Codient – AI Code Assistant for VS Code
Codient is a standalone Visual Studio Code extension that brings Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and DeepSeek into your editor to analyze, refactor, debug, and generate code directly from your workspace.
It is built for real-world development workflows: multi-file analysis, safe edits with automatic backups, change preview, and persistent browser-based sessions.
Installation · Features · Chat · Commands · Settings · Profiles
Installation
Install Codient from the VS Code Marketplace, or search for Codient in the Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X).
You can also download the latest .vsix from the Releases page and install it with:
code --install-extension codient-*.vsix
Features
- 🤖 Multi-model AI support (Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek)
- 💬 Sidebar chat view with a keyboard shortcut
- 📂 Analyze and edit single or multiple files
- 📌 Preselect the files to edit, with a clear-selection button
- 🔍 Read-only shell commands for project exploration before edits
- 💾 Safe overwrite mode with automatic backups
- 👁️ Preview changes before applying them
- 🔁 Retry button for failed messages
- 📝 Prompt draft is preserved when the webview reloads
- 🌐 Browser session mode (persistent login)
- 👤 Multi-profile Chrome support (separate sessions per account)
- 🛰️ Proxy support (HTTP / SOCKS5)
- 🎛️ Configurable file extensions and excluded directories
Chat
Open the Codient chat from the activity bar, or press:
- Windows/Linux:
Ctrl + Shift + C
- Mac:
Cmd + Alt + C
From the chat you can write a prompt, choose the files to edit, send the request, and retry if a message fails. Your unsent prompt is kept even if the view reloads.
Commands
Open the Command Palette:
- Windows/Linux:
Ctrl + Shift + P
- Mac:
Cmd + Shift + P
Then use one of the following commands. Ask AI and Preview Changes are also available from the editor and Explorer context menus.
Codient: Open Chat
Opens the Codient chat view in the sidebar.
Codient: Ask AI
Analyze and edit files using AI. Changes are applied directly, with automatic backup.
Use this for:
- Bug fixing
- Code review
- Optimization suggestions
- Adding comments or improvements
Codient: Preview Changes
Same as Ask AI but without modifying files, so you can review the suggested changes first.
Use this for:
- Reviewing AI suggestions before applying
- Safe exploration of refactoring ideas
Codient: Open Browser Session
Opens a persistent AI web session in Chrome using the currently active profile (set via Settings or Codient: Switch Profile).
Use this for:
- Logging in to AI accounts
- Manual AI interaction
- Login-based workflows
To log in with a different profile, first run Codient: Switch Profile, then open the browser session.
Codient: Switch Profile
Interactively switch between Chrome profiles.
- Shows a list of all existing profiles from
~/.codient/profiles/
- Lets you type a new profile name to create one on the fly
- Updates the
codient.profile setting globally
Use this for:
- Switching between work and personal accounts
- Managing multiple AI accounts per model
Codient: Switch Model
Interactively switch the AI model (Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek).
Codient: Set Chat ID / Clear Chat ID / Chat ID Options
Set or clear a chat ID so requests continue in a specific conversation. Chat ID Options opens a menu for both actions.
Settings
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
codient.model |
Default |
AI model to use: Default, Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek |
codient.profile |
default |
Chrome profile to use. Use Codient: Switch Profile to change interactively. |
codient.proxy |
`` |
Proxy address (e.g. http://127.0.0.1:8080 or socks5://127.0.0.1:1080). Leave empty to disable. |
codient.codeExtensions |
.py, .js, .ts, .jsx, .tsx, .java, .cpp, .c, .go, .rs, .php, .rb, .html, .css, .scss, .sass, .less, .json |
File extensions to include when scanning for code files. |
codient.excludeDirs |
node_modules, .git, dist, build, __pycache__, venv, env, .venv |
Directory names to exclude when scanning for code files. |
To restrict a large project to certain files, override the arrays in your workspace .vscode/settings.json:
{
"codient.codeExtensions": [".php"],
"codient.excludeDirs": ["vendor", "storage", "node_modules", ".git"]
}
Profiles
Profiles let you maintain separate Chrome sessions for different accounts or purposes.
Each profile is stored under:
~/.codient/profiles/<name>/
Typical workflow:
1. Codient: Switch Profile → select "work"
2. Codient: Open Browser Session → log in with your work account
3. Codient: Ask AI → runs with the work profile automatically
You can have as many profiles as you need: default, work, personal, client-x, etc.
Contributing
Build and development instructions are in CONTRIBUTING.md.
License
MIT
