JustCode — Lean Coding Assistant

A lean, transparent coding assistant in your sidebar — where you control every single token.

Most AI coding tools quietly inflate every request with huge hidden prompts you can't see or change — some spend tens of thousands of tokens on a single "hey." JustCode sends roughly ~550 tokens per request, and most of that is a system prompt you can read and edit. No hidden bloat, no wasted spend — your context, your rules.

This extension brings the same lean engine as the JustCode CLI into a VS Code chat sidebar.

Why JustCode

• ~550 tokens per request — no hidden bloat inflating every call.
• A system prompt you can read and edit — no black box.
• Bring your own provider & key — OpenAI, Anthropic, OpenRouter, Qwen (Alibaba Cloud), Ollama, LM Studio, or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint.
• See everything it does — live tool activity and inline approvals before any file is written or command is run.
• MCP servers and chat modes (Build / Ask / Plan + custom), sharing the same engine as the CLI.

Getting started

1. Install the extension and open the JustCode view from the activity bar.
2. Connect a provider — either configure one with the JustCode CLI or set your provider environment variables. The panel shows a notice with instructions until one is connected.
3. Pick a model and start chatting.

Features

• Streaming chat with live tool activity.
• Inline tool approvals — nothing touches your workspace without your OK.
• In-tool questions, provider/model selection, and one-click new sessions.
• Themed entirely with your VS Code color theme.

Learn more

Full documentation, the always-current list of tools and commands, and the CLI live at justcodeapp.dev.

JustCode is free and open source (MIT). Issues and contributions welcome at github.com/kingeke/justcode.