Repowise for VS Code
Repowise is the codebase intelligence layer for you and your AI coding agent. It indexes your repository once and builds five layers on top: a real dependency graph, git history signals (hotspots, ownership, hidden coupling), always-current architecture docs, mined architectural decisions, and defect-validated code health with concrete refactoring plans. Everything is computed locally and served from a local server.
This extension brings that index into VS Code, for both halves of how code gets written today:
- For you: discover or start the local Repowise server for the current workspace, see connection and setup state at a glance, and get guided from a fresh clone to a fully indexed repository without leaving the editor.
- For your AI agent: one install registers the Repowise MCP server with VS Code, so agent-mode assistants query the index through task-shaped tools and answer "why does auth work this way?" from grounded architecture, history, and health data instead of guessing from open files.
What you get
- Inline health signals on the files you open: a gutter heat strip for the full set of findings, file health scores in the status bar, and an optional Problems panel surface (off by default, opt in from Settings) for high-severity findings.
- Refactoring plans as CodeLens above the symbols they target, with one click to copy the plan as a prompt for your agent.
- Branch risk before you push: score a branch against its base from the SCM title bar, with the drivers behind the score.
- Hovers and tree views for ownership, hotspots, dead code, and architectural decisions, all lazy and refreshed only when the index moves.
- Dashboards inside the editor: health overview, C4 architecture, knowledge graph, refactoring plans, decision timeline, and a docs browser, rendered from the same visualizations the web app uses.
Getting started
- Install the CLI:
pip install repowise (or uv tool install repowise).
- Open your repository and run Repowise: Set Up This Repository to build the index, or follow the Get Started walkthrough.
- The extension finds the running server automatically, or offers to start one when you need it.
- Run Repowise: Configure MCP for this Workspace to expose the tools to MCP clients through
.vscode/mcp.json. In VS Code itself, the MCP server is registered automatically.
Commands
| Command |
What it does |
| Repowise: Set Up This Repository |
Build the index for this workspace |
| Repowise: Start Server / Stop Server |
Manage the local API server |
| Repowise: Configure MCP for this Workspace |
Write .vscode/mcp.json for MCP clients |
| Repowise: Check Branch Risk |
Score the current branch against its base |
| Repowise: Update Index |
Sync the index with your latest commits |
| Repowise: Show Health Dashboard |
Open the health overview |
| Repowise: Show Architecture Map |
Open the C4 architecture view |
| Repowise: Show Knowledge Graph |
Open the dependency constellation |
| Repowise: Show Decision Timeline |
Browse mined architectural decisions |
| Repowise: Open Docs for This File |
Open the generated docs for the active file |
| Repowise: Check Setup |
Diagnose install, keys, and index state |
| Repowise: Show Log |
Open the extension log |
Settings
| Setting |
Default |
Purpose |
repowise.server.autoStart |
ask |
Start the local server automatically, ask first, or never |
repowise.server.port |
discover |
Override the server port instead of using lockfile discovery |
repowise.cliPath |
PATH |
Absolute path to the repowise executable |
Privacy
The extension talks only to the local Repowise CLI and server on your machine and reads the index under .repowise/ in your project. It sends no telemetry of its own, and nothing about your code leaves your machine through this extension.
Learn more
| |
