Nudge Dev — AI Agent Co-Pilot

🚀 Stop Guessing. Start Building.

Nudge Dev is a revolutionary VS Code extension designed to sit exactly where the magic happens: between you and your AI coding agent (Cursor, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, etc.).

If you've ever spent 2 hours fixing code because your AI agent hallucinated, broke a feature silently, or misunderstood your vague prompt, Nudge Dev is built for you.

🌟 The Situation

We are living in the golden age of AI coding, but there is a massive problem: Garbage In, Garbage Out. Most developers type simple, vague prompts like "build me a login system". The AI agent is forced to guess your actual intent. It guesses wrong, modifies 12 files, and silently breaks your core architecture. You don't realize this until 6 tasks later, forcing you to revert hours of work.

AI agents are powerful execution engines, but they are terrible planners.

🎯 The Task

We set out to fix the "Garbage In, Garbage Out" loop by building a bullet-proof "Pre-Flight" routine. We needed a tool that could:

1. Clarify vague prompts instantly.
2. Evaluate architecture decisions before writing code.
3. Validate and verify changes after the agent acts.
4. Guarantee absolute safety with zero permanent regressions.

⚡ The Action (What Nudge Dev Does)

Nudge Dev transforms your raw thoughts into a hardened, atomic task plan through four powerful features:

1. The Clarification Engine

Simply type what you want to build. In seconds, Nudge Dev scans your prompt and generates 4–6 fast, tap-able questions to fill in the missing architectural gaps. No forms. No text fields. Just tap and go.

2. The Debate Council (10 AI Experts)

Your clarified prompt is sent to a council of 10 free AI models (including DeepSeek V3, Llama 4, and Mistral). They take on personas—from a skeptical Security Engineer to a strict DBA. They debate your plan. A "Judge" model (DeepSeek R1) merges their findings, highlighting risks and consensus areas. You get the smartest possible plan.

3. Draft Mode & Semantic Context

Your project is automatically indexed using a zero-cost TF-IDF Semantic Vector Search. Nudge Dev intuitively knows which files are relevant to your task based on meaning, not just keywords. You can then use Interactive Draft Mode to drag, drop, and edit the AI-generated tasks to perfection before dispatching them.

4. Git Safety-Net & The "Panic Button"

Never fear rogue agents again. Before any task is sent to your agent, Nudge Dev silently creates an automatic git stash and backup branch. If the agent hallucinates and deletes 200 lines of critical code, you simply press the built-in "🚨 Revert Everything Now" (Panic Button), and your tree is instantly restored to its clean state.

🏆 The Result

By putting Nudge Dev in front of your AI agent, you achieve:

• Zero Accidental Submissions: A deliberate, intentional workflow.
• Crystal Clear Intelligence: Real-time insight logs show you exactly how the AI is reasoning.
• 100% Codebase Safety: The Git Safety-Net ensures you never lose work to a rogue AI.
• 3x Better Output: Highly structured, expert-vetted task plans result in near-perfect first-shot code generation from Cursor or Claude.

🛠 How to Use Nudge Dev

1. Start the Local Engine: Ensure the backend is running (node backend/server.js). Nudge Dev is 100% local-first and relies on free models.
2. Open the Sidebar: Click the Nudge Dev icon in your VS Code activity bar.
3. Type & Analyze: Enter your vague prompt. Click "Analyze prompt".
4. Answer the Council: Instantly answer the generated Clarification questions.
5. Review & Draft: Watch the 10 models debate. When the plan appears, drag-and-drop or edit the tasks in Draft Mode.
6. Dispatch: Click Start Building. Nudge Dev generates a perfect markdown prompt, copies it to your clipboard, creates your Git Safety-Net backup, and waits for your agent to finish!

Nudge Dev — Because even the best pilots need a co-pilot before takeoff.