Decispher — Branch Story
Every branch has a story. Branch Story keeps it.
It records the decisions and context behind your code as you write it, then serves that history back to you and your AI agents right in the editor. Works in VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, and every VS Code fork.
The problem
You open a branch a week later and can't tell why half the code is there. Your AI agent repeats a mistake you already fixed two sprints ago. A new teammate asks "why is it done this way?" and nobody remembers.
Branch Story records the "why" in the moment, so none of that context is lost.
What you get
- Branch Store sidebar. Where the branch stands right now: a pre-flight briefing, a timeline of what was captured, and linked context from your team's knowledge base.
- Story Mode. Replay how the branch got here, chapter by chapter: what was decided, what was tried and rejected, what changed. A commit history that actually explains itself.
- Save Context. Capture a decision in one click. Decispher classifies it (decision, constraint, convention, rationale) and routes it to your team's knowledge base.
- Recording light. A status-bar indicator of what's captured on the current branch. Click it for options, or to pause.
- Why is this line here? Right-click any line and get the decisions and context that explain it.
- Editor capture floor. Save diffs are captured in the background, redacted at source, and flushed when you reconnect. Run
npx decispher init for far deeper capture through native hooks; in auto mode the floor steps aside so nothing is captured twice.
Getting started
1. Connect. Command Palette (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+P) → Decispher: Connect (Set API Key). Paste your key from app.decispher.com. It's kept in VS Code SecretStorage, never on disk.
2. Open the store. Click the Decispher icon in the Activity Bar to see the briefing, timeline, and linked corpus.
3. Capture a decision. When you choose a library, rule out an approach, or hit a constraint, click Save Context.
4. Go deeper (recommended). In the repo root, run npx decispher init to install native Claude Code and Cursor hooks: per-edit diffs, rejected attempts, and reasoning. One command, whole team.
Pause recording
For work you don't want recorded, pause capture. Click the recording light and pick a duration, or run Decispher: Pause Recording. It's a private, machine-wide switch that stops new capture (editor and terminal floors, and the native hooks) and auto-resumes when the timer lapses, so it's never left off by accident. The store stays readable while paused. The recording light dims and shows a countdown so the state is always clear. Decispher: Resume Recording turns it back on.
Change your API key
Run Decispher: Connect (Set API Key) again to overwrite the stored key, or Decispher: Disconnect (Clear API Key) to remove it.
Auth
API key, first match wins:
DECISPHER_API_KEY environment variable- VS Code SecretStorage (
Decispher: Connect)
~/.decispher/credentials.json, shared with the CLI
API URL, first match wins:
DECISPHER_API_URL environment variable.decispher/recorder.json committed in the repodecispher.apiUrl setting (default https://api.decispher.com)
The webview never sees your key. All network calls run in the extension host.
Settings
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
decispher.apiUrl |
https://api.decispher.com |
API endpoint. A committed .decispher/recorder.json takes precedence. |
decispher.dashboardUrl |
https://app.decispher.com |
Used for "Open in Decispher" links. |
decispher.captureFloor |
auto |
auto: off when native hooks are installed. on: always capture save diffs. off: serve UI only. |
decispher.captureTerminal |
true |
Record significant terminal commands and the tail of their output. |
decispher.briefOnBranchSwitch |
true |
Show a one-line "where this branch stands" note when switching to a branch with recorded context. |
decispher.editWarnings |
true |
Surface déjà-vu and drift warnings inline as you save. |
Commands
| Command |
Description |
Decispher: Open Branch Store |
Open the branch store panel |
Decispher: Refresh Branch Store |
Force-refresh the store view |
Decispher: Connect (Set API Key) |
Store your API key in SecretStorage |
Decispher: Disconnect (Clear API Key) |
Remove the stored key |
Decispher: Pause Recording |
Stop capture on this machine (auto-resumes) |
Decispher: Resume Recording |
Turn capture back on |
Decispher: Why is this line here? |
Look up decisions and context for the selected line |
Why is this line here? is also in the editor right-click menu.
Works with
VS Code 1.85+, Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium, and any VS Code fork that resolves from Open VSX.
Privacy
- Diffs are redacted at source before leaving your machine: paths stripped, common secret patterns replaced with
[REDACTED].
- Raw message text is never stored. Only structured context units are persisted.
- Offline captures buffer locally and flush once you reconnect.
Full privacy policy: decispher.com
Support
