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Code Explainer

Code Explainer is a VS Code extension scaffold for branch-aware code comprehension.

Planned capabilities

  • Explain the current repository structure and likely workflows
  • Compare the current branch with main
  • Explain the current selection with surrounding context
  • Trace relationships between files, symbols, tests, and configuration
  • Generate a reviewable GitHub PR title and description for the current branch

Generate PR Descriptions

Use Code Explainer: Generate PR Description to create a reviewable PR title and description for the current branch.

The extension will:

  • ask you to choose a PR description style before generating the first draft
  • analyze the current branch relative to your configured base branch
  • show the generated title and description in an editable Code Explainer panel
  • render a live markdown preview so you can see how the description should look on GitHub
  • ask for confirmation before publishing the branch, creating a PR, or updating an existing PR

If the branch has no edits compared with the base branch, the extension will not generate a description and will instead tell you that there is nothing to describe yet.

How to Customize PR Style

Built-in styles:

  • Business stakeholder: non-technical, impact-focused, concise, and outcome-oriented
  • Code collaborator: technical, implementation-aware, explicit about architecture, risks, and testing
  • Manager: semi-technical, balancing delivery impact with implementation detail
  • Other: starts from a neutral professional tone and leans on your custom instructions

You can also set defaults in editor settings:

{
  "codeExplainer.prDescription.defaultStyle": "manager",
  "codeExplainer.prDescription.defaultGuidelines": "Call out user impact, risks, and test coverage.",
  "codeExplainer.prDescription.defaultTemplate": "## Summary\n## User Impact\n## Risks\n## Testing"
}

Per-run instructions from the panel override the saved defaults for that generation pass.

Reusable Custom Styles

Add reusable styles in settings when your team wants a specific prompt and template to show up in the picker alongside the built-in options:

{
  "codeExplainer.prDescription.defaultStyle": "release-notes",
  "codeExplainer.prDescription.customStyles": [
    {
      "id": "release-notes",
      "label": "Release notes",
      "description": "Customer-facing summary with launch-ready language.",
      "prompt": "Write for customer-facing release readers. Emphasize end-user value, rollout notes, and any support impact.",
      "template": "## Summary\n## Customer Impact\n## Rollout Notes\n## Testing",
      "guidelines": "Keep the tone polished and avoid internal project jargon."
    }
  ]
}

Each custom style can define:

  • prompt: reusable audience and tone guidance
  • template: preferred markdown section structure
  • guidelines: extra team rules layered on top of the global default guidelines

Development

npm install
npm run build

Then press F5 in VS Code to launch the extension development host.