AI coding agents are fast. Sometimes too fast: they generate hundreds of lines, touch several files, and leave the developer reviewing code they never really owned.

Pair Flow changes the unit of collaboration. It pauses before the plan and before every code change, so you stay inside the reasoning loop instead of cleaning up afterward.

Your goal
   │
   ▼
Understand and propose a plan
   │  you approve
   ▼
Explain one small code chunk
   │  you inspect the diff
   ▼
Apply / Ask or revise / Reject
   │
   └──────── repeat, one understood change at a time

The contract

• No hidden workspace edits. Proposed changes are stored only in workspace-local extension storage for restart recovery, and no source file changes until you approve them.
• No giant hand-off. Each chunk is one coherent change across at most three files.
• No escaping the workspace. Absolute paths and path traversal are rejected.
• No stale overwrites. Source hashes stop a preview from replacing a file that changed afterward.
• No mystery key storage. API keys live in VS Code SecretStorage.
• No mandatory backend. Connect any OpenAI-compatible API endpoint.

Try it

Install Pair Flow from the VS Code Marketplace when the Preview listing is available, or download the latest VSIX from GitHub Releases, then:

1. Open VS Code → Extensions → … → Install from VSIX.
2. Open a disposable project folder for your first test.
3. Run Pair Flow: Set API Key from the Command Palette. After the key, it asks for an optional base URL (press Enter on the empty box to use the provider's default address) and then lets you pick a model.
4. To switch provider or model later, run Pair Flow: Choose Model. It lists suggested models, the models your key can use, and an Other model… option for any model id.
5. Run Pair Flow: Start Session.
6. Ask for one real change and inspect every decision boundary.

Or install from the command line:

code --install-extension .\pair-flow-0.4.0.vsix

A good first prompt

Add input validation to the signup handler. Explain the approach first, then keep every proposed change small enough for me to understand without scrolling.

Pair Flow returns an ordered plan. After plan approval it prepares only the first chunk, explains why it exists, and opens the current and proposed code side by side.

Build from source

Requirements: Node.js 20+ and VS Code 1.95+.

git clone https://github.com/roee030/pair-programming-with-ai.git
cd pair-programming-with-ai
npm install
npm test
npm run typecheck
npm run package

The packaged extension is written to pair-flow-0.4.0.vsix. Press F5 in VS Code to run the extension in an Extension Development Host while developing.

AI providers

Choose pairFlow.provider in VS Code Settings. Pair Flow supports each provider through its native API:

Set pairFlow.model when you want a different model or when your Ollama installation does not contain the default local model. Use pairFlow.baseUrl for proxies, self-hosted gateways, or a remote Ollama instance.

What is tested

The automated suite currently protects the highest-risk boundaries:

• plan approval is required before chunk generation;
• chunk approval is required before file mutation;
• reject and revise never write the pending proposal;
• malformed model responses fail safely;
• unsafe paths and binary-like content are rejected;
• unknown webview messages are ignored.

Run the complete gate with:

npm run package

Privacy

Pair Flow has no hosted service and no product analytics. While a session is active or paused, its transcript, plan, and unapproved proposals are stored in workspace-local extension storage so VS Code can safely resume after a restart. Completed and canceled sessions retain only their lightweight summary. To create plans and chunks, selected text files from the open workspace are sent directly to the model endpoint you configure. API keys use VS Code SecretStorage and are never written to session JSON. Do not use a provider that is not approved for your codebase. Shell commands are never executed automatically in this release.

Settings

Getting an API key

Run Pair Flow: Set API Key after choosing pairFlow.provider. The key must come from the API console of that provider. A ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro subscription does not include an API key.

Leave pairFlow.baseUrl empty unless you use a proxy or gateway. It is the API address, not a website or dashboard link.

Troubleshooting

• No workspace: open a folder before starting Pair Flow.
• "returned a non-JSON response … HTML page": the error shows the URL Pair Flow called. If you set pairFlow.baseUrl, clear it. If it is already empty, a proxy, VPN, or network filter is intercepting the request; check VS Code's http.proxy setting.
• "model … is not recognized" / "does not exist": the model id is wrong for that provider (for example gtp 5 mini instead of gpt-5-mini). Click Choose model on the error card, or run Pair Flow: Choose Model, then Try again. The session is kept.
• Coming back later: leaving a session, starting a new story, or closing VS Code keeps the session saved. Open the Pair Flow panel and click Resume under Pick up where you left off or Recent sessions.
• Authentication error: run Pair Flow: Set API Key again and confirm the selected provider.
• Ollama connection error: start Ollama locally and verify the configured model exists.
• A request takes too long: use Stop and keep session, then Resume or change the timeout setting.
• A proposed file changed after preview: Pair Flow intentionally refuses the stale apply; request a fresh chapter.

JetBrains IDEs

A JetBrains version (IntelliJ IDEA, WebStorm, PyCharm and the rest, 2025.1+) is on JetBrains Marketplace (in review) and its source lives in jetbrains/. It reuses the same panel UI and ports the core logic to Kotlin.

Status

This is an early public preview. Pair Flow now lives in a persistent Activity Bar side panel with larger, accessible typography, a conversation timeline, resumable workspace-local sessions, and safe pause/resume controls. Every proposed file opens as a native VS Code diff with previous/next navigation. The current release supports one workspace root and whole-file text proposals. The next milestones are VS Code Extension Host integration tests, selective context controls, checkpoints, and Marketplace publishing.

Found a rough edge? Open an issue with the smallest reproduction you can share.

Contributing

Small, reviewable pull requests fit the project philosophy best. Read CONTRIBUTING.md, start with an issue, keep behavior changes covered by tests, and run npm run package before opening a PR. Security issues should follow SECURITY.md, not a public issue.

License

MIT © 2026 Pair Flow contributors