Kraft for VS Code

A local orchestrator that takes your coding agent from spec to merge request, stopping only when a decision is yours.

Kraft isn't another coding agent. It runs the one you already use (Claude Code, Codex and others), and adds what a single session can't: a process the agent can't skip, checks it doesn't grade itself on, and a person at the decisions that matter.

Kraft for VS Code runs in VS Code and in VS Code-based editors such as VSCodium and the Cursor editor. Install it from the Marketplace for VS Code, or from Open VSX for the others.

This extension brings those decisions into the editor. See what every work item is doing, approve or reject a gate, review a branch's diff with the review agents' findings on the lines they name, and edit Kraft's config with errors flagged as you type.

Get started

1. Install Kraft:

   uv tool install kraft-sdlc
   

   or with Homebrew: brew tap itsOmidKarami/kraft && brew install kraft. The Install page covers the other ways.

2. Start it: run kraft.

3. Open VS Code. The extension finds the running Kraft on its own: it reads KRAFT_HOST and KRAFT_PORT, then bind and port from $KRAFT_HOME/config/access.yaml, and falls back to 127.0.0.1:8765. Set kraft.url only when Kraft listens somewhere else.

If Kraft isn't running, the board shows Kraft isn't running — Start, which starts Kraft in the background with kraft admin start --detach.

Board

The Kraft view in the activity bar lists every work item, grouped as in the web UI, with a badge counting the ones waiting on you. Each row shows the item's title, then why it is there ("approve spec", "agent asks: …", "failed at implementation"). Right-click an item to pause, resume, retry, skip, escalate, cancel or archive it, or to open its worktree, merge request, spec and plan, worker log or the web UI.

Gates

When a gate opens, a notification offers Open and Reject…. Open shows the gate's document as a rendered Markdown preview, with Approve and Reject in its tab's title bar: you approve a document once you have read it. A reject asks for a reason, which goes to the agent. Kraft: Next Gate in the Command Palette opens the longest-waiting gate, so a queue of gates goes by from the keyboard (Ctrl+Alt+K N, or Cmd+Alt+K N on macOS).

Review

Run Review Changes from an item's menu to open its branch in the multi-file diff editor. The review agents' findings show on the lines they name and in the Problems panel. Comment on any line, then run Submit Review to request changes, comment or approve. Your comments are Kraft's review threads, the same ones the web UI shows.

Config

Kraft's config files under $KRAFT_HOME/config (policy.yaml, chains/*.yaml and the rest) are checked by the running Kraft as you edit, with the line at fault flagged. With Red Hat YAML installed they also get completion from Kraft's JSON Schemas. The gear on the board's title bar, Open Config…, lists the files and opens the one you pick.

Requirements

Kraft running on this machine or on one you sign in to, on the extension's major release and at least its minor, and a trusted workspace to act. Otherwise the extension is read-only: see the version rule and Restricted Mode.

Settings

kraft.url, kraft.path and kraft.notifications: see the settings table.

Learn more

• Kraft for VS Code: the guide, from install to a cleared gate
• Reference: keys, settings, row buttons, search and the status bar
• Why Kraft: what it does that a session, a loop or a skill doesn't
• GitHub: source, releases and issues