Lichess for VS Code
Play chess without leaving your editor. Solve Lichess puzzles and play games right inside VS Code.
Features
- Puzzles — Daily puzzle, random puzzles, hint & solution
- Play vs AI — Stockfish levels 1-8, multiple time controls
- Play online — Find opponents, accept challenges (rapid/classical)
- Live games — Real-time board updates, clocks, resign/draw
- Authentication — OAuth2 or Personal Access Token
- Flexible layout — Place the board in any panel or sidebar
Recommended Layout
Drag the Lichess tab to the right sidebar (secondary sidebar) for the ideal setup:
┌──────────┬──────────┬──────────┐
│ Explorer │ Editor │ Lichess │
│ │ (code) │ (board) │
├──────────┴──────────┴──────────┤
│ Terminal │
└────────────────────────────────┘
Commands
Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) and type "Lichess":
| Command |
Description |
Lichess: Daily Puzzle |
Load today's puzzle |
Lichess: Random Puzzle |
Load a random puzzle |
Lichess: Play vs AI |
Start a game against Stockfish |
Lichess: Find Opponent |
Seek a human opponent |
Lichess: Login |
Authenticate with Lichess |
Lichess: Logout |
Sign out |
Lichess: My Games |
View and join ongoing games |
Authentication
Required for: playing games, finding opponents, personalized puzzles.
Not required for: daily puzzle, random puzzles.
Two options:
- OAuth2 — Click "Login to Lichess", authorize in browser
- Personal Access Token — Generate at lichess.org/account/oauth/token with scopes:
board:play, challenge:read, challenge:write, puzzle:read
Contributing
git clone https://github.com/gugasth/lichess-for-vscode.git
cd lichess-for-vscode
npm install
npm run build
Then press F5 in VS Code to launch the Extension Development Host.
License
GPL-3.0 (required by Chessground)
