VS Code extension

The extension puts intent into the editor you already use. It does not replace the diff editor — VS Code's native diff stays exactly as it is, and IntentumDiff annotates it.

It needs the engine

The extension is a thin front end over the intentumdiff command. Install the engine first — see Getting started. Without it the extension has nothing to talk to.

What you see

The review surface — semantic changes on the left, the native diff on the right

• CodeLens above each change — CATEGORY · why, so the classification and its reason sit next to the code rather than in a panel you have to go and find
• Semantic decorations coloured by category, bound to your theme
• A peek view for the detail behind a classification
• A review summary with intent, release notes, evidence and diagnostics

Intent

The Intent tab answers "what did this change actually do?" — a summary, the derived facts, and the reasoning behind the classification.

Intent — what changed, why it was classified that way, and the risk

Evidence and release notes

Evidence — the raw changes behind every classification, so a label can be checked

Release notes, generated from the diff rather than the commit messages

Guardrails

Protected-config violations are surfaced separately, because they are the ones that should block a merge.

Guardrails — protected settings, immutable fields and resource identity changes

It follows your theme

Light theme — chrome binds to your editor's colours, not a bespoke palette

• CodeLens above each change — CATEGORY · why, so the classification and its reason sit next to the code rather than in a panel you have to go and find
• Semantic decorations coloured by category, bound to your theme
• A peek view for the detail behind a classification
• A review summary with intent, release notes, evidence and diagnostics

Risk is derived from the category rather than configured separately: behavioural changes surface as behaviour, refactorings and moves as internal, style as excluded, and guardrail violations as critical.

Editing while you review

The right-hand side of the diff is the real working-tree file, so it stays editable. Fix something mid-review and the engine re-runs, refreshing the intent annotations as you type.

Settings

Setting	Purpose
intentumdiff.executable	Path or command name for the engine. Machine-scoped
intentumdiff.ref	The git ref to compare against
intentumdiff.liveServer.engine	auto, native or python

intentumdiff.executable is machine-scoped on purpose: a workspace cannot override it, so cloning a repository can never cause your editor to run a binary that repository chose.

Theme

Chrome follows your editor theme rather than a bespoke palette, and change categories use contributed colour IDs (intentumdiff.semanticChanges.*) which you can override:

{
  "workbench.colorCustomizations": {
    "intentumdiff.semanticChanges.meaningful": "#e06c75"
  }
}

It is designed to read correctly in Dark+, Light+ and High Contrast.

If it does not work

See Troubleshooting — the usual cause is that VS Code's PATH does not include the environment the engine was installed into.