Agent Factory Main Chat

Use Agent Factory Main Agent sessions in VS Code editor tabs.

Features

• Stream conversations, resume sessions, and follow Work and Verification activity.
• Organize chats into workspace-local groups.
• Attach files and images; view Markdown, command output, and diffs.
• Enter/send always runs directly through Main, including after restoring old saved modes.
• Send the current draft with one of six one-message actions: Work, Plan, Verification, Plan · Work, Work · Verification, or Plan · Work · Verification. Actions do not persist.
• Plan only returns a plan using actual Work Plan collaboration mode. Standalone Verification dispatches a managed verifier for the explicit target, otherwise prior completed work in this chat; Main asks if no target is available.
• Workflow choices immediately submit the current draft once; ordinary sends use Normal.
• Goal immediately submits the current draft as a goal and sits before Fast. Fast remains a persistent toggle.
• Permissions and attachments remain available.
• Clear conversation starts a fresh internal Codex thread in the current chat while retaining the Main Agent identity, settings, and historical run records. It is available only while the current run, queue, decision, and Goal controls are idle.
• Plan · Work runs actual Codex Plan then implementation in the same Work session, followed by Main checks without separate Verification. It requires runtime support; queued inputs retain their action and different actions never merge.

Setup

1. Install Python 3.10+ and Codex CLI on the workspace extension host. For SSH/container workspaces, install them on the remote host.
2. Install the extension and run Agent Factory: Add Main Agent Chat from the Command Palette. On first activation, the extension checks Codex and installs the matching companion plugin if needed. SSH, WSL and container workspaces use the workspace extension host's Codex installation and home.
3. If startup fails, follow the error guidance and select Retry to rerun setup. If you dismiss the notification, reload the extension host to try again. Reload the extension host after updating the VSIX.

For standalone plugin use or manual repair:

codex plugin marketplace add KoreanLeeChangHyun/agent-factory-codex-plugin --ref main
codex plugin marketplace upgrade agent-factory
codex plugin add agent-factory@agent-factory

Companion plugin requirement

• The plugin must be installed and enabled with the identical semantic base version. Extension 1.0.12 accepts plugin 1.0.12+codex.<token>.
• An already compatible installed plugin requires only a local installed-list check.
• If the plugin is missing, disabled or mismatched, activation registers the official agent-factory marketplace from the source above when absent, then checks the available catalog and will attempt one compatible plugin installation. It prefers the official source and still supports compatible configured alternatives. A different or unconfirmed source under the official name produces a conflict error; existing sources are never overwritten or automatically upgraded.
• Setup confirms the installed plugin is enabled and matches the extension after installation. If the exact version is unavailable or setup fails, activation blocks and offers Retry. No arbitrary latest version is substituted. Retry repeats the checks; concurrent requests share setup and chat bootstrap happens once.
• The plugin is fully installable and usable without this extension. Both are released together; the extension does not contain or bundle the plugin.
• Set agentFactory.mainChat.pythonPath if Python is not found. Use agentFactory.mainChat.runtimeExecPath only as an exec.py override in the Extension Development Host; normal windows ignore this setting.

Matching older extension and plugin releases remain usable when newer releases are available. Automatic runtime discovery selects a cached plugin with the extension’s semantic base version; a configured runtimeExecPath remains an explicit development override.

Development

npm install
npm run check

• Press F5 to launch the Extension Development Host.
• F5 uses the sibling ../plugin checkout directly for the runtime, role prompts, and Agent Factory skill/reference bindings. No plugin reinstall is needed. The local plugin must have the same base version as the extension; missing or mismatched sources block activation instead of falling back to an installed copy. Plugin Python changes apply to new runtime processes; already running agents keep their loaded code and instructions. Restart F5 after extension code changes. Normal launches use the installed plugin even if a development path setting or environment variable is inherited. The debug launch sets AGENT_FACTORY_DEV_PLUGIN_ROOT, which is honored only in VS Code development mode and explicitly passed to that development client's runtime processes.
• Use npm run package to build a VSIX.
• Release tooling is in scripts/release.mjs. Publish the matching companion plugin first. The default extension release workflow prepares the VSIX and hands off Marketplace upload to Playwright; preparation is not publication success.