MedDS Agent — VS Code Extension
MedDSAgent inside VS Code. Chat with the agent, inspect your coding environment, and manage sessions — all without leaving your editor.
This extension is the VS Code interface for MedDSAgent. It runs a local MedDSAgent-Core server in the background and exposes its full capabilities as a native VS Code experience.
Features
- Chat panel — Conversational agent interface in the editor area. The agent writes and runs code, streams tool calls and results in real time, and renders final answers with Markdown.
- Session management — Create, rename, and delete sessions from the sidebar. Each session has its own persistent history, memory, and coding environment.
- Session config — Configure the LLM model, agent mode, and session parameters from the sidebar before or during a session.
- Environment viewer — Inspect live Python/R variables (name, type, shape/value) in the sidebar, updated automatically as the agent runs code.
- Workspace file manager — Browse, upload, and delete session files from the sidebar. Right-click uploaded documents to index them for document search (RAG).
- Automatic server lifecycle — The extension installs
medds-agent into a managed virtual environment (~/.medds/venv) on first run and starts/stops the local server automatically when you open or close a MedDS workspace.
Requirements
- VS Code 1.85 or later
- Python 3.9+ on PATH (or configured via
medds.pythonPath)
- Internet access for the first install (pulls
medds-agent from PyPI)
- R + Rscript on PATH (optional — only needed for R code execution)
Getting Started
1. Install the extension
Install MedDS Agent from the VS Code Marketplace, or install the .vsix manually:
Extensions panel → ··· → Install from VSIX…
2. Create a workspace
Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P) and run:
MedDS: New Workspace
Choose or create an empty folder. The extension writes a .vscode/medds-workspace marker and activates automatically whenever that folder is open.
To open an existing MedDS workspace run:
MedDS: Open Workspace
3. Start chatting
Click the MedDS Agent icon in the Activity Bar. Create a new session with the + button in the Sessions panel, then click the session to open the chat panel.
| Panel |
Description |
| Sessions |
List of all sessions. Use + to create, right-click to rename or delete. |
| Session Config |
LLM model selector and agent mode for the active session. |
| Environment |
Live variable inspector — updates after each agent code execution. |
| Workspace |
Files belonging to the current session. Upload data files; right-click to index documents for RAG. |
Commands
| Command |
Description |
MedDS: New Workspace |
Initialize a new MedDS workspace in a chosen folder |
MedDS: Open Workspace |
Open an existing MedDS workspace |
MedDS: Restart Server |
Restart the background MedDS server |
MedDS: Show Server Log |
Open the server output channel for debugging |
MedDS: Reinstall Environment |
Wipe and recreate the managed Python venv |
Settings
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
medds.pythonPath |
(auto) |
Base Python executable used to create the managed venv. Leave empty to auto-detect. |
medds.port |
7842 |
Port for the local MedDS server. |
medds.autoStart |
true |
Start the server automatically when a MedDS workspace is opened. |
medds.packagePath |
(empty) |
Path to a local MedDSAgent-Core source directory. Leave empty to install from PyPI. |
medds.rscriptPath |
(auto) |
Path to the Rscript executable. Required when R lives in a conda environment not active at VS Code launch. |
Architecture
The extension runs a local medds-server process (from medds-agent installed in ~/.medds/venv) and communicates with it over HTTP on localhost. Webview panels make API calls directly to the server; the extension host manages the server lifecycle, session tree, and sidebar views.
VS Code Extension Host
├── Server Manager → spawns / monitors medds-server (localhost:7842)
├── Sessions Tree → lists / CRUD sessions via REST API
├── Chat Panel → WebviewPanel, streams SSE from server
├── Session Config → WebviewView sidebar
├── Env Viewer → WebviewView sidebar, receives env_update events
└── Workspace Files → TreeDataProvider, upload / index files
Troubleshooting
Server won't start
Run MedDS: Show Server Log to see the full output. Common causes: Python not found, port in use, or a failed pip install. Use MedDS: Reinstall Environment to rebuild the venv from scratch.
Wrong Python version
Set medds.pythonPath to the full path of a Python 3.9+ executable (e.g. /usr/bin/python3.11).
R code doesn't run
Ensure Rscript is on PATH, or set medds.rscriptPath to the full path of the Rscript binary.
Port conflict
Change medds.port to a free port and restart the server.
