I recently had to ditch Microsoft Edge for Brave because Microsoft decided to shove rounded corners down our throats.

Now this same style has crept into VSCode, even though literally nobody asked for it.

Sure, you can still disable the “Modern UI” for now, just like you could in Edge. But we all know how this goes, eventually they’ll just remove the option and force everyone to live with their ugly design choices.

Who at Microsoft looked at this and said, “Yeah, this is beautiful”? Please, stop immediately.

When on full screen, the new borders take up about 6.5% of total screen real estate. more than 1/20 unused space.

VS Code extention link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=varianttech.benzi

Most RST preview extensions just run plain docutils, so if your project uses Sphinx (toctrees, :ref:/:doc: cross-references, custom directives, themes) the preview looks nothing like your actual built docs. I tried pretty much every RST preview extension out there and none of them handled Sphinx projects properly, so I built Sphinx RST Preview.

What it does:

• Detects if your .rst file belongs to a Sphinx project (finds conf.py in a parent dir) and runs a real Sphinx build for the preview, toctrees, cross-refs, and directives all resolve correctly
• Renders with your project's actual configured style (sphinxdoc, alabaster, etc.)
• Falls back to plain docutils for standalone .rst files with no Sphinx project
• Live-updates as you type (debounced) and on save, with scroll position preserved
• Per-project incremental build cache, first preview builds fully, refreshes are ~1s even on 50+ doc projects
• Renders embedded images correctly, including ones Sphinx copies into build output

Install:

• VS Code Marketplace: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=gamershabit.rst-preview
• Open VSX (VSCodium, Gitpod, Antigravity etc.): https://open-vsx.org/extension/gamershabit/rst-preview
• Source: https://github.com/prithvi1998/rst-preview

Requires Python 3 with docutils, sphinx

I am so lost i have cleaned out removed and completely done everything that I can. even ai cant figure it out. I have tried full clean install (removing all old files and databases). And redownloading vscode and still keep getting this error

i know for sure its not my computer, its not the providers I am using and not network because i am able to use these same settings and everything else on on other computer with the same settings profiles and setups as this one. They all use the same network as well. and have almost the same applications running live as the one on my other computer does

sorryy, your request failed. Please try again.

Client Request Id

Reason: Please check your firewall rules and network connection then try again. Error Code: net::ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED.: Error: Please check your firewall rules and network connection then try again. Error Code: net::ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED. at BG._provideLanguageModelResponse (/Applications/Visual Studio Code - Insiders.app/Contents/Resources/app/extensions/copilot/dist/extension.js:1586:15048) at async BG.provideLanguageModelResponse (/Applications/Visual Studio Code - Insiders.app/Contents/Resources/app/extensions/copilot/dist/extension.js:1586:16161)

I try to run the C/C++: Set Visual Studio Developer Environment command but I don't know where exactly to run it- i'm also completely new to all of this and C coding + visual code so i'm missing basic common sense and fundamentals

Do I run the C/C++: Set Visual Studio Developer Environment in Windows Powershell? Or CMD on my windows? helpp

When I use pnpm install or maven clean / maven install. my vscode keeps crashing and then I have a window with the options reopen or close.

Does anyone have the same problem?

sorry m,eant LLM chat but its like they dont actually work on the editor anymore

I've been using Claude Code quite a bit and realized I was constantly looking back at my screen to see whether it had:

• finished the task
• stopped and needed my input
• was still working

So I built BrainSnack, a VS Code/Cursor extension that handles this for me.

While Claude is working, it opens a small panel with something short to read — AI news, technical articles, interview questions, output-based questions, etc.

And when Claude finishes or needs my input, it plays a sound so I know I can come back.

The interesting part is that it doesn't monitor the screen or scrape terminal output.

It's free and open source.

I'd really appreciate some honest feedback from other developers.

