StackGenome

Know your stack before you change your stack.

StackGenome is a standalone VS Code extension for project technology intelligence. It turns manifests, lockfiles, and project configuration into a clear picture of what your project is built with, what capabilities already exist, and what you should reuse before adding more technology.

Before adding another package, StackGenome helps you answer:

• What packages does this project use?
• Which versions are declared, and which versions are actually resolved?
• What is each package for?
• What frameworks, runtimes, package managers, and tooling are present?
• Are there duplicate, deprecated, unresolved, or incompatible dependencies?
• Are peer dependencies satisfied?
• Does the project already contain a library that can solve what I need?
• If not, what technology fits the ecosystem already in use?

Why StackGenome

Large projects accumulate dependencies quickly. Developers often reach for a new package before checking whether the repository already has a suitable capability.

StackGenome gives you an existing-first view of the project ecosystem so you can make better dependency and implementation decisions with less guesswork.

V1 features

Project DNA

See the project's languages, frameworks, runtimes, package managers, build systems, testing tools, and other detected technologies at a glance.

Dependency intelligence

Inspect direct and transitive packages with declared and resolved versions.

Dependency health

Separate actionable issues from informational ecosystem observations.

Actionable findings include:

• deprecated packages when the lockfile provides that metadata
• missing resolved direct dependencies
• peer dependency mismatches that affect direct dependencies
• malformed lockfiles
• conflicting Python requirement declarations

Informational observations include signals such as duplicate resolved versions or transitive peer conditions that may be normal in a healthy dependency tree.

Capability map

Understand what installed packages already provide: validation, HTTP clients, forms, authentication, state management, testing, database access, and more.

Existing-first capability advisor

Use StackGenome: Find Capability to describe what you want to implement. StackGenome first checks whether the project already has a suitable dependency. Only when no suitable installed capability exists does it recommend an ecosystem-compatible package.

Quick start

1. Open a project folder in VS Code.
2. Open the Command Palette.
3. Run StackGenome: Analyze Project.
4. Explore Overview, Technology, Capabilities, Dependencies, and Health.
5. Use the Technology decision box on Overview to check what the project already provides before adding a dependency.

Useful commands:

• StackGenome: Analyze Project — refresh and open the ecosystem report.
• StackGenome: Open Ecosystem Report — reopen the current report.
• StackGenome: Find Capability — describe an implementation need and get an existing-first dependency decision.

Supported ecosystems in V1

StackGenome is designed around pluggable ecosystem analyzers. The first public release supports:

Node / JavaScript / TypeScript

• package.json
• package-lock.json
• pnpm-lock.yaml
• Yarn classic and modern yarn.lock

Python

• pyproject.toml
• requirements.txt and requirements-dev.txt
• poetry.lock
• uv.lock
• Pipfile
• Pipfile.lock

More ecosystem adapters can be added without changing the core model.

Local and deterministic

V1 analysis is derived from project manifests, lockfiles, and StackGenome's built-in knowledge catalog. The core analysis does not require an LLM or a cloud service.

Scope

StackGenome focuses on what technology and package capabilities exist in a project.

It does not attempt to build source-code call graphs, AST relationships, or change-impact maps. This keeps the V1 product focused on project ecosystem intelligence.

Current limitations

• Package knowledge is intentionally curated and will expand over time.
• Some health signals depend on what a package manager records in its lockfile.
• Registry-wide freshness, vulnerability databases, and source-code usage analysis are not presented as facts unless StackGenome has deterministic evidence.

Feedback and support

Found an issue or a project StackGenome should understand better? Open an issue in the StackGenome repository.

License

MIT © Aetherexa