BBM-Atlas for VS Code

What calls this? What breaks if I change it? Where is the code about X? BBM-Atlas reads your code into a knowledge graph of what calls, imports and inherits from what, and answers in the editor. It also gives your AI assistant the same answers, through MCP.

Learn more at atlas.byteblendmatrix.com; the extension's guide, with every setting, is in the documentation.

Getting started

Install the extension and open a project.
BBM-Atlas runs on Python 3.11 or newer. The extension uses the interpreter the Python extension has selected, or python on your PATH. If BBM-Atlas is not installed there yet, the extension offers to install it with pip, in a terminal you can watch.
It starts BBM-Atlas on a local port, indexes your workspace in the background, and stops BBM-Atlas when you close the window. The status bar shows BBM-Atlas: indexed when it is ready.

Features

Analyze Impact. Right-click inside a function, method or class, or click the Impact code lens above it. The Impact view lists everything that depends on it:
- grouped by distance (direct callers first, then two hops away, and so on);
- each with its relationship and file, one click from its source;
- with the tests that cover it, if you turn that on.
Search. BBM-Atlas: Search… answers questions such as where are sessions refreshed?. It ranks results from four sources: the code's structure, BBM-Atlas's memory of it, the graph, and semantic similarity. Choosing a result opens it at its line.
Callers and callees on hover. Hover a function's name, or a call to it, to see who calls it and what it calls, each a click from its line, with links to analyse its impact or open it in the graph.
Show in Graph Explorer. Opens the symbol at the cursor in the web console's graph view, inside VS Code.
Repositories. The BBM-Atlas view in the activity bar lists the indexed folders with their symbol and file counts, and can re-index or remove them. Saving a file re-indexes its folder; only changed files are parsed again.
@atlas in the chat. Ask @atlas where are sessions refreshed? to search the workspace, or @atlas /impact for what depends on the symbol at the cursor (or @atlas /impact billing.checkout.submit for one you name). Answers link to the code.
For your AI assistant. BBM-Atlas's tools are offered to Copilot's agent mode as an MCP server, with nothing to configure. These include search, impact analysis, graph paths and remembered facts. In editors without VS Code's MCP API, BBM-Atlas: Copy MCP Configuration gives you an entry to paste into their settings.

New here? BBM-Atlas: Get Started opens a five-step walkthrough.

Commands

Everything is under BBM-Atlas: in the Command Palette.

Command	What it does
Search…	Ask about the code, or find a symbol
Analyze Impact	What depends on the symbol at the cursor (also in the editor's context menu)
Show in Graph Explorer	The symbol at the cursor in the console's graph view
Open Web Console	The console: repositories, search, the graph and impact
Index Workspace, Re-index Workspace (full)	Index the workspace's folders; the full run parses every file again
Start Server, Stop Server, Restart Server, Show Log	Control the BBM-Atlas the extension runs
Install BBM-Atlas, Choose Python…	Install or upgrade BBM-Atlas with pip, or pick another Python
Set API Key, Clear API Key	The key of a BBM-Atlas server you connect to
Enter Licence Key, Clear Licence Key	Your Enterprise Edition licence key
Copy MCP Configuration	An MCP entry for editors that cannot be set up automatically
Get Started	The walkthrough: start, index, impact, search and your AI assistant

Settings

Setting	Default
`bbmAtlas.server.mode`	`auto`	`auto` runs BBM-Atlas for this window; `external` connects to `bbmAtlas.server.url`
`bbmAtlas.server.url`	`http://127.0.0.1:8000`	The server for `external` mode
`bbmAtlas.pythonPath`		The Python to run BBM-Atlas with; empty means find one
`bbmAtlas.index.onStartup`	`true`	Index the workspace when the server starts
`bbmAtlas.index.onSave`	`true`	Re-index a folder after a file in it is saved
`bbmAtlas.impact.maxDepth`	`3`	How many hops impact analysis follows
`bbmAtlas.impact.includeTests`	`false`	Also list the tests that cover what a change affects
`bbmAtlas.codeLens.enabled`	`true`	Show the Impact code lens
`bbmAtlas.hover.enabled`	`true`	Show callers and callees when hovering a symbol's name or a call to it
`bbmAtlas.mcp.enabled`	`true`	Offer BBM-Atlas's tools to the AI assistant

A shared server, and the Enterprise Edition

Using a shared server. To use a BBM-Atlas your team runs, set bbmAtlas.server.mode to external and bbmAtlas.server.url to its address. Then run BBM-Atlas: Set API Key if it needs one.
The Enterprise Edition adds people and roles, organisations, single sign-on, an audit log and high availability. It is the same BBM-Atlas: BBM-Atlas: Enter Licence Key turns those features on in the server the extension runs. Write to info@byteblendmatrix.com about a licence.

Keys are kept in VS Code's encrypted secret storage, never in settings.

Privacy and security

Your code stays on your machine. BBM-Atlas runs locally, listens on the loopback address only, and keeps its index in your user data folder.
No telemetry. The extension sends no usage data anywhere.
Restricted Mode. The extension does not run Python or start a server in an untrusted workspace. Trust the workspace to use it.
Installing asks first. BBM-Atlas is installed only after you agree, and in a terminal you can see.

Requirements

VS Code 1.101 or newer, or an editor compatible with it (Cursor, VSCodium and Windsurf install from Open VSX).
Python 3.11, 3.12 or 3.13.
The extension works locally, over Remote SSH and WSL, and in dev containers. It runs where your code and Python are.

Licence

BBM-Atlas is proprietary software under the BBM-Atlas License, included as LICENSE. The Community features are free to use; the Enterprise features need a licence key.

BBM-Atlas

ByteBlendMatrix