vscode-extension.md

tags	package vscode extension ide
aliases	code-rag-vscode vscode-extension-package VS Code Extension

CodeRAG VS Code Extension

A VS Code extension that integrates CodeRAG directly into the editor. It auto-starts the MCP server, connects via SSE, provides search commands, a sidebar webview, and auto-configures Claude Code for MCP access.

Package: code-rag-vscode Publisher: coderag Engine: VS Code ^1.85.0 Build: esbuild (bundled CJS)

Activation

The extension activates when the workspace contains a .coderag.yaml file:

"activationEvents": ["workspaceContains:.coderag.yaml"]

On activation, the extension:

1. Creates an output channel (CodeRAG)
2. Initializes the status bar
3. Detects Claude Code and auto-writes MCP config if needed
4. Starts the MCP server via ServerManager
5. Connects the McpClient over SSE to localhost:3100
6. Fetches initial index status and updates the status bar

Commands

Command ID	Title	Description
coderag.search	CodeRAG: Search	Opens a search input, queries the MCP server, and displays results
coderag.index	CodeRAG: Index	Triggers a re-index of the codebase
coderag.status	CodeRAG: Status	Shows index health, chunk count, and model info
coderag.configureClaude	CodeRAG: Configure Claude Code	Manually writes Claude Code MCP settings

Components

graph TD
    A[extension.ts] -->|creates| B[ServerManager]
    A -->|creates| C[McpClient]
    A -->|creates| D[StatusBarManager]
    A -->|creates| E[ClaudeConfigManager]
    A -->|registers| F[Search Command]
    A -->|registers| G[Index Command]
    A -->|registers| H[Status Command]
    A -->|registers| I[Configure Claude Command]
    A -->|registers| J[SearchPanel]

    B -->|spawns| K[coderag serve --port 3100]
    C -->|SSE| K
    J -->|uses| C
    D -->|shows| L[Status Bar Item]

Loading

ServerManager

Manages the lifecycle of the coderag serve process:

• Auto-starts coderag serve --port 3100 as a child process
• Monitors process health via ensureRunning()
• Stops the server on extension deactivation
• Logs server output to the CodeRAG output channel

McpClient

Connects to the MCP server over SSE transport:

• Endpoint: http://localhost:3100/sse
• Provides methods for search, index, and status operations
• Handles connection lifecycle (connect/disconnect)
• Default port: 3100

StatusBarManager

Displays a status bar item in the VS Code footer:

• Shows connection state: connected, disconnected, error
• Displays the current chunk count when connected
• Updates on index operations and connection state changes

ClaudeConfigManager

Auto-configures Claude Code to use the CodeRAG MCP server:

• Detects whether Claude Code is installed
• Checks if .claude/settings.json already has CodeRAG configured
• Writes the MCP server configuration pointing to http://localhost:3100/sse
• Runs automatically on activation (if Claude Code is detected and not yet configured)
• Can also be triggered manually via the coderag.configureClaude command

SearchPanel

A webview sidebar panel for interactive search:

• Registered as a webview view in the coderag-sidebar activity bar container
• Provides a search input with real-time results
• Results show file paths, chunk types, scores, and snippets
• Click results to open the corresponding file in the editor

Sidebar

The extension contributes an activity bar container:

{
  "viewsContainers": {
    "activitybar": [{
      "id": "coderag-sidebar",
      "title": "CodeRAG",
      "icon": "$(search)"
    }]
  },
  "views": {
    "coderag-sidebar": [{
      "type": "webview",
      "id": "coderag.searchPanel",
      "name": "Search"
    }]
  }
}

Extension Lifecycle

Event	Action
Activate	Create managers, register commands, auto-configure Claude, start server, connect client
Deactivate	Disconnect MCP client, stop server, dispose status bar
SIGINT/SIGTERM	Server manager cleans up child process

Note: > Commands are registered and available even before the server connects. If the server is unavailable, commands will show appropriate error messages.

See Also

• MCP Server -- the MCP server that the extension connects to
• CLI -- the coderag serve command used by ServerManager