Diftale · 0.9.2

One Copilot conversation, with a clear view of every proposed change. Diftale keeps the dependency graph, functional batches, diffs and observed security results beside your chat in VS Code.

Built by Nicolas Hedoire. Diftale is a Preview release. The interface is currently in French; this English documentation uses the actual French control labels. See the Marketplace listing, publication records and validation scope for release information and evidence.

Get started

1. Use desktop VS Code 1.109 or later, with Copilot Chat available and a signed-in account that can use agent tools. Open a trusted local project.
2. Install Diftale, then run Diftale : Ouvrir le suivi from the Command Palette.
3. Flow opens with the project map. Supported file changes appear even when you use Copilot's regular Agent mode; select the modification counter to inspect their diffs.
4. For guided batches, select Ouvrir l’agent Diftale, choose your model in the local Copilot chat, then send the prepared verification draft. Wait for Outil Diftale appelé in the panel.
5. Select Planifier dans Copilot, describe the change in the draft and send it. The native proposal tool fills the adjacent Plan view.

Copilot requires no separate Node.js installation, CLI login or MCP server for Diftale. The seven tools run directly inside the VS Code extension host. Copilot owns the conversation and model selection; the Diftale panel has no second message input.

Planifier dans Copilot, Préparer le lot, Expliquer dans Copilot and commit-message actions prepare a draft in Copilot. Review and send that draft yourself. Opening a draft does not send a model request or apply code. Copilot may ask for tool confirmation according to your VS Code permissions.

If the tools are missing, check Workspace Trust, the installed VS Code version and the Diftale agent/tool selection in the local chat. Registered or discovered tools mean they are available; only an actual successful invocation establishes tool use. A local availability check is not an end-to-end model test.

Copilot replying is not enough to create a plan. Ordinary edits appear as observed workspace changes; functional batches appear only when Copilot calls Diftale's proposal tools. An empty Plan remains navigable and lists observed changes. If nothing follows, use Options → Diagnostic or Diftale : Diagnostiquer le suivi. The local report includes versions, workspace trust, scan counts, panel readiness and actual tool activity; it excludes source, paths, chat text and ticket content. It is not sent automatically.

Diftale does not automatically update the legacy nicolas-hedoire.nicohash-code-atlas listing or transfer data from local-lab.code-atlas. Disable legacy variants before enabling Diftale because retained commands and settings can conflict. Public nicolas-hedoire.diftale and local local-lab.diftale variants also have separate storage and should not run together.

Follow the code

• Flow shows local JavaScript/TypeScript imports as a tree or graph and follows observed code changes. It is a dependency map, not a runtime trace.
• Avant / Après / Diff compare the saved starting point with current code, including supported unsaved buffers, or show the current batch proposal.
• Me guider highlights code in the native editor. Précédent / Suivant navigate the reading guide; changes can make a guide stale.
• Plan explains who benefits from each batch, the need, before/after behavior, expected steps, acceptance criteria and assumptions. Selecting a batch or step navigates its code without advancing execution.
• Sécurité displays real check results and optional local ZAP scan findings, with their scope and freshness.

Functional explanations describe expected behavior. They are not proof that the feature works. The Copilot tab is a compact launcher and context surface, not another conversation. It also holds the Jira attachment controls and optional setup for other agents.

Review and complete one batch at a time

1. Ask Copilot to propose a plan. Diftale accepts up to six ordered batches with one intent each and explicit dependencies.
2. Select Préparer le lot, then send the prepared Copilot draft. The agent reads complete files and proposes changes only for the current batch.
3. Review the file scope, acceptance criteria and Avant / Après / Diff. After reviewing, select Appliquer le lot in Diftale; this records your review and applies the proposal.
4. Use Vérifier to choose and run a supported npm check and inspect the security results. Tester l’application separately starts a scoped local ZAP scan after target, mode and confirmation.
5. Enter a commit title and description yourself, or choose Suggérer dans Copilot. Suggestions are requested in English; Traduire en français prepares an explicit translation request. Review and send the draft in the same Copilot chat, then edit the returned text if needed.
6. Créer le commit shows the final message and exact files in a native confirmation. Only this batch is committed; no push is performed.

There is no automatic code application or automatic commit-message generation when a proposal arrives. Only one applied, uncommitted batch is allowed. Checks are tied to project contents and become stale after relevant changes. Applying files does not execute project commands; VS Code save actions and other installed extensions can still run their own configured behavior.

