SDLC Orchestrator VS Code Extension

Version: 1.7.1 Status: GA (General Availability) Framework: SDLC 6.0.6 (7-Pillar + AI Governance Principles) Sprint: 174 - Anthropic Best Practices Integration Last Updated: February 16, 2026

Gate status monitoring, AI-powered code generation, and compliance assistance directly in VS Code. Part of the SDLC Orchestrator governance platform - the Operating System for Software 3.0.

What's New in 1.7.0 (Sprint 174)

Anthropic Best Practices Integration

• SDLC 6.0.6 Framework: Full alignment with 7-Pillar Architecture + AI Governance Principles
• Context Cache Awareness: Extension recognizes new sdlcctl cache commands (stats, clear, warm)
• MCP Client Integration: Backend MCP service support (AsyncExitStack + SSE transport)
• Version Sync: Synchronized with sdlcctl CLI v1.8.0

Framework-First Compliance

• All framework references updated from 6.0.5 to 6.0.6
• Spec validation aligned with Section 8 Specification Standard
• CLAUDE.md PRO tier awareness for project onboarding

What's New in 1.6.x (Sprints 147-173)

v1.6.3 (Sprint 172)

• Gate Status Fix: Resolved cold-start hydration issues
• Project Auto-Detection: Improved workspace detection reliability
• Ownership Transfer: Design support for project ownership changes

v1.6.2 (Sprint 172)

• Project Init Fix: Existing project initialization now correctly registers with backend
• Marketplace Release: Published to VS Code Marketplace

v1.6.1 (Sprint 147)

• Gate URL Fix: Fixed 404 error by adding /app prefix to gate URLs
• Codebase Cleanup: Sprint 147 Spring Cleaning alignment

What's New in 1.5.0 (Sprint 139)

E2E Testing Commands (RFC-SDLC-602)

• E2E Validate (Cmd+Shift+E): Validate E2E testing compliance with CLI integration
• E2E Cross-Reference: Validate Stage 03 ↔ Stage 05 bidirectional links
• E2E Initialize: Create E2E testing folder structure in Stage 05
• E2E Validate with Options: Advanced validation with custom pass rate threshold
• Show E2E Results: View detailed validation results in tree view

New Backend API Endpoints

• POST /api/v1/cross-reference/validate: Full cross-reference validation
• GET /api/v1/cross-reference/coverage/{id}: Quick coverage check
• GET /api/v1/cross-reference/missing-tests/{id}: Get missing test endpoints
• GET /api/v1/cross-reference/ssot-check/{id}: SSOT compliance check

SSOT Enforcement

• Validates openapi.json exists only in Stage 03
• Detects duplicate OpenAPI files in Stage 05 or other folders
• Reports violations with actionable fix suggestions

CLI Integration (Zero Mock Policy)

• Real sdlcctl e2e validate execution via Extension
• Falls back to local validation when CLI unavailable
• JSON output parsing for structured results

Previous Releases

Key Features

App Builder

• Blueprint Editor: Visual tree view for building AppBlueprint specifications
• Module Management: Add/remove modules with entity definitions
• Domain Templates: Pre-built templates for Vietnamese SME (Restaurant, Hotel, Retail, HRM, CRM)
• Real-time Validation: Immediate feedback on blueprint structure

Code Generation

• IR-Based Generation: Deterministic output via Intermediate Representation
• Multi-Provider: Ollama (primary) -> Claude (fallback) -> Rule-based
• 4-Gate Quality Pipeline: Syntax -> Security -> Context -> Tests
• SSE Streaming: Real-time progress with file-by-file updates
• Resume Capability: Checkpoint-based recovery for failed generations

Contract Lock

• Specification Immutability: Lock blueprints before code generation
• SHA256 Hash Verification: Cryptographic integrity checking
• Audit Trail: Full history of lock/unlock operations
• Auto-Expiry: Orphaned locks expire after 1 hour

