Herdr Switcher

Bring Herdr spaces and AI coding agents into VS Code. See every project at a glance, switch between their VS Code windows, and jump directly to an active agent.

Features

• Separate Spaces and Agents lists in the Herdr Activity Bar.
• Live agent status, Git branch names, and the active agent in the status bar.
• An overall Herdr status item with links to every agent across all Spaces.
• Click a Space to switch to its VS Code window without opening a terminal.
• Click an Agent to switch windows and focus its pane in either the full Herdr UI or a dedicated direct-attach terminal.
• Direct Agent terminals use Herdr's session-control bridge, so VS Code owns each terminal and no Herdr Ctrl-B prefix is required.
• Start Claude Code, Codex, or custom agents in dedicated Herdr tabs.
• Rename an agent or its containing tab from the Agents context menu.
• Copy an agent's recent output to the clipboard or open it in a read-only editor from the Agents context menu.
• Close Spaces with the inline trash button or from the … menu, with a warning when non-shell processes are running.
• Run Herdr on the local host when VS Code is connected to a Dev Container.

Requirements

• VS Code 1.96 or later
• Herdr 0.8.0 or later, available as herdr on PATH

If Herdr is installed elsewhere, set herdr.executable to its path.

Herdr Switcher is a UI extension: Herdr and configured agents run on the machine where VS Code is installed. Dev Container workspaces are associated with their decoded host path, while navigation still reopens the corresponding container window. Other VS Code remote types are not currently supported.

Getting started

1. Open a folder in VS Code. The extension creates or associates its Herdr Space.
2. Open the Herdr icon in the Activity Bar to see all Spaces and Agents.
3. Select a Space or Agent to navigate. Use the Agents header buttons to choose an agent or start the default one.

Herdr remains the source of truth. Cross-window actions are delivered through short-lived Herdr metadata intents, so each VS Code window can handle navigation for its own Space.

Configuration

• herdr.executable: Herdr executable path
• herdr.session: optional named Herdr session
• herdr.refreshInterval: fallback snapshot interval in milliseconds when Herdr's event stream is unavailable
• herdr.createSpaceOnOpen: automatically create or associate Spaces
• herdr.synchronizeState: synchronize VS Code window activation and workspace state with Herdr (default false); set to true to enable active synchronization
• herdr.focusSidebarOnWindowActivation: automatic sidebar focus mode: never (default), switch for Herdr-driven window switches, or always for every VS Code window activation
• herdr.terminalLocation: open Herdr in the Terminal view (panel) or as a pinned editor (editor)
• herdr.agentTerminalMode: use the full Herdr UI (herdr, default) or a dedicated terminal session control terminal per Agent pane (direct); restart the Extension Host after changing it
• herdr.outputLines: number of recent terminal rows used by the Agent output commands (default 1000)
• herdr.agents: agents available from the Add Agent picker
• herdr.defaultAgent: agent launched by the + button

All settings are user-level settings. The default agents are Claude Code and Codex:

With herdr.synchronizeState set to false, opening a VS Code folder does not start Herdr or create a Space, and Herdr remains empty in the views until it is already running or an explicit Agent start creates the current Space. Space clicks still switch VS Code windows; closing a Space leaves its VS Code window open, and only an Agent in the current window can be highlighted. Set herdr.focusSidebarOnWindowActivation to switch if you want Herdr-driven window switches to show the Herdr sidebar, or to always to show it for every VS Code window activation.

The default terminal location is panel. VS Code does not expose a dedicated Secondary Side Bar terminal location, but if you move the Terminal view there, Herdr follows it.

{
  "herdr.agents": [
    { "name": "Claude Code", "command": ["claude"], "kind": "claude" },
    { "name": "Codex", "command": ["codex"], "kind": "codex" }
  ],
  "herdr.defaultAgent": "Claude Code"
}

Development

npm install
npm test
npm run build

Press F5 to launch the included Extension Development Host configuration.