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034 · VS Code extension

Blitz in VS Code (spec_vscode_034)
Status Implemented (2026-09-30). It details spec_parity_027 §11 (PAR-INT-02); JetBrains is not built.
Source apps/vscode/src (extension.ts, proxy.ts, page.ts, patch.ts, compose.ts, socket.ts), package.json (the manifest), BUILD.bazel; tools/vsix; the page’s apps/desktop/web/src/{host.ts,EditorPanel.tsx,workspaceSettings.ts}; pnpm-workspace.yaml and pnpm-lock.yaml at the root
Tests apps/vscode/src/*.test.ts (bazel test //apps/vscode:all); tools/vsix/main_test.go

1. Purpose

The desktop app’s conversation, beside the code in VS Code, attached to the same service: sessions, approvals and settings are shared with the terminal and the desktop app. The extension holds no engine and no second chat: it shows the desktop app’s page.

2. The view

  • VSC-01 A Blitz view container in the activity bar (a bolt icon) with one webview view, Chat (blitz.chat), kept alive while hidden (retainContextWhenHidden) so a turn keeps streaming.
  • VSC-02 Its workspace is the folder of the file in front, else the window’s first folder; with no folder it says to open one.
  • VSC-03 The view loads the page built for the desktop app (//apps/desktop/web:page, packed as media/page), its asset paths turned into webview URIs, under a policy that allows only its own files, scripts with the view’s nonce, and calls to the proxy (page.ts). The settings go first, as window.blitzEditor (dir, api, token).
  • VSC-04 Inside an editor the page shows only the conversation (EditorPanel): the workspace’s settings, the project-trust question and banner, and the chat (useWorkspaceSettings, shared with the desktop app’s workspace). Its theme follows VS Code’s (the body’s vscode-dark / vscode-light classes), its notifications are VS Code’s, and links to files in the chat open them in VS Code at their line. Its controls are the desktop app’s (one page): the accent’s buttons, fields and composer buttons (spec_desktop_024 DSK-35).

3. Reaching the service

  • VSC-10 A webview can’t open a Unix socket, so the extension forwards the page’s calls (/blitz.v1.*) from 127.0.0.1:<random port> to the service’s socket (proxy.ts), streaming responses as they come. The socket is the blitz.socket setting, else $BLITZ_SOCKET, else ~/.blitz/run/blitz.sock.
  • VSC-11 Every call carries the view’s random token (x-blitz-token); one without it is refused (403), as is anything outside the API (404). CORS answers only vscode-webview:// origins, so no web page can use the port. With the service down, calls get Connect’s unavailable error and the page says so.

4. Editor and chat

  • VSC-20 An approval with a diff has Show in the editor: each file it changes opens in VS Code’s diff view, the file as it is beside the change applied (patch.ts: hunks placed where they say, else the nearest place their context fits, as patch does; a change that no longer fits says so). A new file shows against an empty one.
  • VSC-21 Blitz: Add Selection to Chat (⌘⌥B / Ctrl+Alt+B, the editor’s menu with a selection) adds to the composer, after what’s typed, where the code is from and the code, fenced with its language (for example “pkg/api/backend.go lines 3–5:”). Blitz: Add File to Chat (the editor’s menu without a selection, the Explorer’s menu) mentions the file, as the desktop app’s Files view does (@path); a file outside the workspace is refused with a warning. Blitz: Open Chat shows the view.
  • VSC-22 Messages sent before the page listens wait for its ready message.

5. Packaging

  • VSC-30 bazel build //apps/vscode:vsix compiles the TypeScript (CommonJS, tsconfig.build.json) and packs blitz.vsix with tools/vsix: extension/ (package.json, dist, media, README, LICENSE) with the extension.vsixmanifest and [Content_Types].xml vsce would write, entries dated 1980-01-01 so builds match. --action_env=VSIX_VERSION=… stamps a version; releases attach blitz_<version>_vscode.vsix, covered by the signed checksums. Install with code --install-extension blitz.vsix. It isn’t published to the Marketplace.
  • VSC-31 The npm workspace is at the repository’s root (pnpm-workspace.yaml: the page and the extension; one pnpm-lock.yaml); THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES lists the page’s packages, which are what ships.

6. Checked by hand

With a service run with a throwaway home and no keys, VS Code 1.139 installed the package and showed the chat for its folder, in its dark theme (2026-09-30).

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