CodeCoach
Purpose
Early in collaborative Git work I optimized for shipping fast and treated one issue as one big PR. Reviews got painful, and those long PRs were one version of a broader issue: large diffs and vague commit messages slow down review and make history harder to trust. So I built CodeCoach.
CodeCoach is a Visual Studio Code extension. It compares your work to a configurable base branch (for example main or master), shows line and file scope in the status bar with a simple health score, and nudges you while you work when thresholds or commit-message length suggest splitting the change or writing a clearer message.
Features
- Status bar: Shows lines changed (Δ), files touched, and a health score (0–100) derived from how your diff compares to your warning thresholds. Click the item to open the CodeCoach output channel with full details (base branch, merge-base, insertions/deletions, dirty state, latest commit).
- Warnings: When line or file counts exceed your thresholds, the status bar uses the editor’s warning styling so oversized changes are easy to spot.
- Nudges: Optional in-editor messages when you cross line or file thresholds (with a cooldown so you are not spammed), plus a reminder when the latest non-merge commit message is shorter than a minimum length.
- Live updates: Refreshes when you save files, switch editors or folders, change settings, or when Git metadata changes (including integration with the built-in Git extension when available).
Requirements
- VS Code 1.85.0 or newer.
- A folder workspace that is a Git repository.
- A local base branch that exists in that repo (see
codecoach.mainBranchNames below).
Development
npm install
npm run compile
Press F5 in VS Code to launch an Extension Development Host with CodeCoach loaded (see .vscode/launch.json).
npm run watch runs TypeScript in watch mode while you develop.
Configuration
All settings live under the codecoach section (Settings UI or settings.json).
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
codecoach.enabled |
true |
Master switch for status bar and nudges. |
codecoach.lineWarningThreshold |
400 |
Line change count (insertions + deletions vs merge-base) above which the status bar warns and a nudge may fire. |
codecoach.fileWarningThreshold |
10 |
File count above which the status bar warns and a nudge may fire. |
codecoach.mainBranchNames |
["main", "master"] |
First name that resolves locally is used as the base branch for diffs. |
codecoach.commitMessageMinLength |
10 |
Minimum length for the latest commit subject before a short-message nudge (non-merge commits). |
codecoach.nudgeCooldownMinutes |
45 |
Minimum minutes between the same kind of nudge; set to 0 to disable cooldown. |
codecoach.statusBarAllignment |
"left" |
Status bar side: "left" or "right". |
codecoach.statusBarPriority |
100 |
Priority within that side (higher appears closer to the center). |
Health score: Starts at 100 when line and file counts are within thresholds and decreases as counts approach and exceed them (see src/healthScore.ts).
Commands
| Command |
ID |
Description |
| CodeCoach: Show details |
codecoach.showDetails |
Opens the CodeCoach output channel with branch and diff summary. |
| CodeCoach: Refresh |
codecoach.refresh |
Forces a refresh of stats and nudges. |
Run Developer: Reload Window after local changes if the host does not pick them up.
How diffs are computed
Stats use git merge-base HEAD <base> and then git diff --shortstat <merge-base> so you see all changes on your branch relative to the merge-base with the chosen mainline branch, not only uncommitted edits.