Application is sequential and can fail after some files have changed. Annuler le lot restores only files still matching Diftale's result and preserves later human edits. Automatic undo is limited to the current session. Normal closure requires undo or commit. When recovery is blocked after a restart or manual commit, Archiver le suivi preserves project files and Git history while archiving the tracking state after confirmation. It does not validate changes or roll them back. See plans and security for Git requirements and recovery limits.

Native tools in Copilot

The bundled Diftale agent selects these tools. They cannot approve or apply edits, run a shell, launch pentests or create commits. Those controls stay in the panel. Prompts guide the model; host validation enforces supported paths, revisions and workflow scope. Copilot's general-purpose tools, other agents and manual edits remain outside these controls if you choose to use them separately.

For another compatible client, Diftale : Connecter un agent MCP still offers manual stdio configuration. That optional bridge requires Node.js 20 or later and the current VS Code window to remain open. Copilot does not register or start this bridge by default. See external-agent capabilities.

Attach a Jira ticket

Use Jira in the Diftale panel to configure Atlassian MCP and attach an issue key or link. A compact card shows the selected issue. Copilot receives the bounded ticket context through Diftale's context tool; no separate Jira tool is added to the Diftale agent.

A plan retains its own ticket snapshot. Changing or removing the selected card does not rewrite an existing plan. Diftale reads accessible sites and issues; it does not comment on issues or change their status. VS Code manages MCP authentication.

Support is limited to Jira Cloud on *.atlassian.net through Atlassian Rovo MCP. Custom domains, Data Center and other Jira MCP servers are outside this version's scope. Production Jira has not been validated end to end. The panel attachment is the supported path; merely mentioning a ticket in Copilot does not attach it. See the bundled Jira setup guide for server details.

See the rendered element while reading JSX/TSX

For a Vite JSX/TSX project, open Aperçu, attach a local page such as http://127.0.0.1:5173/, and choose Connecter le survol. Diftale adds a development connector to a supported Vite configuration and keeps a backup in .code-atlas/. Restart your Vite server yourself.

Hover over JSX/TSX in the code panel or VS Code editor to outline matching rendered DOM elements in red. This is your running application. The element must be mounted in the open page, and its source fingerprint must match the served code. Unsaved or stale code is identified; unapplied proposals are not presented as live output.

Preview controls stay dark while the page retains its own colors. The connector supports simple ESM Vite configurations and adds no production instrumentation. It does not discover routes, start a server, instrument Vue/Svelte or highlight absent elements. App security policies can prevent embedding. See visual preview.

Data and scope

Copilot can send your messages and Diftale tool results to its selected model. Results can contain paths, code, proposals, ticket context and check information. Diftale does not create another model session or import Copilot's conversation. Legacy Diftale history and provider settings may remain in local storage after upgrading, but are inactive in this workflow. See privacy and prompt policy.

Diftale follows the first workspace folder, with 300 files by default, configurable from 10 to 1,000, and 128 KiB per file. JavaScript/TypeScript imports are analyzed; JSON, CSS, SCSS, HTML, Python, Go, Rust and Markdown can also be tracked. Exclusions make analysis partial; files outside the configured limit are not tracked. Unsupported file types, oversized files and excluded folders are outside this view. TypeScript aliases, external packages and computed imports are not resolved. The guide is limited to 12 files and 24 steps.

Edit batches contain at most eight files. Hidden paths, filename-based secret exclusions, lockfiles, dependencies and generated folders are excluded from indexing, agent reads and editing; those exclusions are not comprehensive secret detection. Deletions and renames are unsupported. The integrated check-and-commit workflow requires supported npm checks and a Git repository with an initial commit; it is not universal across languages or package managers.

Existing optional Claude Code metadata hooks may still provide local events. They do not import conversations or reasoning and are not required for Copilot. The example project demonstrates the panel; it is not evidence that a real model or application test succeeded. Current verification evidence and limitations are recorded in validation.

Build and package

Building the extension, using the external MCP bridge, and running npm project checks require Node.js 20 or later. The native Copilot tools themselves use VS Code's runtime.

npm ci
npm run check
npm test
npm run package

The local package uses local-lab.diftale and produces ../diftale-0.9.2.vsix. The public package uses nicolas-hedoire.diftale and produces ../nicolas-hedoire.diftale-0.9.2.vsix, with the display name Diftale. package:marketplace requires an explicit publisher and only builds a package; publication is separate. See publication and branding.

MIT license; see the bundled LICENSE.txt. Some analysis principles are inspired by REA, as described in REA inspiration. No REA engine is bundled.