Codex for Visual Studio 2022

Codex for Visual Studio 2022 brings the Codex CLI into Microsoft Visual Studio so that you can chat with the Codex agent, run guided commands, review diffs, and interact with MCP tools without leaving the editor.

Unofficial project: CodexVS22 is community maintained and is not an official product of Anthropic or Microsoft. The extension is under active development and APIs may change.

Project Status

• Actively developed with frequent in-progress checkpoints.
• Requires the Codex CLI to be installed locally.
• Expect rough edges while release tasks in todo-release.md remain open.

Features

• AI chat tool window with full conversation history and code selection context.
• Diff review and patch application workflow with approval gates.
• Execution console for running shell commands through Codex with optional WSL routing.
• MCP (Model Context Protocol) tool discovery, invocation, and prompt insertion helpers.
• Persistent solution scoped settings plus import/export for sharing configurations.
• Telemetry hooks (opt in) for tracking prompt and tool usage.

Architecture Overview

• Modular MVVM layout splits chat, diff, exec, approvals, and MCP workflows across dedicated view-models coordinated by a shared session store.
• A lightweight session coordinator mediates Codex CLI events, updating stores that drive the tool window without code-behind access.
• Services wrap VS SDK access (workspace, telemetry, approvals) so the UI binds strictly to observable state.
• Detailed diagrams for chat, diff, and exec pipelines live in docs/architecture-diagrams.md.

flowchart LR
    CLI[Codex CLI]
    Coordinator[Session Coordinator]
    Chat[Chat Transcript VM]
    Diff[Diff Review VM]
    Exec[Exec Console VM]
    MCP[MCP Tools VM]
    Approvals[Approvals VM]
    CLI --> Coordinator
    Coordinator --> Chat
    Coordinator --> Diff
    Coordinator --> Exec
    Coordinator --> MCP
    Coordinator --> Approvals
    Chat --> Approvals
    Diff --> Approvals
    Exec --> Approvals

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Requirements

• Visual Studio 2022 version 17.6 or newer with the Visual Studio extension development workload.
• Codex CLI installed and available on PATH, or configure the absolute path in the Options page.
• Optional: Windows Subsystem for Linux if you prefer to run the CLI inside WSL.

Installation

1. Download the latest .vsix package from the releases page.
2. Double-click the package to launch the Visual Studio extension installer.
3. Restart Visual Studio after the installer completes.
4. Open the Codex tool window via Tools -> Open Codex.

Getting Started

1. Authenticate: use the Login button in the Codex tool window (runs codex login).
2. Send context: right-click a selection and choose Add to Codex chat to preload snippets.
3. Adjust settings: visit Tools -> Options -> Codex for CLI path, approval modes, sandbox policy, and default models.
4. Try prompts: insert predefined prompts from the prompt palette or create your own.

Configuration Notes

• Settings support per-solution overrides stored alongside the .sln file.
• WSL integration shells out to wsl.exe -- codex ... when enabled.
• MCP servers are declared in codex.json; use the tool window refresh action after editing the file.
• Execution safeguards route through approval workflows; see PROMPTS.txt for built-in command templates.
• Telemetry and session persistence toggles live under Tools -> Options -> Codex; see docs/telemetry-diagnostics-plan.md and docs/session-persistence-plan.md for policy details.

Building From Source

# Restore dependencies
msbuild CodexVS22.sln /t:Restore

# Build the VSIX (Release configuration recommended)
msbuild CodexVS22.sln /p:Configuration=Release

Generated artifacts land in bin/ and can be installed by double-clicking the resulting .vsix.

Testing

• Unit tests reside in CodexVS22.Tests and can be executed with dotnet test.
• Integration validation relies on manual smoke tests noted in RELEASE_CHECKLIST_v0.1.0.md and POST_TEST_SUMMARY_v0.1.0.md.

Contributing

We split the refactored tool window into clear modules. When opening an issue or pull request, mention the relevant area and ping the listed doc owners.

Area	Maintainers & Contact Doc	Primary Specs
Chat transcript & streaming	See docs/chat-viewmodel-design.md (maintained by Chat leads)	Chat VM, session store integration
Diff review & patch apply	See docs/diff-module-plan.md	Diff pipeline, approvals, VS diff services
Exec console	See docs/exec-module-plan.md	Exec MVVM + ANSI pipeline
MCP tools & prompts	See docs/mcp-module-plan.md	Tool discovery, prompt palettes
Session persistence	See docs/session-persistence-plan.md	Resume cache, autosave cadence
Telemetry & diagnostics	See docs/telemetry-diagnostics-plan.md	Event names, privacy toggles
Options & onboarding docs	See docs/options-integration-plan.md and docs/docs-onboarding-plan.md	Options store, onboarding checklist

Check docs/docs-onboarding-plan.md for the latest onboarding checklist, coding standards, and writing guidelines. Contributions are welcome. Please:

1. Open an issue to discuss significant feature ideas.
2. Follow the provided issue templates for bug reports and feature requests.
3. Submit pull requests using the template to document testing and rationale.

Visual Studio Code Parity

CodexVS22 aims to mirror the official VS Code extension where practical. The current parity status, gaps, and Windows-only items are tracked in parity-report.md. Key differences today include WPF-only UI flows, Visual Studio diff services, and session persistence that is unique to this extension.

Troubleshooting

See docs/troubleshooting.md for guidance on streaming hiccups, diff apply failures, exec console issues, and resume diagnostics. The guide links back to the relevant refactor plans so you can jump straight to the owning module.

Support and Feedback

• File issues on the GitHub tracker.
• Check the /docs directory for build logs, release notes, and troubleshooting guides.
• Discussions and Q&A can happen via GitHub Discussions (if enabled) or by opening an issue.

License

This repository is provided under the Apache License 2.0 (see LICENSE). The VSIX package also includes the project-specific EULA.md; consult both documents before redistribution.