Cascade Code Intelligence

Understand dependencies, change impact, cycles, architecture boundaries, and affected-test candidates without sending source code to a hosted service. Cascade runs analysis locally and keeps background analysis off until you opt in.

Marketplace packages use numeric SemVer; prerelease status is applied by VSCE/Marketplace rather than embedded in the version. A numeric version already uploaded on either channel is never reused. Stable npm and Marketplace releases use the same lowest available version. Maintainers must run pnpm run vscode:version:prepare and the live precondition validator, not edit it manually.

Install

Open Extensions in VS Code.
Find Cascade Code Intelligence from publisher cascade-code.
Choose the stable version. To evaluate a future prerelease, choose Switch to Pre-Release Version only when the release notes explicitly identify that channel.

To install an inspected local package instead:

code --install-extension "cascade-code-intelligence-3.3.1-win32-x64.vsix" --force

The extension requires VS Code 1.96.0 or newer.

What you can do

Analyze the active file and publish local diagnostics.
See dependency, dependent, and transitive-impact counts through CodeLens.
Inspect dependents and evidence-backed dependency paths.
List affected-test candidates with stated confidence.
Refresh one or more workspace folders.
Open Cascade's token-protected dashboard on the loopback interface.

Privacy and execution

Cascade analyzes files on your machine. It does not include telemetry, upload source code, or require a hosted Cascade account. Background analysis is disabled by default and runs only after you enable cascade.backgroundAnalysis. The extension reads project files as data; it does not execute source code from the workspace.

The dashboard is served locally with a random access token and is not intended for network exposure.

Commands and editor behavior

Command	Behavior
Cascade: Analyze Current File	Refreshes the workspace, reports impact, and publishes Cascade diagnostics
Cascade: Show Dependents	Lists direct and transitive dependents for the active file
Cascade: Show Dependency Path	Explains a static dependency path to a workspace-relative target
Cascade: Show Affected Tests	Lists test candidates and their evidence confidence
Cascade: Open Dashboard	Starts the bundled CLI dashboard locally
Cascade: Refresh Workspace	Rebuilds analysis for every open workspace folder

CodeLens is enabled by default and shows dependency, dependent, and transitive-impact counts above the first line. Diagnostics are published after an explicit analysis or refresh. Saved-file analysis remains disabled until cascade.backgroundAnalysis is enabled.

Settings

Setting	Default	Purpose
`cascade.backgroundAnalysis`	`false`	Analyze locally after saved changes
`cascade.debounceMs`	`750`	Saved-change analysis delay
`cascade.maxFiles`	`100000`	Maximum files in an analysis graph
`cascade.maxEdges`	`300000`	Maximum dependency edges
`cascade.maxTraversalDepth`	`30`	Maximum transitive-query depth
`cascade.codeLens`	`true`	Show dependency and impact counts
`cascade.servicePath`	empty	Optional editor-service executable override
`cascade.cliPath`	empty	Optional Cascade CLI executable override

Language support and limitations

Structured analysis covers JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Java, Kotlin, C#, Go, Rust, C, and C++. Additional plugins provide syntax-aware, pattern-based, or metadata-oriented evidence for PHP, Ruby, Swift, Dart, Shell, PowerShell, Lua, R, Vue, Svelte, HTML, stylesheets, GraphQL, and opt-in SQL. Capabilities vary by plugin; “supported” does not imply compiler or language-server parity. See the language support guide and capability matrix.

Results depend on static evidence, available project metadata, configured limits, generated-code exclusions, and unresolved dynamic imports. Affected-test candidates, dependency paths, and impact counts are review aids rather than proofs. Cascade does not execute workspace build tools or source files. Third-party Cascade plugins run with the extension process's permissions and are not an isolation boundary.

Multi-root workspaces and paths containing spaces, parentheses, and Unicode are supported. A local Node.js runtime compatible with the extension's VS Code host is required.

Relationship to the npm CLI

The Marketplace extension bundles the Cascade CLI and editor service needed for its features. The separately published @cascade-code/cli@next package is the public-beta command-line channel and uses its own npm version sequence. Installing the npm CLI is optional unless you explicitly configure cascade.cliPath to use another CLI executable.

Troubleshooting and support

If analysis does not start, open a workspace folder, run Cascade: Refresh Workspace, and check that configured file and edge limits are appropriate. For dashboard launch failures, leave cascade.cliPath empty to use the bundled CLI, or configure an inspected compatible CLI.

Use GitHub Issues for support. Report suspected security issues through the repository's security policy, not a public issue.