Youcoder for Visual Studio Code

YouCoder brings terminal-native AI coding assistance into your editor. Chat with LLMs from multiple providers, execute tools, review diffs, manage multi-step plans, and orchestrate sub-agents — all from within VSCode.

Ask • Act • Plan • YOLO

Table of Contents

• Features
• Requirements
• Installation
• Getting Started (5 minutes)
• Configuration
• Interaction Modes
• Keybindings
• Commands
• Features Deep-Dive
• Troubleshooting & FAQ
• Development
• License

Features

• 💬 AI Chat — Conversational coding assistant in the sidebar with streaming token-by-token output
• 🔧 Tool Execution — Read/write files, run shell commands, search the web, fetch URLs
• 📋 Plan Mode — Structured multi-step task planning and autonomous execution
• 🤖 Agent Orchestration — Define and run sub-agents for specialized tasks
• 📁 @File Mentions — Type @ to fuzzy-search and reference workspace files
• 🔄 Diff Preview — Review, accept, or reject AI-generated file changes inline
• 📝 Session Management — Switch between conversation sessions, export to Markdown/JSON
• 🎨 VSCode Theme Aware — Respects your editor theme (light/dark)
• 🌐 Multi-Provider — Anthropic (Claude), OpenAI, DeepSeek, and OpenRouter with auto-detection
• ⚡ Perception Scope — Restrict AI file access to a specific directory

Requirements

• VSCode 1.85.0 or later
• An API key for one of the supported providers:
  • Anthropic (Claude) — Get a key
  • OpenAI — Get a key
  • DeepSeek — Get a key
  • OpenRouter — Get a key

The YouCoder Rust sidecar binary is bundled with the extension — no separate installation needed.

Installation

From VSCode Marketplace

1. Open VSCode
2. Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X)
3. Search for YouCoder
4. Click Install

From .vsix (Manual)

1. Download the .vsix file from GitHub Releases
2. In VSCode: Extensions → ... menu → Install from VSIX...
3. Select the downloaded file

Getting Started (5 minutes)

1. Set Your API Key

Open VSCode Settings (Cmd+,), search for youcoder.apiKey, and paste your API key.

Or set an environment variable:

# Anthropic (Claude)
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

# OpenAI
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...

# DeepSeek
export DEEPSEEK_API_KEY=sk-...

# OpenRouter
export OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-...

2. Open the Chat

Click the YouCoder icon in the Activity Bar (left sidebar), or press:

• Windows/Linux: Ctrl+Shift+L
• Mac: Cmd+Shift+L

3. Start Chatting

Type a message and press Enter. Try:

• "Explain this file to me"
• "Refactor this function to be more readable"
• "Write a test for the UserService class"
• "Search the web for Rust async best practices"

4. Select Code & Ask

Select code in your editor, right-click, and choose YouCoder: Ask About Selection to inject the selected code into your chat.

Configuration

All settings are under File > Preferences > Settings > Extensions > YouCoder.

Interaction Modes

YouCoder has 4 modes that control how the AI interacts with your workspace:

Cycle modes with Ctrl+Shift+M / Cmd+Shift+M or click the mode badge in the chat header.

Keybindings

Commands

All commands are available via the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P):

Features Deep-Dive

Diff Preview

When the AI edits files, changes are shown as VSCode diff views:

• Hover over a change to see the original vs. proposed
• Use Accept All (YouCoder: Accept All File Changes) to apply
• Use Reject All (YouCoder: Reject All File Changes) to discard
• The Diff Manager tracks all pending changes per session

@File Mentions

Type @ in the chat input to trigger a fuzzy file search:

• Searches workspace files in real-time
• Select a file to inject it as context (@file:relative/path)
• The AI automatically reads the referenced files

Session Management

• New Session (+ button) — Start a fresh conversation
• Session List (☰ button) — Browse and switch between past sessions
• Export (YouCoder: Export Session as Markdown) — Save as .md or .json

Plan Panel

In Plan mode, the AI creates structured task plans:

• Tasks with statuses: Pending → In Progress → Completed → Skipped
• Real-time plan updates as tasks progress
• Click task status icons to manually adjust

Agent Panel

View and run sub-agents:

• List all available agents with descriptions
• Start agents manually
• Monitor agent status (running/completed/error)

Perception Scope

Restrict the AI's file access to a specific directory:

• Default: your workspace root
• Change via the folder icon in the status bar (bottom-left)
• Or use YouCoder: Change Perception Scope command
• Requires an absolute path; validated before applying

Troubleshooting & FAQ

The chat panel is empty / not responding

1. Check the status bar — if the sidecar is stopped, click the status bar icon to reconnect
2. Run YouCoder: Open Chat from the Command Palette
3. Reload VSCode (Cmd+Shift+P → Developer: Reload Window)

"API key not configured" error

1. Set youcoder.apiKey in VSCode Settings, OR
2. Set the appropriate environment variable (ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, OPENAI_API_KEY, DEEPSEEK_API_KEY)
3. Restart YouCoder when prompted after changing settings

Sidecar crashes on startup

1. Check the VSCode Developer Tools console (Help > Toggle Developer Tools) for error logs
2. Ensure your API key is valid and has remaining quota
3. If using a proxy, verify the proxy URL is correct and reachable
4. Try setting a custom youcoder.serverPath to a known-good binary

Changes don't appear after accepting diffs

The Diff Manager applies changes immediately on accept. If a file doesn't update:

1. Ensure the file is not read-only
2. Check for unsaved changes that might conflict
3. Reload the editor window

How do I switch between providers?

Set youcoder.provider to anthropic, openai, deepseek, or openrouter. The default auto detects from your API key prefix:

• sk-ant- → Anthropic
• sk- (not ant) → OpenAI
• sk-ds- → DeepSeek
• sk-or- → OpenRouter

Can I use a self-hosted / proxy API?

Yes! Set youcoder.baseUrl to your API endpoint (e.g., https://api.your-proxy.com/v1). Set youcoder.proxyUrl for HTTP proxies.

Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• Rust stable (1.80+)
• VSCode 1.85+

Project Structure

vscode-extension/
├── src/
│   ├── extension.ts          # Extension entry point & activation
│   ├── config.ts             # ConfigStore (VSCode settings + env + secrets)
│   └── rpc/
│       ├── sidecar.ts        # Rust sidecar process manager
│       ├── channel.ts        # JSON-RPC 2.0 channel (stdin/stdout)
│       ├── bridge.ts         # Extension ↔ Webview message bridge
│       ├── diff.ts           # Diff preview manager
│       ├── codec.ts          # JSON-RPC frame codec
│       └── types.ts          # TypeScript type definitions
├── webview/
│   └── src/
│       ├── app.tsx           # Main chat UI (Preact)
│       ├── components/
│       │   ├── TurnCard.tsx   # Chat message bubble
│       │   ├── SessionPanel.tsx
│       │   ├── PlanPanel.tsx
│       │   └── AgentPanel.tsx
│       └── styles.css
├── bin/
│   └── youcoder-server       # Bundled Rust sidecar binary
├── build.mjs                 # esbuild config for extension host
└── package.json

Build

# Install dependencies
cd vscode-extension && npm ci
cd webview && npm ci && cd ..

# Build webview frontend
npm run build:webview

# Build extension host
npm run build

# Package .vsix
npm run package

Build Rust Sidecar

cargo build --release -p youcoder-server
cp target/release/youcoder-server vscode-extension/bin/

Run Tests

# Extension tests
npm test

# Rust tests
cargo test --workspace

License

MIT © YouCoder Contributors

_{Built with Rust 🦀 + TypeScript 💙 + ☕}