Critical Gate brings repository-aware diff integrity checks into VS Code.
It is not a generic AI code reviewer. It is a local diagnostics surface for checking whether an
agent-produced diff stays inside the requested task, repository conventions, API surface, tests,
dependencies, and expected blast radius.
Features
Use the Critical Gate Activity Bar view to run checks, inspect the latest run, review changed
files, browse the native Analysis tree, and revisit recent gate runs.
Run Critical Gate from the Command Palette with Critical Gate: Run Check.
Show the full run report in the Critical Gate output channel.
See the highest-value latest-run signal in the VS Code status bar, including scope score,
unexpected clusters, missing companions, or clean pass state.
Show findings in the Problems panel with file, line, severity, and detector context.
Open evidence locations from diagnostics.
Copy repair guidance for Codex or another coding agent.
Restore the last report and recent run history after reloading VS Code, clearly marked as
historical until the next run.
Optionally refresh diagnostics on file save.
Requirements
The extension bundles the Critical Gate analyzer, so Marketplace users do not need to clone or build
the critical-gate repository.
The opened workspace must be a local git repository. Configure criticalGate.cliPath only when you
want to test a custom local Critical Gate CLI build.
Settings
criticalGate.task: task intent passed to Critical Gate.
criticalGate.base: optional git base ref or SHA.
criticalGate.cliPath: optional path to a custom Critical Gate CLI. Empty uses the bundled analyzer.
criticalGate.refreshMode: manual or onSave.
criticalGate.refreshDebounceMs: debounce for save-triggered checks.
Status
This extension is a local diagnostics and run-visibility surface for Critical Gate. The CLI remains
the source of truth for detector behavior and output schemas.
