VS Code

The original target. Install from the Marketplace or sideload a VSIX; everything else works out of the box.

Install from the Marketplace

  1. Open VS Code.
  2. Press ⌘ ⇧ X (macOS) / Ctrl ⇧ X (Win/Linux) to open the Extensions view.
  3. Search for CodeAtlas-Live (publisher codeatlaslive) and hit Install.
  4. Open any folder. The first index runs in the background.
  5. Open http://localhost:7742 in your browser to see the diagrams.
Direct link
marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=codeatlaslive.codeatlas-live

Install from a VSIX

Useful for pre-release builds, air-gapped environments, or editors that can't reach the VS Code Marketplace. Grab the latest VSIX from open-vsx.org/extension/codeatlaslive/codeatlas-live — click the Download button to save the .vsix.

Sideload a VSIXbash
# 1. Download codeatlas-live-<version>.vsix from Open VSX
#    https://open-vsx.org/extension/codeatlaslive/codeatlas-live

# 2. Install it
code --install-extension codeatlas-live-5.0.0.vsix

# 3. Restart VS Code — the install does NOT auto-reload a running session.
Reload caveat
Running --install-extension while VS Code is open does not load the new bundle into the active session. Quit VS Code (Cmd Q / File → Exit) and reopen.

First-time setup

  1. Open a folder. The status bar shows CodeAtlas: indexing… while the initial scan runs (typically a few seconds for small projects, up to a minute for large monorepos).
  2. The CodeAtlas welcome view appears in the Activity Bar with a Open in browserbutton. Click it, or visit http://localhost:7742 directly.
  3. Edit any file and save. The diagrams update within ~500 ms thanks to the debounced file watcher.

Account & license

Sign in once via the welcome view; it opens https://codeatlas.live/auth in your browser and round-trips a Clerk token back to the editor via the vscode://codeatlaslive.codeatlas-live/… URI handler. Free tier is generous; team / enterprise features unlock with an organization.

Keyboard shortcuts

  • ⌘ ⇧ P → CodeAtlas: Open diagram in browser
  • ⌘ ⇧ P → CodeAtlas: Re-index workspace (only needed if state desyncs)
  • ⌘ ⇧ P → CodeAtlas: Open code health report

Troubleshooting

Browser tab shows "connection refused"

The local server didn't bind. Open the Output panel → CodeAtlas; look for port-in-use errors. By default it binds localhost:7742; setcodeatlas.serverPort in settings if you need a different port.

Diagrams stuck on old data

Force a clean re-indexbash
# Close VS Code, then:
rm -rf .codeatlas/
# Reopen — first save triggers a full rebuild.

Conflicting lock with the MCP server

If both the extension and a standalone MCP server attach to the same workspace, the MCP server wins. The extension shows a toast — "Yielded write-lock to MCP server" — and continues in read-only mode. Close the MCP process to give control back.