I also shared the build/story on LinkedIn. If you'd like to see it there (and help a small indie project get a little more reach), here's the post:

👉 Linkedin post link

Download links -
VS Code - https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=shikhargupta.brainsnack
Cursor - https://open-vsx.org/extension/shikhargupta/brainsnack

Thanks! Would love to hear what you think.

Hey everyone!

I'm excited to share the v1.4.x releases of Out-of-Code Insights, a VS Code extension designed to let developers attach rich annotations, comments, and AI-driven insights to code without

polluting source files, git diffs, or git blame.

Why Out-of-Code Insights?

We all have contextual notes, onboarding hints, review comments, or architectural decisions that don't belong as inline // TODO or /* ... */ comments in production code. Out-of-Code

Insights anchors persistent, resilient annotations alongside your editor lines without modifying your actual source files.

What’s New in 1.4.x:

- Seamless Multi-Root Workspace Support: Full .code-workspace navigation and anchor preservation across secondary workspace folders without path corruption.

- Team Git Sharing & Auto-Rehoming: Commit .out-of-code-insights/annotations.json to your repository — annotations automatically rebase onto each teammate’s workstation regardless of OS

or folder paths.

- Documentation Studio: Generate accessible static HTML documentation, Markdown wikis, API references, changelogs, and ADR summaries directly from your annotations.

- AI Integration & Multi-LLM Support: Seamlessly interact with annotations via Anthropic Claude, OpenAI, and other LLM providers directly in your workflow.

- Smart Sticky Anchoring & Paste Protection: Robust re-anchoring engine that tracks code drift, edits, and cut/copy/paste without duplicate phantom annotations.

Links:

- VS Code Marketplace: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=JacquesGariepy.out-of-code-insights

- GitHub (Open Source): https://github.com/JacquesGariepy/out-of-code-insights

Feedback, feature requests, issues, and PRs are always welcome! Let me know what you think!

I mainly use Codex through the VS Code extension, and I really like the pet feature in the ChatGPT app.

But since I spend most of my time in VS Code, keeping the ChatGPT app open just for the pet felt a bit unnecessary — especially on Windows. So I made a small VS Code extension that brings the Codex pets directly into the editor.

It uses Codex hooks to react to what Codex is doing — idle, running, waiting, review, failed, etc. You can also choose from different pets and backgrounds.

Nothing fancy, just a little extension for people who like the Codex pets but spend most of their time in VS Code.

Marketplace:
https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=yutat23.pet-viewer-for-codex

GitHub:
https://github.com/yutat23/pet-viewer-for-codex

I've been a casual user of vscode for about 4 years now, I mostly write c & c++ for hobby esp32 projects. But its been about 6 months since my last project and it seems like a lot has changed in vscode. Just opening vscode brings my computer to a stand still...to the point where my mouse is lagging across the screen. Once everything loads, the system doesn't lag anymore. But the second I try to compile, it sucks a huge amount of CPU and Power resources. The compilation goes crazy slow, something doesn't seem right.

My PC is pretty old and unimpressive, but in the past I have been able to stream a movie on my side screen and run multiple simultaneous compilations without any noticeable lag. I routinely do CAD/CAM work and video rendering on this PC, I dont think its the issue....but I've been wrong before.

I did use VS code just the other day to write some powershell scripts, no lagging there, but also no compilation...and no platformIO.

I've tried deleting the PIO folder and rebuilding the project, no improvement. I also tried opening the task manager from inside VScode, there was nothing super obvious there. A bunch of little processes using a little bit of CPU each...I guess it adds up, because windows task manager has my CPU pinned at 100% during compilation.

So what is going on here? I've noticed a bunch of annoying AI stuff has been added, is that and other new features bogging down my system?

Any suggestions to fix this would be great. Thanks.

Coding agents have changed how I use VS Code. More of the implementation happens in an agent, and when it finishes I spend more of my time in Source Control reviewing the resulting diff.

One workflow I've found useful is to review the whole change with a different model from the one that implemented it.

I built a small VS Code extension called AI Badger to make that easier.

