Check Flow

A code review checklist manager for VS Code. Organize files into groups and phases, track review progress with todos, and never lose your place during a review session.

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Preview

Left: files-only view  ·  Right: full view with todo sub-items

Features

Groups & Phases — two-level organization

Structure your review work with:

• Groups — top-level categories, e.g. "Frontend", "Backend", "QA"
• Phases — stages within a group, e.g. "Phase 1 — Core", "Sprint 42"

Double-click any group or phase name to rename it inline.

Files with Todo sub-items

Each file in a checklist can have its own todo list:

[□] UserInfo.vue                   1/3
    │ [☑] Check layout on mobile
    │ [□] Verify API error states
    │ [□] Check loading skeleton
    │ + Add todo…

• Toggle ≡ Todos in the sidebar toolbar to show or hide the todo layer
• When all todos are checked, the parent file is automatically marked as done
• When any todo is unchecked, the parent file is automatically unmarked
• The 1/3 pill on each file row shows todo progress even when todos are hidden

Progress tracking

Every group and phase shows a done/total badge and an animated progress bar.

Drag & drop reordering

Drag file rows within a phase or across phases/groups. A blue insertion line shows exactly where the file will land.

Add files from Explorer

Option 1 — Right-click (recommended, supports multi-select)

Select one or more files/folders in the Explorer → right-click → Add to Check Flow… → pick group → pick phase.

Option 2 — + Files button

Click + Files next to a phase name → native file picker (supports multi-select and folders).

Option 3 — Drop zone

Drag files from your OS file manager onto a phase's drop zone.

JSON Export / Import

Icons in the panel title bar:

Quick variants (no dialogs, for AI workflows — see below):

Exported JSON is designed to be readable by humans and AI alike:

{
  "version": 1,
  "exportedAt": "2026-03-15T10:00:00.000Z",
  "workspace": "my-project",
  "summary": "2 groups, 8 files, 5 checked",
  "groups": [
    {
      "name": "Frontend Review",
      "phases": [
        {
          "name": "Phase 1 — Core",
          "progress": "2/4 files",
          "files": [
            {
              "name": "index.vue",
              "path": "src/views/index.vue",
              "checked": true,
              "todos": [
                { "text": "Check layout", "checked": true },
                { "text": "Check API", "checked": true }
              ]
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Auto-Import (File Watcher)

The panel title bar has an eye icon that toggles a file watcher on .vscode/checklist.json:

When enabled, any time .vscode/checklist.json is created or modified, the plugin automatically imports it (replace mode, no dialog). The state is saved per workspace and persists across restarts.

Note: Auto-import always replaces the current data. Make sure you don't accidentally overwrite work-in-progress. Disable the watcher when you don't need AI collaboration.

Collapse all

Click the collapse icon in the panel title bar (or run Check Flow: Collapse / Expand All Groups) to fold every group at once. Click again to expand all.

Getting Started

1. Open the Check Flow panel in the Activity Bar
2. Click ＋ Group → name your group (e.g. "Frontend Review")
3. Click + Phase → name your phase (e.g. "Sprint 42")
4. Right-click files in Explorer → Add to Check Flow… → select group & phase
5. Click a filename to open it in the editor
6. Check the checkbox when done — or add todos first for finer-grained tracking

Keyboard Shortcuts

Commands

All commands are available via Ctrl+Shift+P under the Check Flow category:

Data Storage

All data is saved to VS Code's workspace state — one independent checklist per workspace. Nothing is written to disk unless you explicitly export.

Using the exported JSON with AI

Check Flow is designed to work seamlessly with AI coding assistants (Claude Code, Copilot, Cursor, etc.). The bridge is .vscode/checklist.json — a plain file both humans and AI can read and write.

Workflow A — Auto-Import (recommended, fully hands-free)

Enable the file watcher once, then let the AI do the rest:

Step 1 (one-time setup)
  Panel title bar → click $(eye-closed) to enable Auto-Import

Step 2 (export)
  Ctrl+Shift+P → "Check Flow: Quick Export to checklist.json"

Step 3 (AI edits)
  Tell AI: "Read checklist.json, update it, and write it back."
  AI reads → edits → saves checklist.json

Step 4 (auto)
  Plugin detects the file change → silently replaces data ✓
  No further action needed.

For AI assistants: checklist.json is always at <workspace root>/.vscode/checklist.json. Read it, modify it, write it back. If the user has the watcher enabled, the plugin reloads automatically. If the watcher is off, ask the user to run Quick Import from checklist.json.

Workflow B — Manual Import

For one-off exchanges or when you want to review changes before applying:

1. Ctrl+Shift+P → "Check Flow: Quick Export to checklist.json"
2. Share checklist.json content with AI
3. AI returns updated JSON → overwrite checklist.json
4. Ctrl+Shift+P → "Check Flow: Quick Import from checklist.json"

Workflow C — Dialog-based (custom file location)

Use the panel toolbar icons when you want to choose the file location manually (Export / Import icons open native file dialogs).

⚠ Important notes

• Auto-import always replaces all current data — there is no merge or undo. Disable the watcher ($(eye) → off) when you are not in an AI session to avoid accidental overwrites.
• The watcher only monitors .vscode/checklist.json — files at other locations are ignored.
• Relative file paths in checklist.json are resolved against the workspace root, so AI-generated paths like src/views/index.vue work correctly without full absolute paths.
• The watcher state is saved per workspace and persists across VS Code restarts.

Suggested prompts

以下是我的代码检查清单，请帮我分析哪些文件还没检查，并给出检查建议：
[粘贴 JSON]

Here is my review checklist. Based on the unchecked files and their todos,
suggest what to focus on next:
[paste JSON]

What the AI can help with

JSON schema reference

{
  "version": 1,               // always 1
  "exportedAt": "ISO-8601",   // export timestamp
  "workspace": "string",      // VS Code workspace folder name
  "summary": "string",        // human-readable progress summary
  "groups": [
    {
      "name": "string",       // group label, e.g. "Frontend"
      "phases": [
        {
          "name": "string",   // phase label, e.g. "Phase 1"
          "progress": "x/y files",
          "files": [
            {
              "name": "string",     // filename only, e.g. "index.vue"
              "path": "string",     // absolute path on disk
              "checked": boolean,   // true = review done
              "todos": [
                {
                  "text": "string",    // todo description
                  "checked": boolean   // true = todo done
                }
              ]
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Round-trip: AI edits → re-import

With Auto-Import ON (zero steps for you):

1. AI writes updated JSON to <workspace root>/.vscode/checklist.json
2. Plugin auto-detects the change and reloads — done ✓

With Auto-Import OFF (one manual step):

1. AI writes updated JSON to <workspace root>/.vscode/checklist.json
2. Run Quick Import from checklist.json (Ctrl+Shift+P)

Custom file location:

1. Save the AI's output as any .json file
2. Panel toolbar → Import from JSON → pick the file → choose Merge or Replace

License

MIT © YUE LI