Beak

Beak is a local work-moment history tool for VS Code.

Hold before a work stretch. Settle after it. Beak remembers the observable file changes from that moment and lets you inspect the changed sections later. When a section was removed, Beak can help recover that removed text into the current editor buffer without rewinding the whole file.

Beak stays on your machine. It does not upload source code, call an LLM, or require a server.

Why Beak exists

Coding work is often messy in small ways. A function gets deleted, a helper is moved, a quick experiment works halfway, or an AI-assisted edit changes more than expected.

Git can show diffs, but it is not always the easiest way to answer:

• What changed during that work moment?
• Which section disappeared?
• Can I bring back only that removed part?
• Can I keep the rest of my current file as it is?

Beak adds a small local memory layer for those moments.

What Beak does

• Captures a bounded work moment with Hold and Settle.
• Shows local work history inside VS Code.
• Shows changed sections per file.
• Opens a selected section beside the current file.
• Detects removed-only sections that can be recovered.
• Recovers removed text into the current editor buffer after confirmation.
• Creates a local safety snapshot before recovery.
• Leaves the file unsaved so you can review the result first.

Current commands

Beak: Hold Start
Beak: Settle Stop
Beak: Meet History
Beak: Spread Changed Sections
Beak: Shift to Section

Basic flow

1. Run Beak: Hold Start
2. Make edits in your workspace
3. Run Beak: Settle Stop
4. Run Beak: Meet History to review saved work moments
5. Run Beak: Spread Changed Sections to inspect what changed
6. Run Beak: Shift to Section to preview or recover a remembered section

Recovery behavior

Beak recovery is intentionally narrow.

For this version, Beak only recovers removed-only sections. It does not guess your intent, perform semantic merges, detect cross-file moves, or rewrite surrounding code.

When recovery is available, Beak will:

Hold: create a local safety snapshot of the current file
Meet: compare the remembered removed section with the current file
Shift: choose the recorded landing line in the current file
Spread: insert the removed text into the editor buffer
Settle: leave the file unsaved for review

You can use normal VS Code undo immediately after recovery if the insertion is not what you wanted.

Local storage

Beak stores its local records inside the workspace under .beak/.

Add .beak/ to your project .gitignore unless you intentionally want to share local work-history records.

What Beak does not do

Beak does not upload source files, call cloud services, send diagnostics to a server, call a model, save recovered edits automatically, or replace Git.

Beak may use Git information locally when available, but the product surface is work moments and changed sections, not Git commands.

Recommended smoke test

Create or open a workspace, then run:

Beak: Hold Start

Delete a small function or block of text, then run:

Beak: Settle Stop
Beak: Shift to Section

Pick the removed section. Beak should show a section preview and offer to recover the removed text. After confirmation, the text should appear in the current editor buffer without automatically saving the file.

License

The Beak extension code is licensed under the MIT License.

Local Beak records are generated workspace artifacts. Review them before sharing or committing them.

Status

Beak is an early local VS Code tool from NSC Labs.

Current focus: simple work-moment capture, changed-section review, and safe removed-section recovery.