OmniContext — VS Code Extension

Intelligent pre-fetch caching and automatic semantic context injection for Visual Studio Code, bridging the OmniContext daemon and your AI assistant.

Overview

The OmniContext VS Code extension connects your editor to the OmniContext daemon over a local IPC socket, enabling:

• Predictive context pre-fetching — debounced on every cursor move and document change, so relevant context is ready before you ask
• Automatic semantic injection — feeds the right code snippets and symbol definitions directly into compatible AI assistants
• Sidebar workspace panel — browse index status, cache statistics, and active workspace at a glance
• 14 commands for manual control over indexing, cache, model, and server lifecycle

Installation

From the Marketplace (recommended)

Search for OmniContext in the VS Code Extensions panel (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X) and click Install.

Or install in one command:

code --install-extension steeltroops.omnicontext

From a VSIX file

code --install-extension omnicontext-1.2.0.vsix

Build from source

cd editors/vscode
bun install
bun run compile
bun run package
code --install-extension omnicontext-1.2.0.vsix

Supported AI Clients

OmniContext v1.2.0 works alongside 16 AI clients:

Commands

All commands are accessible from the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P) under the OmniContext: prefix.

Configuration

All settings are under the omnicontext namespace. Configure them in Settings (Ctrl+,) or in settings.json.

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                  VS Code Extension                  │
│                                                     │
│  ┌─────────────┐   ┌──────────────┐                │
│  │ EventTracker│──▶│SymbolExtractor│               │
│  └──────┬──────┘   └──────┬───────┘               │
│         │                 │                         │
│         ▼                 ▼                         │
│      ┌──────────────────────┐                      │
│      │      IPC Client      │                      │
│      │  (named pipe / sock) │                      │
│      └──────────┬───────────┘                      │
│                 │                                   │
│      ┌──────────▼───────────┐                      │
│      │  Bootstrap Service   │                      │
│      │  (binary lifecycle)  │                      │
│      └──────────────────────┘                      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                     │ IPC
                     ▼
          ┌──────────────────┐
          │ omnicontext-mcp  │
          │  (Rust daemon)   │
          └──────────────────┘

EventTracker

Subscribes to vscode.workspace.onDidChangeTextDocument and vscode.window.onDidChangeTextEditorSelection. Applies a configurable debounce (omnicontext.prefetch.debounceMs) to filter high-frequency keystrokes, emitting a stable event only when the cursor has been idle for the debounce window. This prevents IPC flooding while keeping pre-fetch latency low.

SymbolExtractor

Calls vscode.commands.executeCommand('vscode.executeDocumentSymbolProvider', uri) to discover the symbol at the current cursor position. The resulting symbol path is appended to pre-fetch queries so the daemon returns context that is scoped to the active function or class, not just the file.

IPC Client

Communicates with the OmniContext daemon over:

• Windows: \\.\pipe\omnicontext-ipc (named pipe)
• Unix/macOS: /tmp/omnicontext-ipc.sock (Unix domain socket)

Implements an isDaemonConnected circuit breaker: if the socket is unavailable, pre-fetch queries are dropped silently rather than queuing, preventing the extension host from blocking the editor UI thread.

Bootstrap Service

Manages the lifecycle of the omnicontext and omnicontext-mcp child processes. On workspace open (when omnicontext.autoStartMcp is true), it spawns omnicontext-mcp, monitors its stdout/stderr, and forwards output to the OmniContext output channel. On VS Code shutdown, it sends a graceful shutdown signal and waits up to 5 seconds before force-killing.

Model Selection

Default model (higher accuracy)

Run from the Command Palette:

OmniContext: Download Model

Or via terminal:

omnicontext setup model-download

Smaller model (lower memory, faster startup)

OmniContext: Download Small Model

Or via terminal:

omnicontext setup model-download --model jina-embeddings-v2-small-en

After downloading, set the active model in settings:

{
  "omnicontext.model": "jina-embeddings-v2-small-en"
}

Performance Targets

Troubleshooting

IPC not connected

Symptom: Status bar shows OmniContext: Not Connected and pre-fetch is silently disabled.

Steps:

1. Open the Output channel: OmniContext: Open Output Log
2. Check for [Bootstrap] errors — the daemon may have failed to start
3. Verify the binary path: omnicontext --version in a terminal
4. If omnicontext.autoStartMcp is false, run OmniContext: Start MCP Server manually
5. On Windows, confirm no other process holds the named pipe: handle \\.\pipe\omnicontext-ipc

Model not found

Symptom: Indexing fails with Model file not found or embeddings are skipped.

Steps:

1. Run OmniContext: Show Index Status — look for model: missing
2. Run OmniContext: Download Model to fetch the default model
3. If you prefer the smaller model, run OmniContext: Download Small Model and set omnicontext.model to jina-embeddings-v2-small-en
4. Confirm the model directory is writable: omnicontext preflight-check

Binary not found

Symptom: All commands fail with spawn omnicontext ENOENT.

Steps:

1. Confirm omnicontext is on your system PATH: which omnicontext (Unix) or where omnicontext (Windows)
2. If installed to a non-standard location, set omnicontext.binaryPath to the absolute path, e.g.:

   {
     "omnicontext.binaryPath": "/usr/local/bin/omnicontext",
     "omnicontext.mcpBinaryPath": "/usr/local/bin/omnicontext-mcp"
   }
   

3. Reload the VS Code window (Ctrl+Shift+P → Developer: Reload Window) after updating settings

Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+ and Bun
• VS Code 1.85+

Build & test

cd editors/vscode
bun install
bun run compile
bun run test

Package a VSIX

bun run package

Launch Extension Development Host

Press F5 in VS Code with the editors/vscode folder open, or run:

code --extensionDevelopmentPath=./editors/vscode

Contributing

1. Fork the repository and create a feature branch
2. Follow the existing TypeScript style — strict mode, no any, Bun for all tooling
3. Run bun run compile && bun run test before opening a PR
4. Include a short description of the change and, where relevant, a screenshot or GIF

See CONTRIBUTING.md for the full contribution guide.

License

MIT — see LICENSE for details.