Lineage Copy Check (VS Code Extension)

VS Code extension for Catching the Copy. It sends Python files to the existing AST similarity API and shows structural-similarity warnings in the editor.

What users get after installing

Command	What it does
Lineage: Compare with File…	Compare the open `.py` file to another file you pick
Lineage: Check Active File	Compare the open file to a configured reference (or `original.py` if found)
Lineage: Compare with Clipboard	Compare the open file to code copied from ChatGPT / the web

Results appear as:

a notification (flagged / clear + recommendation)
the Lineage output channel (full score report)
a status-bar indicator

Settings

lineage.apiUrl — default https://catching-the-copy-bo.onrender.com
lineage.threshold — default 0.75
lineage.referenceFile — optional path for Check Active File (e.g. AST/AST/original.py)

Develop / demo (F5)

cd vscode-extension
npm install
npm run compile

Then open this vscode-extension folder in VS Code/Cursor and press F5
→ a new Extension Development Host window opens.

Open a .py file (e.g. AST/AST/suspect.py from the main repo)
Ctrl+Shift+P → Lineage: Compare with File…
Pick original.py

Install for teammates (.vsix)

cd vscode-extension
npm install
npm run compile
npx vsce package --no-dependencies

In VS Code: Extensions → … → Install from VSIX… → choose the generated .vsix.

Architecture

VS Code extension  →  POST /compare (Render AST API)  →  scores + recommendation

Same backend as the Lineage web app. Azure protected-material checks can be added later as a second command once the web /api/azure-check route exists.