Carbon
AI Coding & Learning Companion for VS Code
Carbon delivers instant codebase intelligence right inside Visual Studio Code. Understand complex codebases in seconds through interactive architecture flowcharts, component breakdowns, API documentation, and interactive video walkthroughs.
🌟 Who is Carbon for?
- Developers onboarding to new codebases: Rapidly build a mental model of how components connect.
- Engineers reviewing architectures: Inspect auto-generated visual system diagrams and data flows.
- Technical leads & educators: Generate interactive video explanations for teammates and students.
- Open-source explorers: Understand repository structure without getting lost in boilerplate.
✨ Main Features
- ⚡ Local Client-Side File Scanning: Scans your local workspace directly from disk. Automatically respects
.gitignore, skips binary files, and strictly filters out .env files and credentials.
- 🗺️ Interactive Architecture Flowcharts: Renders visual SVG flowcharts and dependency graphs directly inside an interactive VS Code webview panel.
- 🧩 Component & Tech Stack Breakdown: Discovers core architectural layers, entry points, and dependencies.
- 📡 API Endpoint Discovery: Surfaces REST, GraphQL, and internal route definitions across your files.
- 🎬 Interactive Video Explanations: Synthesizes structured video scripts and interactive walkthroughs with synchronized code highlights.
- 🔒 Enterprise-Grade Security & Privacy: Never exposes your AI keys in the extension. File scanning is strictly filtered on your local machine before being sent to your secure backend.
🚀 How to Use
1. Installation
Install Carbon directly from the Visual Studio Code Marketplace or load the packaged .vsix file.
2. Explain Any Open Workspace
- Open any project folder in VS Code (
File > Open Folder...).
- Open the Command Palette:
- Windows / Linux:
Ctrl + Shift + P
- macOS:
Cmd + Shift + P
- Type and select:
Carbon: Explain Current Workspace
- A progress notification will track the scan and agent analysis.
- The Carbon Intelligence Studio panel opens beside your editor with:
- Executive Summary
- Tech Stack & Key Components
- Visual Architecture Flowchart (with zoom, pan, and raw Mermaid view)
- Discovered API Routes & Business Logic
- 🎥 Explain with Video button
⌨️ Available Commands
| Command |
Title |
Description |
carbon.explainWorkspace |
Carbon: Explain Current Workspace |
Analyzes the current open workspace and displays interactive visual intelligence. |
⚙️ Configuration & Settings
You can customize your Carbon backend endpoint in VS Code Settings (Ctrl + , or Cmd + , $\to$ search for Carbon):
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
carbon.backendUrl |
http://localhost:3002 |
HTTPS URL of your deployed Carbon Backend server (or http://localhost:3002 for local development). |
🔒 Security & Privacy Architecture
- Zero Hardcoded Secrets: The Carbon VS Code extension contains zero private keys or credentials.
- Local Client Filtering: Before any data leaves your machine, the workspace collector strictly ignores:
.env*, .key, .pem, .p12, credentials.json, serviceaccount*.json.git, node_modules, dist, build, .venv, .idea, .vscode- Binary, image, video, font, and archive files
- Strict Size Caps: Requests are capped to safe budgets to ensure minimal bandwidth and maximum privacy.
🌐 Links & Resources
📄 License
MIT © Carbon
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