Quickstart
Assumes you’ve installed CodeBuddy. Configure a provider key in the onboarding wizard — or skip it and add one later from the in-chat model picker (keyless on-ramp).
1. Open the chat panel
Section titled “1. Open the chat panel”Click the CodeBuddy icon in the activity bar to open the chat view. (You can bind a shortcut to the View: Show CodeBuddy command in VS Code’s Keyboard Shortcuts if you want a hotkey — CodeBuddy doesn’t ship one by default.)
2. Send a task
Section titled “2. Send a task”Type in natural language:
Create a utility that validates email addresses and write tests for it.CodeBuddy plans the work, edits files, and runs tests. Tool calls, file reads, and terminal output stream to the panel in real time.
3. Review changes
Section titled “3. Review changes”By default, LLM-issued file changes apply automatically and are shown as reviewable diffs (added lines in green, removed in red) — you can restore a prior turn from the chat UI or use VS Code’s native undo. To require explicit approval before any write lands, set codebuddy.requireDiffApproval: true; the accept/reject hunk UI then gates every change:
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Accept all | Apply every change |
| Accept file | Apply changes for one file |
| Reject | Discard; optionally ask the agent to retry |
| Edit | Modify a proposed hunk before applying |
See Diff review for the full flow.
Try a bigger task
Section titled “Try a bigger task”Complex requests auto-delegate to subagents:
Refactor the auth module to use JWT. Design the shape, implement,test, and document.You’ll see architect, Developer Agent, tester, doc-writer, and reviewer collaborate in the chat stream.
Teach it something
Section titled “Teach it something”Remember that we use Zod for input validation in this project.Saves a project-scoped Rule memory. Future conversations in this workspace apply it automatically.
- Architecture — how the pieces fit
- Skills — GitHub, Jira, AWS, Postgres, and 13 more
- Configuration — providers, limits, security profiles