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VS Code setup

What it is for

The extension helps you:

  • analyze the current workspace
  • review changed files against a git diff
  • start with a conservative first pass and lower thresholds only when you need a more sensitive follow-up
  • focus on new regressions and production hotspots first
  • jump directly to source locations
  • open canonical finding or remediation detail only when needed
  • inspect current-run Coverage Join facts without inventing extension-local interpretations
  • inspect report-only Security Surfaces as security-relevant boundary inventory
  • inspect report-only Overloaded Module candidates without treating them like findings

It does not create a second truth model and it does not mutate the repository.

Install requirements

Install from the VS Code Marketplace: orenlab.codeclone (publisher orenlab), or sideload a .vsix built from extensions/vscode-codeclone.

The extension needs a local codeclone-mcp launcher and VS Code 1.120.0 or newer (engines.vscode in package.json).

Minimum supported CodeClone version: 2.0.0 (core analysis and change control).

Engineering Memory features (Memory tree, search, governance, trajectory views) require 2.1.0a1 or newer on the resolved codeclone-mcp launcher.

In auto mode, it checks the current workspace virtualenv before falling back to PATH. Runtime and version-mismatch messages identify that resolved launcher source.

Recommended install:

uv tool install "codeclone[mcp]"

If you want the launcher inside the current environment instead:

uv pip install "codeclone[mcp]"

Verify the launcher:

codeclone-mcp --help

When you run the CLI inside an interactive VS Code terminal, CodeClone may also show a one-time extension hint after the summary. It is suppressed in quiet, CI, and non-interactive runs, and is remembered per CodeClone version next to the resolved project cache path.

Main views

Overview

Compact health, current run state, baseline drift, and next-best review action. When the current run includes external Cobertura join facts, Overview also shows a factual Coverage Join section sourced from canonical MCP metrics. When MCP exposes security_surfaces, Overview also shows a compact report-only Security Surfaces section.

Hotspots

Primary operational view for:

  • new regressions
  • production hotspots
  • changed-files findings
  • report-only Security Surfaces
  • report-only Overloaded Module candidates

Runs & Session

Session-local state:

  • local server availability
  • current run identity
  • reviewed findings
  • MCP help topics, including the optional coverage topic on newer CodeClone/MCP servers

Memory

Engineering Memory inbox: draft records, stale list, status, refresh/sync actions, and human approve/reject through the IDE governance channel (prepare_governance / commit_governance with session HMAC attestation). The extension launches MCP with --ide-governance-channel and registers a SecretStorage governance key on connect.

Review model

The extension stays source-first:

  • Review Priorities and Next Hotspot / Previous Hotspot drive the review loop
  • Reveal Source is the default action for findings
  • editor-local actions appear only when the current file matches the active review target
  • Explorer decorations stay lightweight and focus on new, production, or changed-scope relevance
  • report-only Security Surfaces stay source-first: reveal source, open compact detail, or copy a review brief without promoting them to findings

Open in HTML Report exists as an explicit bridge to the richer human report, not as the primary IDE workflow.

Blast radius, session, and audit commands

The extension also exposes structural change-controller helpers over MCP:

  • Show Blast Radius — get_blast_radius for a repo-relative file path
  • Copy Blast Radius Brief — same payload formatted for review notes
  • Show Session Stats / Show Controller Audit Trail — IDE-only MCP tools (get_workspace_session_stats, get_controller_audit_trail) registered only when the extension launches codeclone-mcp with --ide-governance-channel. Payloads match CLI --session-stats and --audit via codeclone/controller_insights/.
  • Clear Session — clear_session_runs (in-memory runs, reviewed markers, and workspace intent registry state for the MCP process)

These commands require workspace trust and an active MCP connection.

Engineering Memory in the IDE

  • Memory view — draft inbox, approve/reject through the IDE governance channel (prepare_governance / commit_governance), sync from run.
  • Search Engineering Memory — QuickPick (mode=search; FTS + optional semantic per codeclone.memory.searchSemantic, default on in the extension).
  • Memory for Active File — mode=for_path for the active editor path.
  • Open Memory Search Panel / Refresh Memory Search — results webview.
  • Configure Memory Search — workspace wizard for semantic, drafts, stale, and result limit (see Engineering Memory search settings below).
  • Show Trajectory Dashboard — projection health, quality/outcome aggregates, anomalies, and recent trajectories.
  • Show Trajectory Detail — full passport with quality/complexity calculations, Patch Trail, contract gates, incidents, steps, and evidence.
  • Copy Trajectory Dashboard Brief — Markdown summary for review notes.

Server-side semantic still requires [tool.codeclone.memory.semantic] enabled, the semantic sidecar, and a successful rebuild (manage_engineering_memory action=rebuild_semantic_index for MCP agents, or codeclone memory semantic rebuild for CLI/CI). Install codeclone[semantic-local] and set embedding_provider = "fastembed" for local semantic-quality recall; codeclone[semantic-lancedb] alone can run only the deterministic diagnostic provider. See Engineering Memory. Trajectory semantics: Trajectory quality and passport.

Open Triage

Open Triage (orenlab.codeclone.openTriage) calls get_production_triage for the current run before opening the markdown panel. Repeated opens reuse the cached payload for 5 seconds when the run is unchanged and not marked stale; concurrent opens share one in-flight request.

First-run path

  1. Open the CodeClone view container.
  2. Run Analyze Workspace.
  3. Use Review Priorities or Review Changes.
  4. If the first pass looks clean but you want smaller repeated units, open Set Analysis Depth.
  5. Reveal source before opening deeper detail.

If the launcher is missing, use Open Setup Help from the extension.