GWC Connect

GWC Connect brings Taichu, Creative, sessions, artifacts, settings, and connected-device workflows to Visual Studio Code.

Plans and AI usage

The extension is free to install. GWC Personal Connect Pass is a separate subscription. See current pricing for the monthly price, included features and new-user trial.

The new-user trial requires no payment card and does not automatically become a paid subscription. When it ends, your account returns to free access unless you choose a paid Personal subscription in Billing. You can cancel a paid subscription in Billing.

AI usage is separate from the Connect Pass. Use your own provider account or a local model where supported. USD Balance is available for GWC-managed models.

Getting started

This package runs in a local VS Code desktop window and uses local file-system folders.

This platform-specific extension includes a sealed Taichu runtime for its declared operating system and architecture. Runtime assets come from the extension package and are verified against its integrity manifest before use. Attaching to an existing daemon requires that daemon to present the checked packaged identity.

Open GWC: New Session from the Command Palette to start. GWC account and provider configuration remain in the extension's Settings surfaces.

Choose Classic, Dark, Charcoal, Espresso, Oak or Light in GWC Settings → General → Theme (or during setup). The selection applies to the Connect sidebar, settings and native VS Code surfaces, plus open Taichu, Creative and mirrored session panels without resetting their content. Dark, Charcoal and Light use neutral buttons; Classic and Espresso use gold accents, and Oak uses light wood surfaces and walnut accents. Choose Bright or Soft under Text next to Theme. Saved Warm selections migrate to Espresso. gwc.taichu.theme normally follows the workbench; an explicit value lets you give those session panels a separate palette. Selecting a theme in GWC Settings restores the shared selection.

For linked Autopilot advice, use /session create in the subject conversation, then /autopilot <goal> from that owner conversation. Activate Observer advisors after the run starts. Their findings are reviewed at planning boundaries and recorded as taken, rejected or deferred in the advice feed. Advice does not grant execution permission; Taichu's existing approval gates still apply. Use /autopilot stop to stop new work and let admitted work settle. Reloading or restarting requires fresh session membership and does not automatically resume a run.

The packaged component and dependency notices are indexed in THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md.

Subagent workflow

Subagents is an on/off setting, separate from reasoning effort and model. When it is on, a substantive request in a Taichu chat runs the Subagent workflow: a planner and a verifier, then synthesis. Conversational messages still run directly. Turning it on or off never changes the effort or model you chose. It is off until you turn it on. UltraCode is no longer an effort level: its multi-agent workflow is now this setting.

• Model menu: choose the main-agent model and effort, the sub-agent model and effort, then use the Subagent switch. The Mode menu contains only the five interaction modes.
• Slash command: /subagent on, /subagent off, or /subagent status (or just /subagent) to show the saved value. Taichu handles it in the panel; it is never sent to the model.
• Command Palette: GWC: Turn Subagents on, GWC: Turn Subagents off and GWC: Show Subagents status. Only the one that changes the current value is offered. In Taichu's own command list, search for Subagents.
• Terminal: taichu --subagent on, off or status (alias taichu subagent ...); add --json for the saved record. With Taichu running, the command saves through it; otherwise it writes the settings file directly. If a running Taichu is too old for the setting, or does not answer clearly, the command changes nothing.

The Taichu runtime keeps one value for your user account on this computer (subagent in ~/.taichu/daemon.json), so the switch, the palette commands and the taichu command show and change the same setting. It is never saved per project or workspace. A change applies from your next message: a turn that is already running keeps the setting it started with, and turning Subagents off does not stop it; use Stop for that. The setting controls only this workflow; Taichu's agent tool still follows your tool permissions. If the Model menu shows "Update Taichu to use the Subagent setting.", the Taichu runtime in use is older than this extension and does not have the setting.

2.1.1

• Corrects startup and recovery handling so Studio-specific sign-in checks do not affect GWC for VS Code.
• Preserves useful saved-model and session-title messages, including when a change has not been confirmed.
• Uses product-appropriate setup and welcome wording.
• Adds Studio-only support for reopening Taichu, Work and Design sessions. Studio's navigation is not added to VS Code.
• Signs Taichu in to your GWC account through a confirmation page with a one-time code, so another website cannot sign it in to a different account.
• Keeps your settings between launches: setup is offered once, and later launches no longer open panels or change your layout.
• Uses two default shortcuts on free Ctrl+K chords instead of overriding editor and AltGr keys.
• Shows an offline or signed-out banner with Start, Retry and Sign in, and a runtime status item with Start, Restart and Settings.

2.1.2

• Adds ChatGPT access: “Share this folder with ChatGPT” and a “ChatGPT access” sidebar section, so the GWC app in ChatGPT can list, read and search the folders you share.
• Asks on this computer before ChatGPT changes a file, with the full changes to review first. You can allow edits without asking for a folder you trust; project settings files always ask.
• Stop sharing a folder at any time from the sidebar. Running commands from ChatGPT is not available in this version.
• Keeps a log of what ChatGPT did on this computer for 30 days by default; choose a shorter or longer period, turn it off, or clear it from the ChatGPT access section.
• The account in the status bar no longer switches to “GWC: Sign In” while you are signed in.

2.1.3

• Taichu now starts on computers that do not have the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable installed.
• Switching between your personal account and an organization no longer shows the previous account’s plan in the status bar.
• A ChatGPT request that expired before you answered no longer holds back the dialog for the next request.
• Updated setup: sign in or create an account with Google or an email link, see your 7-day GWC Personal trial, and finish on a page that shows how to use GWC in VS Code, in ChatGPT and on your phone.

2.2.0

• The ChatGPT access section is now GWC Bridge: see whether this computer is connected, and Disconnect or Reconnect at any time. Disconnecting does not sign you out or remove your shared folders.
• Permissions use five levels, from Always ask to Allow all tools. Set them for this computer in GWC Web or GWC Mobile; Manage in GWC Web opens the page.
• Share this folder and Stop sharing work as before, and each shared folder shows whether ChatGPT may change files in it.
• ChatGPT can search your shared folders in the background, and read or set this computer's safe display settings.
• A request that affects the whole computer, such as managing system processes, can be answered from the approval dialog.

2.3.0

• GWC Bridge has its own card in Connect, the same as in GWC Studio.
• Each session card shows its status light on the right, with a ⋮ menu to rename or archive the session.
• Choose the main-agent and subagent models and their effort inside each session. Add provider sign-ins, API keys and local models in Settings > Models.
• GWC Bridge settings no longer show a permission level. Each AI app sets its own permissions: choose the tool tier on ChatGPT's GWC Bridge plugin page, and each tool's permission on Claude's connector page.
• Settings > Models shows the estimated computer requirements of the planned GWC Model Router (Auto).

2.3.1

• GWC for VS Code shows its icon on the Visual Studio Marketplace and in the Extensions view.

2.3.2

• Connect Pass pricing is read from GWC at USD 8/month, with fair-use details (up to 3,000 GWC Bridge actions per rolling hour through GWC servers; actions your own computer answers directly are not counted).
• Status and Agent-to-Agent session polling pause while the editor window is hidden and refresh immediately when focused.
• New Session adds the ASCII Field default background alongside Light Field, Constellation, Currents, Tide and None.

2.3.3

• GWC for VS Code starts normally in Visual Studio Code again; versions 2.3.1 and 2.3.2 could fail to start and show an activation error.

2.3.4

• GWC for VS Code now starts Taichu on macOS; earlier versions installed on a Mac, but Taichu and GWC Bridge could not start there.