OUTARCH Bridge for VS Code

This optional extension connects VS Code to the running OUTARCH desktop app through an authenticated loopback socket.

It synchronizes only bounded project context:

• active project-relative file and cursor position
• diagnostic counts and up to 50 bounded diagnostic records
• Git branch and aggregate working-tree state
• task lifecycle results
• stable terminal identity, ownership, active state, shell activity, and bounded command metadata when VS Code shell integration is available

With VS Code shell integration it also shares the commands run in VS Code terminals and what they print, so OUTARCH can show those terminals. OUTARCH hides commands and lines that look like secrets, keeps only the last 200 lines of each terminal in memory while the bridge is connected, and does not pass them to Mission AI or MCP clients.

It never sends process IDs, environment values, file contents or arbitrary filesystem paths. Existing VS Code-owned terminals are always observe-only. OUTARCH can create terminals explicitly marked mission-control-managed; only those terminals accept approved input, focus, and close requests. Commands that appear to contain credentials and multi-line input are blocked.

Install during development

Open this directory in VS Code and run the Run Extension launch target, or install the packaged .vsix included with the OUTARCH release.

Use Connect VS Code in OUTARCH under Integrations → VS Code Bridge. The launch URI contains a one-time token that expires after 60 seconds and is consumed by the first valid same-project handshake.

Terminal ownership

• vscode-owned: created by VS Code, the user, or another extension; OUTARCH may observe bounded activity (commands and output, redacted) but cannot write or close it.
• mission-control-managed: created through the OUTARCH Settings UI; the bridge can focus it and can write or close it only through Protocol requests carrying the exact approval token.

The extension uses VS Code's terminal API. It does not create a second PTY, attach to terminal output, or duplicate a terminal already owned by EngineAPI.