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Code Archaeologist

Code Archaeologist

Frank Liu

|
2 installs
| (0) | Free
Point at any code, get a one-line answer to 'why is this here?' — backed by commits, PRs, and issues.
Installation
Launch VS Code Quick Open (Ctrl+P), paste the following command, and press enter.
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More Info

🏺 Code Archaeologist

Point at any code. Get a one-line answer to "why is this here?"

git blame tells you who. PR pages tell you what. Nothing tells you why — until now.

One keystroke. Full story. No AI key required.

Marketplace Installs CI License: MIT


How It Works

  1. Select any code (or just place your cursor on a line)
  2. Press Ctrl+Shift+Y (Cmd+Shift+Y on Mac) — or right-click → 🏺 Why is this here?
  3. A side panel streams the answer: verdict → evidence → full timeline

That's it. Cold run ~2s, warm run ~1s.

Features

🔍 Three-layer answer — One-sentence verdict on top, relevant PR/commit evidence below, full timeline in a collapsible section

⚡ Fast — Single-batch GraphQL PR fetch, persistent 7-day cache at ~/.git-archaeology/cache/

🧹 Noise filter — Merge, dependabot, format-only commits are dimmed, never dropped

📋 Copy as PR comment — Turn any investigation into a Markdown snippet for code reviews

🔒 Privacy-first — All git ops run locally. PR data fetched via your own gh CLI. No telemetry. No third-party API keys. Ever.

Requirements

  • VS Code ≥ 1.85
  • git on PATH
  • gh CLI authenticated — optional, but needed for PR enrichment

Roadmap

See ROADMAP.md — next up: Copilot-powered answer upgrade, standalone CLI, CodeLens integration.

License

MIT © 2026 Frank Liu

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