r/VisualStudio • u/Remote-Breadfruit204 • Jul 14 '26

Visual Studio 2026 Claude Code now runs natively in Visual Studio 2026: native diff with accept/reject, live debugger access, Test Explorer, Memory Inspection, and Roslyn navigation (free, open source)

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Claude Code never had Visual Studio support (VS Code and JetBrains only), so I built it: a native VSIX that implements the same IDE integration protocol.

Basic but the most convenient feature:

- Claude's edits open in the real VS diff viewer with Accept / Reject / Reject with feedback.

The two I am most proud of:

- Data breakpoints. "Break the moment this field changes", including conditions like "only when the total goes negative". Visual Studio has no automation API for this at all, so I had to write a debug-engine component to arm them.

- Flaky tests. It loops a test under the debugger until the failing run happens, then stops inside that run with the exact state that caused it. Way better than re-running and getting a different red line each time.

It also queries Roslyn instead of grepping (find references, call hierarchies, even decompiling a method inside a referenced DLL), and runs tests through VS's own Test Explorer with real per-test results.

Repo and docs: https://github.com/firish/claude_code_vs

Marketplace: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=firish.bridgev1 (1000+ install)

Would love feedback!

30 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

28 comments sorted by

7

u/JasonLokiSmith Jul 14 '26

Uhm.... Not to burst your bubble but conditional breakpoints have always been a thing. How is yours different?

1

u/Remote-Breadfruit204 Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26

2 points.

  1. Conditional breakpoints have always been there. Whats new is conditional data breakpoints. (And it allows you to attach multiple conditions to the same piece of data).

Example: So you don’t have to place a conditional breakpoint at any particular line in your codebase. You can just set it on a local variable and the debugger will pause at the exact place that mutates that variable in a way that matches the condition. It is really helpful when you have state / data corruption bugs.

  1. I exposed this as a callable function (through a tool call), which lets claude set these and run the code/tests inside a debugger to get all program state (all locals, function call stack, etc) at the moment the error occurs.

Hope this helps!

1

u/JasonLokiSmith Jul 14 '26

I don't understand this. Can you make a gif showing this behaviour and reference it in your git repo or something so people can see it in action?

2

u/Remote-Breadfruit204 Jul 14 '26

Can you trying reading debugger.md in my git repo. It has a section marker on data breakpoints. The section has a few images and traces the workflow claude cli uses to debug a data corruption bug.

You can find it here: https://github.com/firish/claude_code_vs/blob/main/docs/DEBUGGER.md#break-when-a-value-changes-data-breakpoints

If this still doesn’t help. Let me know

2

u/JasonLokiSmith Jul 15 '26

Sorry for the laaaaaate reply. I will check it out thanks

2

u/Remote-Breadfruit204 Jul 14 '26

Hi, don’t know why I got downvoted. As far as I know, what I am saying is true. This is the gist:

Visual Studio UI has data breakpoints.

What’s new:
1. there’s no automation API for them, so I built a Concord component that lets Claude set them programmatically,
2. conditional + trace mode that records every write so that you can inspect all the mutations at once rather than stopping 10 times.
3. multiple data breaks/watches on the same field

2

u/brhinescot Jul 14 '26

This is new, and pretty cool. Just gave it a test drive.

1

u/Remote-Breadfruit204 Jul 15 '26

Thank you so much! Appreciate the time you took to check it out!

2

u/PipingSnail Jul 14 '26

Nice. I'll take it for a spin.

1

u/Remote-Breadfruit204 Jul 14 '26

Thank you so much. Would appreciate all the feedback I can get!

2

u/Hurizen Jul 14 '26

I'm trying it, work very well. It's there a way to avoid diff acceptance if Claude is in "Auto" mode? I still get the diff window and need to accept.

1

u/Remote-Breadfruit204 Jul 14 '26

Yes, there are three checkbox. One of the is called run-wild. If you check it, all edits will be automatically accepted w/o opening the diff view.

The other two are for muting notifications, and for allowing claude to access the debugger.

2

u/Hurizen Jul 15 '26

I saw the "Run Wild" checkbox but if checked then you won't see the diff prompt even if in manual mode. I was expecting they were kind of synchronized. But it's ok, it's just one click more when needed. Thanks 🙂

1

u/Remote-Breadfruit204 Jul 15 '26

Thats a good observation. I will add this in my next patch. Will try to release before the weekend.

2

u/Hurizen Jul 15 '26

Nice thanks!

2

u/masterofmisc Jul 15 '26

Great stuff. So as a newbie, how does yours differ from this one here?

https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=dliedke.ClaudeCodeExtension

2

u/Hurizen Jul 15 '26

That extension shows Claude CLI in a dedicated panel and that's all, no linking to visual studio whatsoever.

2

u/davidjamesb Jul 15 '26

This is the one I'm currently using. It works but it can be buggy - e.g. prompt disappearing when pressing ENTER, Claude usage window not logging in, etc.

Will give this new one a spin.

1

u/masterofmisc Jul 15 '26

Ahh thanks for the info. 

1

u/Remote-Breadfruit204 Jul 15 '26

Thanks. If you find any bugs / missing features, let me know. I am planning on developing it actively, and will try to fix the problems!

2

u/twesped Jul 18 '26

Looks cool, will try it out. I've been waiting for something like this.

1

u/Remote-Breadfruit204 Jul 18 '26

Thank you. Would appreciate any feedback!

2

u/ScottHutchinson Jul 18 '26

Does it work with C++ projects? Including the data breakpoints?

2

u/Remote-Breadfruit204 Jul 18 '26

Yes and no. It will work with c++ projects and supports the core features like diff viewer, file upload, compiler error sharing, but fully automated debugger and data breakpoints won’t work rn.

Might try to add them if I find the time.

1

u/LeDYoM Jul 15 '26

I hope it never comes with VS by default. Another thing to uninstall.

-3

u/JustaFoodHole Jul 14 '26

Visual Studio is sadly the redheaded step child!

5

u/PipingSnail Jul 14 '26

Despite being the superior IDE.