VSCode ACP Chat

AI coding agents in VS Code via the Agent Client Protocol (ACP)

VSCode ACP Chat allows you to chat with Claude, OpenCode, and other ACP-compatible AI agents directly in your editor. No context switching, no copy-pasting code. If you encounter any problems, please report them to Issues.

🚀 Features

• Multi-Agent Support — Connect to OpenCode, Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, Goose, and other ACP-compatible agents.
• Native Chat Interface — Integrated sidebar chat that feels like a native part of VS Code.
• Context-Aware — Send code selections or terminal output directly to the chat via context menus.
• Tool Visibility — See what commands the AI runs with expandable input/output and file diffs.
• Rich Markdown — Full support for code blocks, syntax highlighting, and formatted responses.
• Streaming Responses — Watch the AI think and work in real-time.
• Session Management — Load and resume previous conversations with full history restoration.
• Terminal Integration — View terminal output with full ANSI color support.
• MCP Server Configuration — Connect to MCP servers via stdio, http, or sse transports. Configurations are loaded from:
  • Workspace: <workspace>/.vscode/mcp.json
  • User-level: ~/.config/Code/User/mcp.json (Linux), ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/mcp.json (macOS), %APPDATA%/Code/User/mcp.json (Windows)
  • HTTP/SSE servers are sent to agents based on the agent's advertised mcpCapabilities.

📦 Getting Started

Prerequisites

You need at least one ACP-compatible agent installed and available in your $PATH:

• OpenCode: pnpm add -g opencode
• Claude Code: npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
• Gemini CLI: npm install -g @google/gemini-cli

[!IMPORTANT] Ensure you have completed the agent's login/authentication setup before connecting via VS Code.

Installation

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to Extensions (Cmd+Shift+X / Ctrl+Shift+X)
3. Search for "VSCode ACP Chat"
4. Click Install

💡 Usage

1. Connect: Click the ACP icon in the Activity Bar and select an agent to start a session.
2. Chat: Type your requests in the input box.
3. Quick Send:
   • Highlight code in the editor → Right-click → Send to ACP.
   • Select text in the terminal → Right-click → Send to ACP.
4. Inspect Tools: Click on tool icons (✓, ✗, ⋯) to view command inputs and execution results.

🛠️ Configuration

The extension automatically detects installed agents by checking your system's $PATH for the following commands:

Custom Agents

You can add custom agents via VS Code settings:

1. Open Settings (Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P → Preferences: Open User Settings)
2. Search for vscode-acp-chat.customAgents
3. Click Edit in settings.json

Example Configuration

{
  "vscode-acp-chat.customAgents": [
    {
      "id": "my-agent",
      "name": "My Custom Agent",
      "command": "my-agent-cli",
      "args": ["--acp"],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "your-api-key"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Configuration Fields

[!NOTE] Custom agents with the same id as a built-in agent will replace the built-in configuration.

👨‍💻 Development

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build the extension
npm run compile

# Package as VSIX
npx vsce package

# Run tests & linting
npm test
npm run lint
npm run format

🤝 Acknowledgments

This project is an enhanced fork of the original vscode-acp repository, adding significant improvements to agent compatibility, session management, and the overall user interface.

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.