Gate Status Sidebar

• View G0-G5 gate progress in real-time
• See evidence count and approval status
• Auto-refresh every 30 seconds
• Click to open gates in browser
• Progress percentage visualization
• Gate approval/rejection actions directly from sidebar

Context Overlay Panel

• Dynamic context based on current gate status
• Copy context as PR comment
• Stage-aware guidance for AI assistants

Inline AI Chat (@gate)

Use Copilot-style commands in VS Code Chat:

@gate /status      - Show current gate status (G0-G5)
@gate /evaluate    - Run compliance evaluation, show violations
@gate /fix <id>    - Get AI recommendation for a violation
@gate /council <id> - Use AI Council 3-stage deliberation

Specification Validation (SDLC 6.0.6)

• YAML Frontmatter: Validate spec metadata (tier, status, version)
• BDD Requirements: GIVEN-WHEN-THEN format checking
• Tier Validation: LITE/STANDARD/PROFESSIONAL/ENTERPRISE compliance
• Auto-validate on Save: Optional setting for continuous validation

Violations Panel

• View compliance violations grouped by severity (Critical, High, Medium, Low)
• Quick actions to get AI recommendations
• Navigate to file locations
• Filter by status (open, resolved)

Projects Panel

• List all projects you have access to
• Quick project selection
• View compliance scores
• See current gate status
• Auto-detection from workspace

Evidence Submission

• Submit evidence directly from VS Code
• Attach files to quality gates
• Track evidence lifecycle

GitHub Integration

• Connect/disconnect GitHub repositories
• Sync repository metadata
• Scan repositories for compliance

Offline Mode Support

• Automatic cache fallback when network unavailable
• Stale-while-revalidate pattern for smooth UX
• Visual indicator when using cached data
• Graceful degradation with user-friendly messages

Installation

From VS Code Marketplace

1. Open VS Code Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X)
2. Search for "SDLC Orchestrator"
3. Click Install

From CLI

code --install-extension mtsolution.sdlc-orchestrator

From VSIX (Development)

1. Download the latest .vsix file from releases
2. In VS Code, open Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P)
3. Run "Extensions: Install from VSIX..."
4. Select the downloaded file

Quick Start

1. Install the extension
2. Create API Key (Recommended):
   • Go to SDLC Orchestrator Dashboard → Settings → API Keys
   • Click "Create New API Key"
   • Copy the key (starts with sdlc_live_)
3. Login using Command Palette > "SDLC: Login"
   • Select "API Token" (Recommended - Never expires)
   • Paste your API key
4. Select Project using Command Palette > "SDLC: Select Project"
5. View Gates in the SDLC sidebar

Why API Key? Unlike email/password (JWT expires after 8 hours), API keys never expire until you revoke them - perfect for development tools!

6. Generate Code:
   • Open App Builder: "SDLC: Open App Builder"
   • Create a blueprint with modules and entities
   • Lock the specification: "SDLC: Lock Contract Spec"
   • Generate code: "SDLC: Generate from Blueprint"

Commands

Configuration

Requirements

• VS Code 1.80.0 or higher
• SDLC Orchestrator backend running (v1.7.0+)
• Valid API token or GitHub OAuth

