AI writing assistant that provides feedback as you write, without writing for you.
Writing Coach helps you develop your ideas by asking contextual questions when you pause, and by highlighting structural issues like abrupt transitions, unclear references, and tonal shifts.
Features
Trigger Prompts
When you stop typing for a few seconds, a contextual question appears as ghost text to nudge your thinking forward. It disappears as soon as you start typing again — no interruption to your flow.
Flow Analysis
Analyzes the logical structure of your document and surfaces issues as squiggly underlines (via VS Code diagnostics). Catches things like:
- Abrupt topic transitions
- Unclear pronoun references
- Tonal shifts
- Logical gaps between paragraphs
Run it manually with the Writing Coach: Analyze Flow command, or let it run automatically as you write.
Supported File Types
- Markdown (
.md) - MDX (
.mdx) - LaTeX (
.tex) - Plain text (
.txt)
Getting Started
- Install the extension
- Set the API endpoint URL in settings:
writing-coach.lambda.endpointUrl - Set your API key via the command palette: Writing Coach: Set API Key
- Open a supported file and start writing
Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| Toggle Writing Coach | Enable or disable the extension |
| Writing Coach: Analyze Flow | Manually trigger flow analysis on the current document |
| Writing Coach: Set API Key | Store your API key securely in the OS keychain |
Settings
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
writing-coach.enabled |
true |
Enable or disable Writing Coach |
writing-coach.idleDelay |
4000 |
Milliseconds of idle time before a trigger prompt appears |
writing-coach.minCharsBetweenTriggers |
10 |
Minimum characters typed before a new trigger prompt can appear |
writing-coach.lambda.endpointUrl |
— | API endpoint URL (required) |
writing-coach.flowAnalysis.enabled |
true |
Enable or disable flow analysis diagnostics |
writing-coach.writingContext |
auto |
Writing context: narrative, academic, technical, blog, general, or auto |
Status Bar
A status bar item shows whether Writing Coach is active. Click it to toggle the extension on or off.
Requirements
- VS Code 1.85.0 or later
- A deployed Writing Coach backend with a valid API endpoint and key