betterConsole is a local-first console issue workspace for developers. The VS Code extension imports selected text or the active editor contents, groups repeated console issues, shows likely root causes, provides focused fix steps, opens sanitized solution searches, and copies clean Markdown debug reports.

Open the betterConsole icon in the VS Code Activity Bar to keep the console workspace available in the side bar while you edit. Live audit starts automatically after VS Code startup and keeps listening until you press Stop. It streams VS Code shell-integration terminal output in memory, filters by error, warning, info, log, or debug level, and never starts commands or creates terminals. Use the Live audit and Imported source controls to move between continuous terminal results and editor/clipboard analysis. Importing content never stops the live listener, and new live output never replaces the imported session you are reviewing. Use the Chrome extension and Edge extension buttons to open the latest local browser-extension packages when they are available in this repo.

What the live audit records

By default the live audit records only signal: errors, warnings, failures, exceptions, tracebacks, CSP and CORS events, and HTTP 4xx/5xx lines. Ordinary build and dev-server chatter is skipped so real failures stay visible. Set betterConsole.liveCaptureScope to all if you want a full terminal mirror instead.

Issue details you expand stay open while new output streams in, and each issue keeps only its most recent output lines so a repeated log line cannot grow without bound. When the issue buffer is full, the oldest issues are evicted first — a newly captured error is never dropped in favor of an older one.

Settings

betterConsole.liveCaptureScope (issues by default, or all): how much shell-integrated terminal output the live audit records.
betterConsole.autoStartLiveAudit (true by default): whether the live audit begins listening when VS Code finishes starting up. Set it to false to start it only from the panel or the command palette.
betterConsole.defaultSearchProvider (Google or Bing): provider used by Find Solution.

Real Memory AI Agent

Issue cards can hand a sanitized report to Real Memory AI Agent when it is available. Handoff is always initiated from the issue card and requires a confirmation. betterConsole requests proposal mode and tells the agent not to edit files, run commands, or apply changes until you approve that action in the agent workflow. The sanitized request is also copied to the clipboard so the handoff remains visible and recoverable.

Commands

betterConsole: Open Console Workspace
betterConsole: Analyze Active Editor Logs
betterConsole: Analyze Clipboard Logs
betterConsole: Start Live Workspace Logs
betterConsole: Stop Live Workspace Logs
betterConsole: Clear Imported Console Session
betterConsole: Open GitHub Sponsors
betterConsole: Open Buy Me a Coffee

Privacy

Imported and live console text is held in extension memory only until you clear it, stop/restart the extension host, or close VS Code. Search opens a normal external browser tab with a sanitized query. The extension does not write logs into workspace storage, does not run remote code, does not load remote scripts in the webview, and does not collect analytics.

The live audit is a passive observer of VS Code shell-integration output. It reads terminal output your own commands produce; it never creates terminals or runs commands. Because it starts automatically by default, disable betterConsole.autoStartLiveAudit if you prefer to opt in per session.

External links are restricted to HTTPS destinations on the configured Google/Bing search, GitHub repository/support, and Buy Me a Coffee host allowlists. Unexpected webview URLs are blocked.