Locus AI for Visual Studio Code
GitHub-native AI sprint execution — right inside your editor.
Locus AI brings AI-powered coding, task execution, and project context into VS Code. Chat with AI agents, execute tasks, and review code without leaving your editor.
Preview — This extension is in active development. Expect new features and improvements with each release.
Features
Chat Panel
A dedicated sidebar panel for conversing with AI agents. Ask questions, request code changes, and get explanations — all with full workspace context.
- Streaming responses with rich markdown rendering
- Syntax-highlighted code blocks
- Session history with resume support
Explain Selection
Highlight any code and get an instant AI-powered explanation. Available from the right-click context menu or via keyboard shortcut.
Task Execution
Run tasks directly from VS Code. The extension spawns the Locus CLI locally — your code never leaves your machine.
Session Management
Create, resume, and switch between sessions. Sessions persist across editor restarts so you never lose context.
Watch the AI agent work in real time. The chat panel displays tool calls (file reads, writes, edits, shell commands, searches) with color-coded cards showing what the agent is doing.
Commands
| Command |
Shortcut |
Description |
| Locus: Open Chat |
Cmd+Shift+L |
Open the Locus AI chat panel |
| Locus: New Session |
Cmd+Shift+N |
Start a new chat session |
| Locus: Stop Session |
Escape |
Stop the current session |
| Locus: Explain Selection |
Cmd+Shift+E |
Explain the selected code |
| Locus: Run Exec Task |
— |
Execute a task with AI |
| Locus: Resume Last Session |
— |
Resume an interrupted session |
On Windows/Linux, replace Cmd with Ctrl.
Requirements
- Locus CLI — Install with
npm install -g @locusai/cli
- GitHub CLI (
gh) — Install from cli.github.com and authenticate with gh auth login
- AI Agent CLI — Either Claude Code or OpenAI Codex
- VS Code 1.85+
Configuration
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
locusai.cliBinaryPath |
(empty) |
Path to the Locus CLI binary. Leave empty to use locus from PATH |
locusai.defaultModel |
(empty) |
Default AI model for new sessions. Leave empty to use the CLI default |
locusai.execution.confirmBeforeRun |
true |
Require confirmation before running exec tasks |
Getting Started
- Install the extension from the VS Code Marketplace or Open VSX
- Install the Locus CLI:
npm install -g @locusai/cli
- Install and authenticate GitHub CLI:
gh auth login
- Initialize your project:
locus init
- Open the chat panel with
Cmd+Shift+L and start a conversation
Privacy & Security
Locus is fully local and GitHub-native. All AI agents run on your machine, and project state is stored in GitHub (issues, milestones, PRs). No cloud servers, no accounts, no data leaves your infrastructure.
Links
License
MIT
