[Feature Feedback] VS Code Integration: Context and In-Editor Diffing

[skeshive]

We're building a new feature to bring tighter integration between Gemini CLI and VS Code. This feature provides the CLI with context from your open workspace, including open files and any selected text.

Starting August 7, 2025, this feature will also include native in-editor diffing. We're planning a full launch next week and are looking for feedback on this pre-release version.

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Getting Started

You'll need Gemini CLI version 0.1.18 or higher.

1. One-Time Setup

• Install the Companion Extension: From a VS Code integrated terminal, run the following command to start the CLI in IDE mode. Once it's running, use the /ide install command to install the necessary companion extension.

  npx github:google-gemini/gemini-cli#test-ide-mode --ide-mode-feature

• Enable the Feature:
  • Preferred Method: Add "ideModeFeature": true to your project's .gemini/settings.json file.
  • Alternative: Use the gemini --ide-mode-feature command to enable the integration for your current session only.

2. Usage

After setup, you can use Gemini CLI with IDE integration from any VS Code integrated terminal. You'll know it's enabled when you see the active file context above the input box, like this:

"Using: 1 open file (ctrl+e to view) | 1 GEMINI.md file"

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What to Test

Please share any feedback or issues you encounter by opening a new discussion or issue.

Context Awareness

• Initial & Active Context: Verify that the active file is loaded as the initial context and that the context updates correctly as you switch between, close, or rename files.
• Selected Text: Select a block of text and confirm that Gemini CLI recognizes it. For example, try the prompt, "explain the highlighted code."

Commands

• /ide enable & /ide disable: Confirm these commands work as expected and that the feature's state is remembered across sessions.
• /ide status: Check that the status messages are clear, helpful, and provide actionable steps to resolve issues.

Diffing (Available August 7, 2025)

Test accepting and rejecting changes in different ways to ensure consistency.

• Accept/Reject Methods: Test using the IDE icons, Command Palette, CLI UI, and keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl + S/Cmd + S to accept, Esc to reject).
• File State Changes: Ask Gemini CLI to create, delete, or modify a file. Then, try modifying the file outside of the IDE. After each action, verify that the file content is updated correctly upon acceptance and reverts to its original state upon rejection.

[vksx]

This is an awesome addition! Tested most of the stuff on lightning.com's hosted vs code instance/studio environment, and everything is working as expected till now.

Thanks for the amazing work you guys are doing - Gemini CLI is now my go-to coding companion (and I have been recommending this throughout my team for development purposes, so much so that a few colleagues have converted to paid users because of 2.5 pro and CLI). Very excited for the future developments!

P.S. Tested on lightning because that's the only place where the CLI doesn't work properly for me (I have also tested this on Posit Workbench's hosted VS Code environment as well and of course the "normal" good old VS Code for comparison) - for example, I can't paste text properly if it contains the new line character, and very often the whole CLI auto-scrolls indefinitely from the beginning of the chat session to the end on repeat, etc. But I presume it's more of a lightning problem than a Gemini CLI problem.

[banaxou]

Wow

[Lee-WonJun]

Great!

[qq547475331]

How to set up multiple "rules" files

[skeshive]

Check out documentation for including multiple context files here!

[inspiration88]

In relation to the context awareness feature, possibility to get context from my whole workspace so get deeper knowledge of my codebase?

If we want to start enabling agentic coding by default, individual file context is not enough, also not newbie friendly

[inspiration88]

I have been testing it, seems a nice upgrade. I love the in-built default context awareness, i don't really know how deep it is, but it seems by default recognizing properly files, that before used to build up from ground up. I used to ask for a feature, or even random things and it struggled to even "follow me up" now it seems to at least have the pattern correctly to decide which file is most likely to have what i am referring to, then reads.

Now based in the ignorance as i don't know how it works in detail:

• Aside of contextual of files names, does it has contextual awareness of files linking, so you get a deeper connection between them while working on a feature?
• Adding embedding features to the codebase indexing context to improve the context it gets by default instead of contextual cluttering to the model by default when "this files might be useful" that might improve contextual awareness of my codebase as well.

Again i don't know how it works, but i tested it, has been a great improvement for gemini 2.5 pro awareness of my codebase and as well it feels way more infromed at least to the files to investigate rather than starting from scratch. I also noticed a huge improvement in edit fails, almost tending to zero, and as well zero looping while before it used to.

[skeshive]

Thanks for trying out this feature- I'm glad you're finding it useful.

Aside of contextual of files names, does it has contextual awareness of files linking, so you get a deeper connection between them while working on a feature?

That's a great question. Currently, this feature doesn't enable a deeper understanding of file imports or dependencies. I see this kind of functionality as a more general-purpose feature that could benefit users even outside of the IDE. Please feel free to open a feature request in our backlog with your specific use case.

We really appreciate the feedback!

[MustafaKemal0146]

Great feedback! Here's what you can do to help with the testing and provide valuable input:

Test the core features systematically:

Try the context awareness with different file types
Test the /ide enable, /ide disable, and /ide status commands
Experiment with selected text recognition across various code blocks
Focus on edge cases:

Switch rapidly between files to test context updates
Try renaming/deleting files while CLI is active
Test with large files or multiple open tabs
Document specific issues:

Note exact steps to reproduce any problems
Include your environment details (OS, VS Code version, workspace type)
Screenshot or record any UI glitches
Test the upcoming diffing feature (August 7+):

Try all accept/reject methods (IDE icons, Command Palette, keyboard shortcuts)
Test file modifications both inside and outside the IDE
Verify state consistency after accept/reject actions

[skeshive]

Thanks to everyone that helped try out this feature!

VS Code IDE integration is now live in v0.20.0. If you’ve installed the local build of the companion extension using the
instructions above, we recommend that you manually uninstall the extension and re-install the published version from the VS Code marketplace.

You also no longer need to set the ideModeFeature flag.