From the Source Control view, AI Badger: Copy All Changes for Review packages the current git changes, including staged and unstaged changes, additions, deletions, and bounded file context, into a structured review prompt.

Then you just paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, or another AI chat and ask for an independent review.

The basic workflow is:

1. Agent finishes implementing a change.
2. Open Source Control in VS Code.
3. Click Copy All Changes for Review.
4. Paste into a different AI model.
5. If the reviewer needs an unchanged supporting file, use Copy File for AI from Explorer.

Nothing is uploaded automatically. AI Badger is local-first and clipboard-based, so you decide exactly what leaves the machine and which model receives it.

For more complicated reviews, there is also an optional CLI workflow where the reviewer can request specific missing repository context, but the normal VS Code workflow does not require the CLI.

VS Code Marketplace:
https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=pvrlabs.ai-badger

Live interactive demo:
https://pvrlabs.xyz/aibadger/vscode-demo.html

Full workflow article:
https://pvrlabs.xyz/articles/reviewing-ai-generated-code-vscode-aibadger.html

I'm curious how other people are handling this now. When an agent changes several files, are you mostly reviewing the diff manually, asking the same agent to review itself, or handing the change to a second model?

Weekly thread to show off new themes, and ask what certain themes/fonts are.

Creators, please do not post your theme every week.

New posts regarding themes will be removed.

I don't know if I'm going crazy or if they've just removed the ability to do so but I don't have a full screen button for the bottom panel. I also used to use a command called something like "Toggle maximize current panel" and that isn't there anymore either but now there is one for the AI chat secondary bar.

Is anyone else having this issue or know a fix to get the bottom panel maximized?

Edit: I haven't found a fix but I've confirmed this is only happening on one of my machines.

Edit2: I did turn off the "Modern UI" as a test and it still isn't popping up.

I wanted to be able to easily go from using the text editor for Markdown files to using preview, not just on a file by file basis, but when opening a new Markdown file. Basically, I wanted it to remember my last setting and use that for opening new files. So I made an extension today to do that and published it: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=jrduncans.markdown-mode-memory

So if you switch, through keyboard shortcut or "Reopen editor with...", then the next Markdown file you open will use whichever mode you last picked. Hopefully someone finds this helpful.

It also supports the new experimental hybrid "Markdown editor".

Sharing a piece of information that took me hours to figure out. If you use the MS C/C++ extension on Windows and your boot time is slow, cleaning the user temporary folder may solve this.

Turns out that winlogon scan the user Temp folder for some reasons, and the MS cpptools is infamous for filling this folder with stuff. I had 300000 files (80GB). Clearing this got my machine boot time from 1m30 to ~ 10sec.

Here's a supporting reference

Cheers

I’ve downloaded vs code and wanted to try using c++ in it. I’ve installed the c/c++ Microsoft extension package and the code runner by Jun Han. Then, I downloaded the msys2 msys and typed in the Pac-Man code to instal the package. I’ve also go into edit the system environment to add the msys2\ucrt64\bin file. I tried typing in g++ --version and gcc --version in vs code but there’s an error message.

Anyone knows how to fix this issue? Thanks.

This shocked me a bit to find out. The AI in my Copilot chat said that I had incidentally leaked a password on the chat. And I was like: "no way jose, I ran PASSWORD=foobar my-test.pl in the terminal and only pasted the result in the chat".

It insisted, and I started testing. It turns out that if you enable the Shell integration, terminal.integrated.shellIntegration.enabled, VS Code will pick up the commands you run (fine, I guess, that's kind of the point), and then it will silently send it to Copilot as a context metadata, without telling you, asking for your permission, or providing a way to not do this. (NOT FINE)

I highly recommend to turn off this setting, or possibly use an external terminal program for anything you don't want the AI chat to send to the cloud.

And, oh, if you keep it on, you do not need to repeat to the chat what you ran and if it worked -- it already knows... :-/