GitHub Discussions for VS Code

View, create, edit, and manage GitHub Discussions directly within VS Code using a Virtual File System approach.

Features

• Sidebar Tree View - Browse discussions organized by category
• Virtual File System - Edit discussions as markdown files (ghd:// URI scheme)
• Rich Preview - View discussions with full markdown rendering and Mermaid diagram support
• Create & Edit - Create new discussions and edit existing ones without leaving VS Code
• Comments View - View and navigate discussion comments
• Auto Refresh - Automatically sync with GitHub at configurable intervals
• Open in Browser - Quick access to discussions on GitHub

Getting Started

1. Install the extension from the VS Code Marketplace
2. Open a folder containing a Git repository with GitHub Discussions enabled
3. Click the GitHub Discussions icon in the Activity Bar
4. Click Sign in to GitHub when prompted
5. Start browsing and editing your discussions

Requirements

• VS Code 1.105.0 or higher
• A GitHub repository with Discussions enabled
• GitHub authentication (the extension uses VS Code's built-in GitHub authentication)

Commands

All commands are accessible via the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P):

Extension Settings

This extension contributes the following settings:

Example Configuration

{
  "github-discussions.autoRefresh": true,
  "github-discussions.refreshInterval": 600000,
  "github-discussions.defaultSort": "top",
  "github-discussions.defaultCategory": "Q&A",
  "github-discussions.pageSize": 20
}

How It Works

The extension uses a Virtual File System to expose GitHub Discussions as editable markdown files:

ghd://discussions/{number}/{title}.md

When you save changes to a discussion file, the extension automatically syncs your edits back to GitHub via the GraphQL API.

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                         VS Code                                 │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Activity Bar    │    Editor Area    │      Sidebar             │
│  ┌───────────┐   │   ┌───────────┐   │   ┌────────────────┐     │
│  │ Discussions│   │   │ ghd://... │   │   │ Tree View      │     │
│  │   Icon    │   │   │ .md file  │   │   │ - Category 1   │     │
│  └───────────┘   │   │           │   │   │   - Discussion │     │
│                  │   │           │   │   │   - Discussion │     │
│                  │   └───────────┘   │   │ - Category 2   │     │
│                  │                   │   │   - Discussion │     │
│                  │                   │   └────────────────┘     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                              │
                              ▼
                    ┌─────────────────┐
                    │ GitHub GraphQL  │
                    │      API        │
                    └─────────────────┘

Data Flow

1. Authenticate via VS Code's built-in GitHub auth (scopes: repo, read:user)
2. Fetch discussions via GitHub GraphQL API
3. Display discussions in the sidebar tree view grouped by category
4. Open discussions as virtual markdown files for editing
5. Sync changes back to GitHub on save

Known Issues

• Discussions from private repositories require appropriate GitHub permissions
• Large discussions with many comments may take longer to load

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Development Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/manaty226/vscode-gh-discussions.git
cd vscode-gh-discussions

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Compile the extension
npm run compile

# Run tests
npm test

# Package the extension
npm run package

Available Scripts

Project Structure

src/
├── extension.ts              # Main entry point
├── providers/                # Presentation layer
│   ├── DiscussionsProvider.ts        # Tree view for sidebar
│   ├── DiscussionFileSystemProvider.ts   # Virtual FS (ghd://)
│   └── WebviewProvider.ts            # Rich markdown rendering
├── services/                 # Business logic layer
│   ├── AuthenticationService.ts      # GitHub auth integration
│   ├── GitHubService.ts              # GraphQL API communication
│   ├── AutoRefreshService.ts         # Background updates
│   ├── CacheService.ts               # In-memory caching
│   └── StorageService.ts             # Persistent storage
├── models/                   # Data models
└── utils/                    # Utility functions

Release Notes

2.0.0

• Virtual File System support for editing discussions
• Rich markdown preview with Mermaid diagram support
• Auto-refresh functionality
• Category-based organization

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Built with VS Code Extension API
• GitHub API integration via @octokit/graphql

Enjoy managing your GitHub Discussions directly in VS Code!