KODEO for VS Code

KODEO for VS Code makes VS Code a full KODEO client. Open a project and you're in the room: your teammates in the browser see your cursor as you type, and you see theirs. Nothing changes for anyone who doesn't use it.

Install it

• VS Code and VS Code Insiders: Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X / ⌘⇧X) → search KODEO → publisher kodeohq → Install.
• Cursor, Windsurf and VSCodium: the same search — they install from Open VSX.
• vscode.dev and github.dev: the same search in the browser's Extensions view.

The extension's id is kodeohq.kodeo. It does nothing until you open a KODEO project, its views or one of its commands, so installing it costs an unrelated folder nothing.

Sign in

Run KODEO: Sign In from the Command Palette (or choose KODEO in VS Code's Accounts menu) and approve on kodeo.website — with your passkey or two-factor, as usual.

• The sign-in code comes back through the extension's own link, works once, lives for a minute, and is useless without a secret only that window holds.
• The sign-in is bound to an Ed25519 key only this editor has. Every refresh is signed with it, so a copied token doesn't work anywhere else.
• It's kept in VS Code's secret storage (your operating system's keychain on desktop), never in settings or the workspace.
• It appears under Settings → Local access → Signed-in computers, labelled VS Code with its version. Sign it out there, or with KODEO: Sign Out.

No browser on that machine (a remote server, a locked-down laptop)? Use KODEO: Sign In with a Code and approve the code at kodeo.website/device. Already signed in with the kodeo CLI on the same computer? KODEO: Use My kodeo CLI Sign-In asks KODEO for a new VS Code sign-in — nothing is copied from the CLI. (And the other way round: kodeo login --vscode signs the CLI in from VS Code — see Using the CLI and VS Code together.)

Open, switch and start projects

• KODEO: Switch Project… (Alt+K) lists your recent projects first, then every project you can reach, grouped by workspace. The button on a row opens it in a new window.
• KODEO: New Project… asks for a workspace you can create in, a name and a template — KODEO writes the starter files, then it opens.
• KODEO: Open Project… also takes a reference like acme/storefront:src/app.ts:42.
• Open in VS Code in KODEO's web editor opens the file you're on, at your line; kodeo code src/app.ts:42 does the same from a terminal; on a phone, Send to my computer pops it up in VS Code.

A project opens either straight from KODEO (a kodeo:// window — nothing to download, works on vscode.dev) or as a linked folder on your computer. See Linked folders or kodeo://? for the difference.

The KODEO side bar

Click the KODEO icon in the Activity Bar:

• Project — Live or Solo, who's here and in which editor, who's typing, who's following you, who's running the project (and on which port), and your plan's storage, runtime hours and live editors. With no project open, your recent projects.
• Comments — every comment thread in the project, grouped by file. Filter by Open, Resolved, Mine or Mentions; a click opens the thread at its line.
• Activity — your KODEO notifications, by day. See Notifications in VS Code.
• Pull Requests & Checks — the linked GitHub repository's open pull requests and CI. A click opens the review in VS Code.
• Project Tools — teammates' shared terminals, the current file's checkpoints, the trash and your sign-ins. Each loads only when you open it.

The KODEO panel

Chat, Assist, Help and Support share one panel, next to the terminal. Drag its tab to the Secondary Side Bar to keep it beside your code; the button in its corner opens any tab as an editor tab. See Chat, Assist, Help and Support in VS Code.

In the room

• Cursors — teammates' cursors and selections in their colours, with their names (their initials once they've been still a while). Hover a cursor to see who it is, whether they're in the browser or VS Code, their line, and whether they're typing.
• Who's where — files teammates have open carry their initials in the explorer, on tabs and in Go to File (setting KODEO › Presence: Explorer Badges).
• Files, both ways — files a teammate creates, renames, deletes or types into in the browser show up in VS Code by themselves, in a kodeo:// window and in a linked folder alike.
• Follow — click a teammate in the Project view to follow their file, cursor and scrolling, even when they're in the browser. Typing, your own scrolling or Esc stops it. When someone follows you, the status bar says so; KODEO: Stop Everyone Following Me stops them (and nobody can follow you for a minute).
• Bring Everyone Here — sends the room to your line (with an optional note). Summons from the browser arrive in VS Code too.
• Comments — the same threads as the browser, in VS Code's comment UI, pinned to the right line even after edits above them. Alt+C comments on the current line; typing @ suggests teammates to mention.
• Your edits are in — a ✓ in the status bar means the room has every edit you've made; a spinning arrow means they're on their way; a cloud means they're waiting for the connection.
• Undo is yours — Ctrl+Z / ⌘Z in a live file undoes your own edits, never a teammate's.
• Shortcuts — Alt+/ lists every KODEO shortcut.

The status bar says where you stand — the project, live, how many here (or Solo, reconnecting, read-only) — and shows who's following you, who's running the project, and unread notifications. Click the project for everything you can do.

If the live connection drops

KODEO switches to Solo mode, exactly like the web editor: saves are version-checked, and nothing you type is lost. When the connection comes back, your edits merge into the room. A file opened straight from KODEO that isn't live saves on your computer while you're offline and goes to KODEO when you're back — see KODEO for VS Code offline.

Roles and policies

• A Viewer gets a read-only project in VS Code; the server refuses their edits whatever the editor does.
• Over your plan's editing limit, you join as a spectator and are promoted when a seat frees — the same as the browser.
• A Team can turn the extension off under Workspace settings → Local access. Doing so ends VS Code sign-ins that reach only that workspace and closes VS Code's live connections there at once.

Running code

KODEO's Run stays in the browser — it's the shared, metered runtime your teammates can watch. KODEO: Run in KODEO opens it there, and the status bar shows who's running the project. A teammate's shared terminal can be watched from VS Code (Project Tools → Terminals). In a linked folder, npm run dev, tests and builds in VS Code's terminal are yours: private, and they use no runtime hours.

Live apps and previews

The Previews view in the KODEO side bar lists the project's live apps — one per person and port, live, paused or offline, with who's watching (name, device, page). Click one to watch it in KODEO Preview, a tab beside your code, already signed in: switch apps, reload, try phone, tablet and laptop sizes, see who's watching, pin comments on the app (shared with the browser — see Comments on the running app), copy the link or open it in your browser.

KODEO: Share Port with KODEO… (desktop) gives an app running on your computer a link — see Share an app from your computer.

Your data

• Assist is told which editor you're in and whether you're live — never your code.
• Speed numbers (how long activation, opening a project and joining the room took, and how fast edits reach the room) are sent only if you turn on KODEO › Telemetry: Share Performance Numbers — and never while VS Code's own telemetry is off. They carry no name, project or file.
• KODEO: Reset KODEO on This Computer… signs out and forgets what KODEO keeps on this computer: cached files, recent projects, the Help index, pop-up choices and any saves made offline (it tells you how many first).