AI Diff Watcher

A Visual Studio extension that watches your project files while an external AI agent (Codex, Claude Code, Aider, OpenHands, or any other) modifies them — and lets you review every change side-by-side in Visual Studio's built-in diff viewer before accepting or rejecting it.

Why?

AI coding agents work fast. They edit many files at once and don't ask for confirmation. AI Diff Watcher puts you back in control: snapshot your project before the agent runs, then step through each change at your own pace and decide what stays.

Features

• Start Session — takes a snapshot of all relevant source files under the solution root
• Live file watching — detects new, modified, and deleted files in real time via FileSystemWatcher
• Smart debouncing — suppresses redundant events from formatters and build tools
• Ignore list — automatically skips .git, .vs, bin, obj, node_modules, packages, artifacts, uploads, temp
• Built-in diff viewer — opens Visual Studio's native IVsDifferenceService with Before Agent vs. Current
• Accept File — keeps the agent's version, marks the entry as accepted
• Reject File — restores the original snapshot, or deletes newly created files
• Solution-aware root detection — automatically uses the open solution's directory as the watch root

Supported Agent Tools

Works with any agent that edits files directly on disk:

• GitHub Copilot Workspace
• OpenAI Codex CLI
• Claude Code / Anthropic
• Aider
• OpenHands
• Cursor (background agent mode)
• Any custom script or automation

Usage

1. Open your solution in Visual Studio.
2. Open the tool window via Tools → AI Diff Watcher.
3. Click Solution Root (or set a custom root path).
4. Click Start Session — a snapshot of all tracked files is taken.
5. Run your AI agent in the project folder.
6. Changed files appear in the list as they are written.
7. Double-click a file (or click Open Diff) to review the change.
8. Click Accept File to keep it, or Reject File to restore the original.

Requirements

• Visual Studio 2022 (17.0) or later — Community, Professional, or Enterprise