AI CLI Diff View

Cursor-like diff review for any AI CLI agent's file edits — right inside VS Code.

Run Claude, Codex, Qwen or any other AI CLI. Every file it touches becomes a reviewable diff you can accept or reject block by block — no setup, no hooks. Switch to Agent mode for a full-screen terminal with a live tree of changed files, an all-in-one diff view and instant previews.

Features

Works with any AI CLI

• Detects edits from any tool that writes files in your workspace — Claude, Codex, Qwen, Gemini, Aider and others. Nothing to install or configure in the CLI.
• Tells AI edits apart from git: switching branches clears stale diffs, and pull, merge, rebase or reset don't flood you with diffs.
• Pending diffs survive a VS Code restart.

Cursor-like diff review

• Each changed file opens as a diff tab; removed lines sit right above the lines that replaced them.
• Accept or reject each change block with one click, or Ctrl+Y / Ctrl+N.
• Old and new lines are paired even when a block adds or removes lines, so every edited line gets its own buttons.
• Edit the new side directly inside the diff, with Ctrl+S, undo and redo.
• Jump between blocks with F7 / Shift+F7 and between files with Alt+H / Alt+L; accept or revert a whole file with Ctrl+Shift+Y / Ctrl+Shift+Z, or every pending file at once.

Pending Files

See every changed file in its real folder structure, with +/- line counts and the number of hunks.

Agent mode

Turn the terminal into a central agent workspace: the terminal takes the editor area, other tabs are hidden, and the changed-files tree stays beside it.

Review all changes in one scrolling page, with Accept file / Reject file and change-by-change navigation for each file. Click a file in the tree to jump to it.

Open any file and preview it in place while the terminal keeps focus — Markdown, images and SVG, CSV/TSV tables, Mermaid diagrams and code. Use Open in side to send it to a regular editor.

CSV preview	Mermaid preview

Integrated terminal

• A real terminal (node-pty + xterm.js) with multiple tabs, shown in the Secondary Side Bar next to your code.
• Shells keep running when you toggle Agent mode or open Pending Files.
• Terminal themes (Follow VS Code, Dark, Solarized Dark, Dracula, Custom), font, size and cursor style; one-click install of Fira Code or JetBrains Mono.
• Start a Claude session directly with Ctrl+Shift+A.
• Optional sound when Claude finishes a turn or needs your input (Windows only).

Choose what gets tracked

Everything is editable from the Settings popover in the terminal panel — no need to open settings.json.

• Included files — track extra files with .gitignore syntax: *.prisma, Jenkinsfile, templates/**/*.tpl; !*.lock stops tracking a built-in type.
• Excluded paths — ignore folders or files: generated/, *.log, src/gen/**.
• Respect .gitignore (on by default) — files ignored by git are never tracked, including nested .gitignore files and .git/info/exclude.
• Binary files and very long files (maxFileLines, default 5000) are skipped automatically.

Fast on large workspaces

An agent can rewrite hundreds of files without freezing VS Code: at most maxAutoOpenDiffs diff tabs (default 50) open automatically, in batches, and the rest wait in Pending Files.

Usage

1. Open the AI CLI panel in the Secondary Side Bar.
2. Run an AI CLI agent — Claude, Codex, Qwen, or anything else — in the integrated terminal or an external one. Edits are picked up automatically.
3. Review each diff and accept or reject per block, per file, or all pending changes at once.
4. Optional: click Agent mode for a full-screen agent workspace.

Commands

• AI CLI Diff: Start Claude Session
• AI CLI Diff: Toggle Agent Mode
• AI CLI Diff: Accept All Changes
• AI CLI Diff: Accept All Changes (All Files)
• AI CLI Diff: Revert All Changes
• AI CLI Diff: Open Pending File
• AI CLI Diff: Previous Edited File
• AI CLI Diff: Next Edited File

Keybindings

Key	Action
Ctrl+Shift+A / Cmd+Shift+A	Start a Claude session
Ctrl+Shift+Y / Cmd+Shift+Y	Accept all changes in the current diff
Ctrl+Shift+Z / Cmd+Shift+Z	Revert all changes in the current diff
Alt+H / Alt+L	Previous / next edited file
Ctrl+Y / Ctrl+N (in a diff)	Accept / reject the current change block
F7 / Shift+F7 (in a diff)	Next / previous change block

Settings

Setting	Default	Description
ai-cli-diff-view.includedPaths	[]	Extra files to track, .gitignore syntax
ai-cli-diff-view.excludedPaths	[]	Extra paths to ignore, .gitignore syntax
ai-cli-diff-view.respectGitignore	true	Skip files ignored by git
ai-cli-diff-view.supportedFileDetectionMode	defaultAndCustom	customOnly tracks only includedPaths
ai-cli-diff-view.maxFileLines	5000	Ignore files longer than this (0 disables)
ai-cli-diff-view.maxAutoOpenDiffs	50	Most diff tabs opened automatically (0 disables)
ai-cli-diff-view.soundNotificationsEnabled	false	Sound when Claude finishes or needs input (Windows)

Advanced: baselineScanConcurrency and the burstDetection* settings tune the initial workspace scan and how git checkouts are told apart from AI edits.

Development

npm install
npm run compile

Press F5 in VS Code to launch the Extension Development Host.

Package the extension:

npx @vscode/vsce package

License

AGPL-3.0