🎙️ Show & Tell: CodeWhale VSCode — The CLI Agent, Now in Your Sidebar

[gaord]

CodeWhale's terminal agent is already one of the most capable AI coding companions out there. But not everyone lives in the terminal. Some of us click. Some of us scan sidebars. Some of us want to review changes visually before they land.

CodeWhale VSCode try to bring every ounce of the CLI agent into VS Code — same engine, same models, same toolset — wrapped in a GUI that fits how you already work. And it runs everywhere: macOS, Windows, and Linux.

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🔁 Same Power, Your Flow

We didn't build a simplified wrapper. We ported the full agent:

• All three modes — agent, plan, yolo — behave exactly as they do in the TUI
• Every slash command — /model, /task, /compact, /memory, /export, and the rest — available from the chat input
• Background tasks, threaded conversations, context compaction — nothing stripped, nothing watered down
• DeepSeek V4 under the hood, same as the CLI

The difference is where you interact with it: docked in your activity bar, sharing screen real estate with your editor, following your VS Code theme, and respecting your approval workflow.

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🔍 Per-File Diff: The Feature That Changes the Trust Equation

This is where the GUI earns its keep. Every time CodeWhale modifies files, each file gets its own inline diff, independently reviewable. If a turn touches five files, you see five diffs. Accept the refactor, reject the config tweak, keep the test — file by file, decision by decision.

It turns AI code review from "skim and hope" into a deliberate per-file inspection. For teams, for complex refactors, for anyone who wants to know exactly what changed — this is the workflow the terminal can't quite give you.

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🎯 Built for Different Habits

Some developers prefer keystrokes, some prefer clicks. Some want the agent to ask first, some want it to run. The extension meets you where you are:

• Keyboard-first users — Cmd+Shift+P commands and slash-command-driven chat
• Visual reviewers — sidebar panels for Chat, Threads, Work, and Tasks; inline diffs; status bar indicators
• Approval-cautious teams — agent mode with per-file approval gates
• Power users — yolo mode, background tasks, direct engine management

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🖥️ macOS, Windows, Linux — All In 0.1.1(market to come)

Cross-platform from day one. Install the engine, install the extension, and you're running — same experience across all three platforms.

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🚀 Get Started

Install from the VS Code Marketplace — search "CodeWhale" in the Extensions panel, or:

npm install -g codewhale              # the CLI engine (required)
# then install "CodeWhale" from the VS Code Extensions marketplace (now 0.1.0, 0.1.1. to come)

Repo: https://github.com/HengQuWorld/CodeWhale-VSCode

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Same agent. Every platform. More ways to use it. Try it and tell us what fits you. There would be more to do, but let's see.

[Hmbown]

@gaord love this idea! i'm determined to make it happen!

[gaord]

more Whale Brothers to come! still catching up now and there will be more to do with it. @Hmbown

[gaord]

It would be good to build the engine to provide a whole, consistent api
interface across tui,gui and web applications. there are more prs to come with this initiative.

[TheEastKoi]

https://github.com/TheEastKoi/celest

这个不就是我正在做的项目吗?

[TheEastKoi]

所以我可以把这个项目名字改成CodeWhale VSCode 然后共建吗