Review changes made by an AI assistant in VS Code: a minimal panel with Changes and Staged Changes, the built-in diff editor, file navigation that loops within one group, and review comments you can copy as feedback for an AI chat.
Install it from the Visual Studio Marketplace or run code --install-extension ericsonjoseph.difftool-review.
Shortcuts
| Shortcut |
Action |
Ctrl+Alt+R |
Open/focus the Difftool Review panel |
Alt+N / Alt+P |
Next / previous file, looping inside the current group |
Alt+G |
Switch group (Staged ↔ Changes) and open its first file |
Alt+. / Alt+, |
Next / previous change inside the diff |
Alt+S |
Stage current file (when reviewing Changes) |
Alt+U |
Unstage current file (when reviewing Staged) |
Ctrl+Alt+S / Ctrl+Alt+U |
Stage / unstage selected lines |
Ctrl+Alt+C |
Add a comment on the current line/selection |
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+C |
Copy all comments as AI feedback |
Shortcuts depend on extension state (context keys), not on focus, so they work from the tree, the editor and webview panels.
Integrated terminal: VS Code sends most keys to the shell while a terminal has focus, so the shortcuts only work there when their commands are listed in terminal.integrated.commandsToSkipShell. The first time a terminal is open, Difftool Review offers to add them to your user settings; you can also run Difftool Review: Enable Shortcuts in Terminal at any time. It adds:
"terminal.integrated.commandsToSkipShell": [
"difftoolReview.focus", "difftoolReview.nextFile", "difftoolReview.prevFile",
"difftoolReview.switchGroup", "difftoolReview.nextChange", "difftoolReview.prevChange",
"difftoolReview.stageFile", "difftoolReview.unstageFile", "difftoolReview.copyReview"
]
Once added, the shell no longer receives these keys while their shortcut is active (e.g. Alt+. "insert last argument" during a review). To keep one for the shell, add it with a leading -, e.g. "-difftoolReview.nextChange"; the command leaves such entries alone.
If a shortcut does not fire, run Developer: Toggle Keyboard Shortcuts Troubleshooting, press the key and check the Output panel for conflicts.
AI sessions
When you already have unstaged work of your own, the files an AI assistant edits get mixed into it in the Changes group. An AI session separates them:
- Click Start AI Session (sparkle button in the panel title) before asking the assistant for changes. It records the working tree as it is now (a git tree object; the index is not touched).
- Let the assistant work. The Changes group shows only the files that differ from that recording: edited, created or deleted since the start. The diff of each file compares with the recording, so your earlier edits to the same file are not shown.
- Toggle with the filter button (or the one on the Changes row) to see all changes again.
- Restart AI Session (panel
... menu) moves the start to now, e.g. before the assistant's next turn. Stop AI Session ends it.
Files you edit yourself during a session count as session changes too. New files only show while difftoolReview.includeUntracked is on. The session survives a window reload.
Settings
| Setting |
Default |
|
difftoolReview.viewMode |
list |
Show files as a flat list or nested in a tree of folders (single-child folders compacted); Alt+N/Alt+P follow the tree order. Toggle with the list/tree button in the panel title |
difftoolReview.includeUntracked |
true |
Show untracked files in the Changes group |
difftoolReview.closePreviousDiff |
true |
Close the previous review diff when opening another file |
difftoolReview.clearCommentsAfterCopy |
false |
Remove all comments after copying the review |
difftoolReview.copyPreamble |
"Please address…" |
Text placed at the top of the copied review |
Development
pnpm install
./scripts/make-test-repo.sh # creates /tmp/difftool-review-test
Press F5 ("Run Extension"). It compiles in watch mode and opens the test repository in an Extension Development Host, with workspace trust disabled for that window.
Difftool Review needs a trusted workspace: in Restricted Mode VS Code does not load the built-in Git extension, so Difftool Review cannot activate and its panel asks you to trust the folder.
| Command |
|
pnpm compile / pnpm watch |
Build with tsc into out/ |
pnpm lint |
ESLint (typescript-eslint, type-checked) |
pnpm test |
Unit tests (mocha, plain Node) |
pnpm test:integration |
Integration tests inside VS Code; set VSCODE_EXECUTABLE=/usr/share/code/code to use the installed VS Code instead of downloading one |
pnpm package |
Build the .vsix (vsce package --no-dependencies: the extension has no runtime dependencies, and vsce's dependency scan does not support pnpm's node_modules layout) |
The build uses plain tsc rather than a bundler: Status in src/git/git.d.ts is a const enum that only tsc can inline, and the extension has no runtime dependencies to bundle.
Releasing
Publishing a GitHub Release runs .github/workflows/release.yml: it runs the tests, packages one .vsix, publishes it to the Visual Studio Marketplace and attaches it to the release.
- Bump
version in package.json and add a CHANGELOG.md entry, commit (chore(release): v0.2.0) and push.
gh release create v0.2.0 --generate-notes
The tag must be v + the package.json version. The Marketplace has no semver pre-release versions, so channels use the minor number: even minor (0.2.x) for releases, odd minor (0.3.x) for GitHub pre-releases (gh release create v0.3.0 --prerelease), which are published with --pre-release. The workflow fails if tag, version or channel do not match.
The workflow needs the secret VSCE_PAT (Azure DevOps token, scope Marketplace → Manage) in the marketplace environment.
