VibeChannel

Team chat for the vibe coding era. Conversations live in your repo, readable by AI, owned by you.

The Problem

Your team discussions are scattered:

• Slack/Discord — siloed, unsearchable by AI, vendor-locked
• GitHub Issues — too formal for quick brainstorming
• Meetings — synchronous, no persistent record

Meanwhile, AI coding assistants can read your code, your docs, your README — but not your team's thinking process.

The Solution

VibeChannel turns a folder of markdown files into a chat interface. Every message is a file. Every channel is a folder. Every conversation is git history.

feature-discussion/
├── schema.md
├── agent.md
├── 20250115T103045-alice-a3f8c2.md
├── 20250115T104512-bob-k9m2p7.md
└── 20250115T110823-claude-x7n4q1.md  ← AI can participate too

Your AI assistant can now read the brainstorm, understand the context, and contribute — because it's just markdown.

Features

Chat UI in Your Editor

A familiar Slack-like interface, but the data is just files in your repo.

Git-Native Sync

Push and pull conversations like code. Branch discussions. Merge ideas.

AI-Friendly by Design

• Every message is markdown (LLMs read it natively)
• agent.md tells AI how to participate
• schema.md documents the format

Real-Time Updates

File watcher detects changes instantly — no refresh needed.

GitHub Authentication

One-click sign in using VS Code's built-in GitHub auth.

Threads & Tags

Reply to messages with reply_to. Organize with tags like [idea, urgent, bug].

Multi-Channel Support

Create multiple channels as subfolders. Switch between them in the sidebar.

Cross-Platform

Works in VS Code, Cursor, and other VS Code-based editors. iOS app available for mobile access.

Quick Start

1. Install the extension from the marketplace
2. Open any git repository in VS Code
3. Click the VibeChannel button in the status bar (bottom left)
4. Sign in with GitHub when prompted
5. Start chatting — the extension handles everything else

Your messages are saved as markdown files and synced via git.

The Status Bar Button

The VibeChannel status bar button (bottom left of VS Code) is your main entry point:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Explorer  Search  ...                                      │
│                                                             │
│                    Your Code Here                           │
│                                                             │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 💬 VibeChannel (3)                          main  ✓  Ln 1  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
      ↑
   Click here!

Status Bar States

What Happens on First Click

When you click the status bar button on a repo without VibeChannel:

1. Creates a vibechannel branch — dedicated branch for conversations
2. Sets up a git worktree — isolated at .git/vibechannel-worktree/
3. Creates general channel — default channel with schema.md
4. Opens the chat panel — ready to send messages

This architecture keeps conversations completely separate from your code:

• No merge conflicts with your main branch
• Easy to exclude from CI/CD
• Clean separation of concerns

Why This Matters

For Vibe Coders

Your AI assistant can now read team discussions, not just code. Context flows from brainstorm → spec → implementation — all in one repo.

For Async Teams

No "typing..." indicators. No presence anxiety. Thoughtful, permanent messages that respect everyone's time.

For Startups

One less SaaS subscription. Conversations in git = free forever, fully owned, no vendor lock-in.

For Open Source

Discussions live with the code. Contributors can see the "why" behind decisions.

The Three-Layer Stack

VibeChannel is Layer 1 — the fast, informal discussions that happen before things are ready for an issue.

Message Format

Filename: {YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS}-{sender}-{6-char-id}.md

---
from: alice
date: 2025-01-15T10:30:45Z
reply_to: 20250115T103045-bob-k9m2p7.md
tags: [idea, backend]
---

What if we used markdown files for everything?

Why this works:

• Filenames sort chronologically with ls
• Sender visible without opening the file
• Git handles conflicts automatically
• Any tool can read/write these files

Commands

Settings

Permissions

VibeChannel requires write access to the repository to send messages. This is because messages are stored as git commits on the vibechannel branch.

Access Scenarios

Read-Only Mode

If you open a repository where you don't have write access, VibeChannel enters read-only mode:

• You can view existing conversations
• The message input is hidden
• A banner indicates you're in read-only mode

How to Get Write Access

1. Fork the repository — Create your own copy where you have full access
2. Request collaborator access — Ask the repository owner to add you
3. Clone your own repo — Create a new repository where you're the owner

Philosophy

"There's a new kind of coding I call 'vibe coding', where you fully give in to the vibes, embrace exponentials, and forget that the code even exists." — Andrej Karpathy

VibeChannel extends this philosophy to team communication:

• Markdown is the protocol — no proprietary formats
• Git is the backend — no servers needed
• Files are the API — any tool can read/write
• AI is a first-class participant — not an afterthought

Links

• GitHub Repository
• Report Issues
• iOS App (coming soon)

Local-first. AI-native. Vibe coding ready.