labd

Your Dev Labs lab assistant, in the editor.

labd reads the screen you are actually looking at — the open file, what you have selected, and the errors the editor is reporting — and answers the way a good lab demonstrator would: what is actually happening, what to change, and the concept behind the fix. It is the same assistant that sits at the bottom of every page on learn.thedevlabs.io, so it behaves the same in both places.

What it does

• Explain this file — what it is for, how it is put together, and what a newcomer would trip over
• What's wrong here? — walks through the problems the editor is reporting: what each one means, what caused it, and how to fix it
• How would you improve this? — on the whole file, or just what you selected
• Ask anything — ⌘⌥L (Ctrl+Alt+L) from anywhere

When the answer depends on code labd has not been shown, it reads it: other files, directory listings, and a workspace search. All of that runs locally in the editor, never on a server.

When labd changes a file

Sometimes the answer is a change rather than a paragraph, so labd can edit and create files — and it explains what it changed and why, because that is the part you keep.

Nothing is written to disk. A change is applied to the editor and left unsaved: you see it in the file, the gutter shows what moved, ⌘Z reverts it, and it only becomes real when you save. A wrong edit costs you a keystroke.

You decide how much it asks. The labd.editMode setting is per workspace, so a choice made in a scratch project doesn't follow you into your coursework.

Toggle it from the header of the labd panel, or in settings.

Some files are refused outright, whatever the mode and whatever labd is asked: anything holding credentials (.env, keys, certificates — labd only ever sees which keys are set, never their values, so a write would destroy them), .git/, dependency and build directories, and anything outside the folder you have open.

Getting set up

Run labd: Connect to The Dev Labs. It shows a short code; approve that code at learn.thedevlabs.io and the editor is connected to your account, answering on your monthly allowance.

No Dev Labs account? Run labd: Use my own OpenRouter key instead and paste a key from openrouter.ai/keys. Nothing is metered, and the key is stored in VS Code SecretStorage — never in settings.json, which syncs and turns up in screenshares.

Commands

Settings

Privacy

The chat panel holds no credentials and makes no network calls of its own — the extension host owns the token and every request, which is why the panel's content security policy forbids outbound connections entirely.

What is sent when you ask a question: the file you have open (a window around your cursor, not the whole file), your selection, the errors the editor is reporting, and anything labd reads with a tool while answering. Nothing is sent unless you ask something.

Made by The Dev Labs.