Change Guard is an AI-powered VS Code extension that analyzes the impact and blast radius of your code changes before you commit. Powered by Gemini, Change Guard inspects your Git diffs, explores codebase dependencies, detects potential language/type errors, and delivers structured, actionable impact reports right inside VS Code.
Features
Semantic Change Analysis: Automatically summarizes modified, added, and deleted files with high-level descriptions of intent.
Blast Radius & Dependency Tracking: Identifies downstream components, consumers, and APIs that could be affected by your changes.
Language & Runtime Error Detection: Checks for potential breaking type mismatches, missing imports, syntax inconsistencies, and runtime issues.
Interactive Impact Webview: Visualizes changes by severity (Critical, Warning, Info) with detailed rationales and remediation suggestions.
Agentic Codebase Inspection: Leverages project tools and symbol search to verify impact across your repository before generating reports.
Seamless Git & IDE Integration: Trigger analysis with one click from the Status Bar, Source Control (SCM) title bar, or keyboard shortcut.
Getting Started
Prerequisites
VS Code 1.125.0 or newer.
A Git repository with active changes (unstaged or staged).
AI Providers & API Key Configuration
Change Guard works out-of-the-box with zero setup required using the built-in Gemini engine. You also have full flexibility to connect your own API keys or switch models anytime.
Supported AI Providers
Google Gemini (Default): Fast, multimodal codebase analysis (gemini-3.6-flash, gemini-3.5-flash-lite, gemini-2.5-flash).
OpenAI: GPT-4o, GPT-4o-mini, or any custom OpenAI-compatible endpoint.
How Users Configure API Keys & Providers
Use Out-of-the-Box (Default):
No configuration needed. Just press Ctrl+Alt+G to start analyzing changes!
Switch AI Provider:
Press Ctrl+Shift+P -> Change Guard: Select AI Provider -> Choose Google Gemini or OpenAI.
Use Your Own Custom API Key:
Press Ctrl+Shift+P -> Change Guard: Set Custom API Key.
Select your provider and paste your key. It will be stored securely in VS Code's encrypted SecretStorage.
Revert to Default Built-in Key:
Press Ctrl+Shift+P -> Change Guard: Clear Custom API Key.
How to Use
Make code changes in your Git repository.
Trigger Change Guard:
Keyboard Shortcut:Ctrl+Alt+G (or Cmd+Alt+G on macOS).
Status Bar: Click $(shield) Change Guard in the bottom right corner.
Source Control View: Click the Change Guard icon in the SCM title bar.
Command Palette: Run Ctrl+Shift+P -> Change Guard: Preview Changes.
An interactive webview panel opens displaying the blast radius, semantic changes, compiler diagnostics, and recommendations.
Extension Settings
Change Guard contributes the following settings (Ctrl+, -> search Change Guard):
changeGuard.provider: Active AI provider ("gemini" or "openai").
changeGuard.geminiModel: Gemini model name (default: "gemini-3.6-flash").
changeGuard.openaiModel: OpenAI model name (default: "gpt-4o-mini").
changeGuard.openaiBaseUrl: Custom API endpoint (default: "https://api.openai.com/v1").
