
• Shows note count and creation dates

⏰ Stale Note Detection

Find notes you haven't revisited in a while:

• "Show Stale Notes" command
• Reminds you of forgotten context
• Perfect for long-running projects

💡 Smart Status Bar

See at a glance:

• How many notes are in the current file
• When you last accessed this file
• Click to view all notes

📦 Installation

From VS Code Marketplace

1. Open VS Code
2. Press Ctrl+Shift+X (or Cmd+Shift+X on Mac)
3. Search for "Code Context Memory"
4. Click Install

From .vsix File

code --install-extension code-context-memory-0.0.1.vsix

🚀 Usage

Adding Notes

1. Place cursor on a line of code
2. Press Ctrl+Shift+N (Cmd+Shift+N on Mac) OR right-click → "Add Context Note"
3. Type your note (e.g., "Using this pattern because X causes Y issue")
4. Press Enter

Viewing Notes

• Hover over lines with notes (🟠 gutter icon)
• Press Ctrl+Shift+M to see all notes in current file
• Click status bar 🧠 icon
• Open Context Memory sidebar from Activity Bar

Managing Notes

• Right-click → "Delete Context Note" to remove
• Notes persist across VS Code sessions
• Stored locally in workspace state

🎯 Use Cases

Understanding Old Code

"Why did I use a WeakMap here?"
→ Note: "Regular Map caused memory leaks in long-running processes"

Decision Documentation

"Why this specific algorithm?"
→ Note: "Tried binary search, but dataset is too small. Linear is actually faster here."

Warning Future You

"Why this weird workaround?"
→ Note: "Library bug [#1234](https://github.com/Yashrajsalunkhe/code-context-memory/issues/1234) - remove this when version 2.0 is released"

Team Handoff

"What was I working on?"
→ Notes show: "Refactoring auth flow - 60% done, next: add MFA support"

⌨️ Commands

Access all commands via Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) and search for "Context Memory".

🆚 Why Not Just Use...?

🛠️ Technology Stack

• Language: TypeScript
• Platform: VS Code Extension API
• Storage: VS Code Global State (local, persistent)
• Build: esbuild
• Size: ~20 KB (lightweight!)

🛣️ Roadmap

• [ ] Search across all notes
• [ ] Export notes to markdown
• [ ] Link notes together
• [ ] AI-powered context suggestions
• [ ] Team sharing (optional)
• [ ] Integration with git blame
• [ ] Tags and categories
• [ ] Note templates

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Development Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Yashrajsalunkhe/code-context-memory.git
cd code-context-memory

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Start development
npm run watch

# Press F5 to launch Extension Development Host

Project Structure

src/
├── extension.ts       # Main activation
├── storage.ts        # Data persistence
├── noteManager.ts    # Note CRUD operations
├── decorations.ts    # Gutter icons
├── hoverProvider.ts  # Tooltips & status bar
├── treeView.ts       # Sidebar tree
├── resurfacer.ts     # Time-based features
└── types.ts         # TypeScript interfaces

📄 License

MIT © 2025 Yashraj

🐛 Issues & Feedback

Found a bug or have a feature request?

• Report an issue
• Suggest a feature

💬 Support

• ⭐ Star this repo if you find it useful!
• 🐛 Report issues on GitHub
• 💡 Share your use cases and feedback