Architecture

src/
├── extension.ts                # Main entry point, activation (32KB)
├── commands/
│   ├── appBuilderCommand.ts    # Blueprint editor commands
│   ├── connectGithubCommand.ts # GitHub integration
│   ├── e2eCrossRefCommand.ts   # Cross-reference validation (Sprint 139)
│   ├── e2eValidateCommand.ts   # E2E validation with CLI (Sprint 139)
│   ├── evidenceSubmissionCommand.ts # Evidence upload
│   ├── gateApprovalCommand.ts  # Gate approve/reject
│   ├── generateCommand.ts      # Code generation commands
│   ├── initCommand.ts          # SDLC project initialization
│   ├── lockCommand.ts          # Contract lock/unlock
│   ├── magicCommand.ts         # Natural language mode
│   ├── previewCommand.ts       # Code preview with QR
│   ├── resumeCommand.ts        # Resume failed generation
│   └── specValidationCommand.ts # Spec validation (SDLC 6.0.6)
├── services/
│   ├── apiClient.ts            # Backend API client (axios-based)
│   ├── authService.ts          # JWT token management, OAuth flow
│   ├── cacheService.ts         # Offline cache with TTL
│   ├── codegenApi.ts           # Code generation API client
│   ├── fileService.ts          # File system operations
│   ├── projectDetector.ts      # Workspace project auto-detection
│   ├── sdlcStructureService.ts # SDLC folder structure service
│   ├── sseClient.ts            # Server-Sent Events client
│   └── telemetryService.ts     # Usage telemetry
├── panels/
│   ├── appBuilderPanel.ts      # Blueprint editor webview
│   └── generationPanel.ts      # Real-time generation view
├── providers/
│   └── blueprintProvider.ts    # Blueprint tree data provider
├── views/
│   ├── complianceChat.ts       # Chat participant (@gate)
│   ├── contextPanel.ts         # Context Overlay panel
│   ├── gateStatusView.ts       # Gate sidebar TreeDataProvider
│   ├── projectsView.ts         # Projects TreeDataProvider
│   ├── streamingStatusBar.ts   # SSE streaming status bar
│   └── violationsView.ts       # Violations TreeDataProvider
├── validation/
│   └── ssotValidator.ts        # SSOT compliance validator
├── types/
│   ├── codegen.ts              # Type definitions for codegen
│   └── evidence.ts             # E2E evidence types (RFC-SDLC-602)
├── utils/
│   ├── config.ts               # Configuration manager
│   ├── errors.ts               # Error classification & handling
│   └── logger.ts               # Structured logging
└── test/
    └── suite/
        ├── apiClient.test.ts
        ├── authService.test.ts
        ├── cacheService.test.ts
        ├── codegenApi.test.ts
        ├── complianceChat.test.ts
        ├── contextPanel.test.ts
        ├── e2eValidation.test.ts
        ├── errorHandling.test.ts
        ├── errors.test.ts
        ├── gateStatusView.test.ts
        ├── github.test.ts
        ├── offlineMode.test.ts
        ├── projectsView.test.ts
        ├── specValidation.test.ts
        ├── streaming.test.ts
        └── violationsView.test.ts

Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• npm 9+
• VS Code 1.80+

Setup

cd vscode-extension
npm install
npm run compile

Watch Mode

npm run watch

Package Extension

npm run package
# Creates sdlc-orchestrator-1.7.1.vsix

Run Tests

npm run test

Debug in VS Code

1. Open vscode-extension folder in VS Code
2. Press F5 to launch Extension Development Host
3. The extension will be loaded in a new VS Code window

Cache Strategy

Troubleshooting

Connection Refused

• Ensure SDLC Orchestrator backend is running
• Check sdlc.apiUrl configuration
• Verify firewall/proxy settings

Token Expired

• Run "SDLC: Logout" then "SDLC: Login"
• Check token expiration in dashboard
• Use API Token instead of email/password for long-lived sessions

Generation Failed

• Check if blueprint is locked: "SDLC: Lock Contract Spec"
• Verify backend AI providers are available
• Try "SDLC: Resume Failed Generation" if checkpoint exists

Lock Expired

• Locks auto-expire after 1 hour of inactivity
• Re-lock the specification before generation

Gate URL 404 Error

• Ensure backend v1.6.1+ is running (gate URL prefix fix)
• Check sdlc.apiUrl points to correct backend

License

Apache-2.0

Support

• GitHub Issues: https://github.com/Minh-Tam-Solution/SDLC-Orchestrator/issues
• Documentation: https://docs.sdlc-orchestrator.dev
• VS Code Marketplace: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=mtsolution.sdlc-orchestrator