Summary

This VS Code extension provides a client for the Agent Client Protocol (ACP), enabling seamless integration with numerous AI coding agents like Claude, Copilot, Gemini, and Qwen directly within the editor. It targets developers and researchers seeking to leverage multiple AI coding assistants, offering a unified interface to switch between agents, manage conversations, and utilize their capabilities for enhanced productivity.

How It Works

The extension acts as an ACP client, communicating with AI agents via JSON-RPC 2.0 over standard input/output. Its modular architecture separates core logic, handlers (for file system, terminal, permissions), UI components, and configuration management. This design facilitates extensibility and supports advanced features such as dynamic rendering of agent-advertised session configurations, interactive chat interfaces with Markdown support, and visualization of agent reasoning processes.

Quick Start & Requirements

• Install: Available on the Visual Studio Code Marketplace, via "Open in VS Code", or the Open VSX Marketplace.
• Requirements: Node.js 18+ and VS Code 1.85+ are required. An ACP-compatible AI agent must be installed or accessible via npx.
• Links: Agent Client Protocol GitHub Repository: https://github.com/agentclientprotocol/agentclientprotocol

Highlighted Details

• Multi-Agent Connectivity: Supports 11 pre-configured ACP agents (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Qwen Code) and allows adding custom agent configurations.
• Session Management: Features per-agent session lists with history restoration, dynamic session configuration selectors (mode, model, reasoning level), and chat persistence across panel switches.
• Interactive Chat & Reasoning: Provides an interactive chat panel with Markdown rendering, inline tool display, and a collapsible "Thinking Display" that shows agent reasoning with streaming animation.
• Workspace & Terminal Integration: Enables agents to read/write files within the workspace and execute commands via the integrated terminal, with configurable permission policies.
• Protocol Inspection: Includes an option to log all ACP protocol traffic for debugging purposes.

Maintenance & Community

The provided README does not detail specific contributors, sponsorships, or community channels (like Discord/Slack). It references the Agent Client Protocol GitHub repository for protocol-related information.

Licensing & Compatibility

• License: MIT License.
• Compatibility: The permissive MIT license generally allows for commercial use and integration with closed-source projects. However, the Hermes Agent requires a Linux/macOS/WSL2 environment and specific setup steps.

Limitations & Caveats

Agents must be accessible via the system's PATH or npx. Some agents may necessitate additional authentication configurations. The file attachment feature is currently non-functional. The Hermes Agent has platform-specific installation requirements (Linux/macOS/WSL2 only).