A full-featured VS Code companion for OpenClaw — chat with any codebase, run security hardening, manage tools, and connect to the OpenClaw gateway, all from the sidebar.

Built by OpenKnot

The sidebar chat view supports file mentions, attachments, and streamed responses in a focused single-thread layout.

Type / in the composer to open command shortcuts like /explain, /fix, /review, /test, and more.

OpenClaw can split the chat into multiple panes so you can work on separate threads side by side.

An AI chat interface lives in the OpenClaw sidebar. Each message spawns an ephemeral acpx exec session scoped to your workspace — no persistent state, no cleanup.

• Slash commands — type / to open the autocomplete dropdown, then pick a command:

  Command	What it does	Context injected
  /explain	Explain code or a concept	Active selection or file
  /fix	Find and fix issues	Diagnostics + code
  /review	Code review	Git diff
  /test	Generate tests	Active selection or file
  /refactor	Suggest improvements	Active selection or file
  /doc	Generate documentation	Active selection or file
  /commit	Draft a commit message	Staged changes
  /harden	Security analysis	Full file content
  /search	Search the codebase	None (free-form query)

• @-mention files — type @ in the input to search and attach workspace files as context. Supports keyboard navigation, mouse selection, and shows open tabs when the query is empty.

• File attachments — click the + button to attach any file via the system file picker. Attached files appear as removable pills below the input.

• Recommendation chips — context-aware quick-action suggestions that update as you change editors, selections, and diagnostics. Shown before the first message.

• Streaming responses — assistant text streams in incrementally with tool-call badges showing which files the agent reads or modifies.

• Pop-out — move the chat into a standalone editor panel with full conversation transfer.

• Onboarding carousel — a three-slide walkthrough shown on first use, covering codebase chat, security hardening, and setup tips. Persisted in globalState so it only appears once.

• Connection indicator — shows idle, connecting, connected, and error states at a glance.
• One-click connect — runs your configured OpenClaw command in a dedicated terminal.
• Terminal reuse — keeps a single terminal session for quick reconnects.
• Auto-connect — optionally run the command on startup.

The OpenClaw activity bar container includes an Overview tree with five sections:

Run OpenClaw: Harden from the Command Palette or the Overview tree to execute openclaw security audit, --fix, and --deep in sequence. The hardening mode is configurable (full, audit only, or audit + fix).

The Access Summary generates a plain-English Markdown report of MCP servers, tools, API key sources, network endpoints, and local files detected from your config and CLI output.

Run OpenClaw: Model Setup Wizard to:

1. Run the onboarding wizard (openclaw onboard)
2. Pick a provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Ollama, Local Pi RPC, or custom)
3. Open your config and auth profile files
4. Verify health with openclaw doctor and openclaw gateway status

If the CLI is missing, the extension offers install actions automatically. You can also run OpenClaw: Setup from the Command Palette to:

• Install via the platform-specific shell script (macOS/Linux) or PowerShell script (Windows)
• Install Node.js (Homebrew, winget, or apt)
• Install via npm
• Open the installation docs

Legacy CLI names (molt, clawdbot) are detected and the extension prompts to migrate.

Download from nodejs.org — Node 24 recommended (Node 22.16+ also supported).

Verify: node -v shows v22.16 or newer.

npm install -g openclaw@latest

Verify: openclaw --help

npm install -g acpx

openclaw onboard --install-daemon

Verify the Gateway is running:

openclaw gateway status
openclaw dashboard

openclaw channels login

• Click the OpenClaw status bar item to connect.
• Open the OpenClaw sidebar to chat, browse the overview, or run hardening.

Set openclaw.command to wsl openclaw status and openclaw.hardening.command to wsl openclaw.

• Reinstall: npm install -g openclaw@latest
• Restart your terminal or VS Code
• Or run OpenClaw: Setup for the guided installer

Update to openclaw:

• Recommended: curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash
• npm: npm install -g openclaw@latest
• Then run: openclaw doctor

See update docs for full guidance.

Install from nodejs.org — Node 24 recommended (Node 22.16+ also supported). Verify with node -v.

The Chat panel requires acpx installed globally:

npm install -g acpx

• Check: openclaw gateway status
• Restart: openclaw gateway restart
• Dashboard: openclaw dashboard

• Ensure you are in the Extension Development Host when testing
• Check the Output panel for extension logs

1. Install dependencies: pnpm install
2. Compile: pnpm run compile
3. Press F5 to launch the Extension Development Host
4. Publish (prepublish + VSCE + Open VSX): pnpm run publish:all

MIT