Earn real money while you code. Virdl is a free VS Code extension that pays developers for viewing small, non-intrusive sponsored content — turning the time you already spend in your editor into passive income. No surveys, no crypto, no catch: just actual payouts (PayPal, Stripe, USDT) for verified ad views.

Sponsored content appears only during natural waiting moments — a build running, an AI assistant generating, a test suite finishing — and you earn real $ for every ad you actually see. Never a popup, never in your typing path, never something you can misclick. Your code never leaves your machine.

Why developers use Virdl to make money coding:

💸 Get paid to code — earn passive income from views, typically $10–$40/month
🔒 Private by design — we never read your files, file names, or keystrokes
🪶 Zero slowdown — under 2 MB, runs in its own process, no lag
🎯 Non-intrusive — sidebar, status bar, and Explorer only; never in your editor
💰 Real payouts — PayPal, Stripe, or crypto (USDT), $10 minimum, no fees from us
🤝 Works with everything — Copilot, Cursor, Claude, and any AI tool

How it works

Install the extension and sign in with your GitHub or Google account at your Virdl dashboard to get an API key.
Run Virdl: Set API Key from the Command Palette and paste it in (stored securely in VS Code's built-in secret storage — never in a plain settings file).
Keep coding. Ads rotate quietly in the sidebar, the status bar, and/or a small "Sponsored" section in the Explorer panel, refreshing on natural triggers (builds, debug sessions, terminal commands, AI-panel activity, or idle time) rather than on a distracting fixed timer.
Verified impressions accrue to your balance, visible any time from the Virdl: Show Earnings command or your dashboard. Clicks are tracked for advertiser reporting only — only impressions pay.

Commands

Command	What it does
`Virdl: Set API Key`	Connect your dashboard account to this editor.
`Virdl: Show Earnings`	See your current balance.
`Virdl: Refresh Ad`	Manually rotate to a new ad.
`Virdl: Pause Ads` / `Virdl: Resume Ads`	Temporarily stop/resume ad display.
`Virdl: Open Settings`	Jump to Virdl's settings.

Settings

Setting	Default	Description
`virdl.enabled`	`true`	Master on/off switch.
`virdl.showInSidebar`	`true`	Show the ad card in the Virdl sidebar panel.
`virdl.showInStatusBar`	`true`	Show a rotating ad in the status bar.
`virdl.showInExplorer`	`true`	Show a small "Sponsored" section in the Explorer panel.
`virdl.adRotationSeconds`	`40`	Seconds between automatic rotations while a surface is visible.
`virdl.shareTechStack`	`true`	Detect coarse language/framework tags (e.g. "typescript", "react") from manifest files to show more relevant ads. Never reads file contents or paths.
`virdl.apiBaseUrl`	Virdl's production API	Override for local development against a self-hosted backend.

Privacy

We hash IP addresses (one-way, salted — never stored raw) purely for fraud prevention, and never share your identity or individual activity with advertisers. See the full Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.