Claude Code for Visual Studio

Latest release: v1.0.12 — download the VSIX from Releases

Brings the Claude Code agentic coding assistant into Visual Studio 2026, 2022, 2019, and 2017 as a native tool-window chat — the same kind of experience as the VS Code extension. It drives the real claude CLI under the hood, so you get the full agent: streaming responses, tool use, file edits, and multi-turn conversations, scoped to your open solution.

Status: working core. See the Feature parity matrix for exactly what is implemented.

Unofficial community project. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Anthropic. "Claude" and "Claude Code" are products of Anthropic; you need your own Claude Code subscription/credentials.

Screenshots

The Claude Code panel docked on the right — ask, and Claude reads and edits your code. Each edit shows inline in the chat and opens in the native VS Before/After diff, with the model, permission mode, and reasoning effort all in the composer.

Debug-aware: reads your running code to find the root cause

When the debugger is paused at a breakpoint or exception, Claude reads the live runtime — call stack, locals, arguments, and the thrown exception — and reasons about why the code broke, not just the static source. Every pause drops an "Ask Claude about this" banner so you can hand the live state straight to Claude.

Verified with C#/.NET. Other languages Visual Studio can debug (e.g. C / C++) are expected to work but are not yet tested.

Inline diffs, slash commands, and full composer control

_{Inline red/green diff per edit, plus "Open diff" for the native VS Before/After window.}	_{The / palette — built-in commands plus your own CLI slash commands.}
_{Pick the model (latest Opus / Fable / Sonnet / Haiku, or a custom id) and per-model reasoning effort.}	_{Ask before edits, edit automatically, plan mode, or full auto — plus a thinking-stream toggle.}
_{Live context-window breakdown, IDE context, project memory, and MCP servers.}	_{Your Claude plan's session and weekly usage, read from the CLI login.}

How it works

┌────────────────────────── Visual Studio (devenv) ──────────────────────────┐
│                                                                            │
│  Tool window ──► WebView2 (HTML/JS chat UI) ◄──► WebViewHost (JSON bridge) │
│                                                │                           │
│                                        ClaudeChatControl                   │
│                                          │           │                     │
│      IdeContextService ◄─────────────────┘           └──► ClaudeSession    │
│      ThemeService                                               │          │
│      (DTE / Roslyn / VSColorTheme)                              ▼          │
│                                                                            │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬──────────┘
                                                                  │ stdin/stdout
                                                    stream-json (NDJSON)
                                                                  ▼
                                              claude CLI (Node, your login)

WebView2 hosts the chat UI (served from a virtual host, so it looks/behaves like the VS Code panel).
ClaudeSession spawns a long-lived claude --print --input-format stream-json --output-format stream-json process and speaks the bidirectional stream-json protocol: it writes your turns to stdin and parses the streamed stream_event / tool_use / tool_result / result events from stdout.
IdeContextService reads your active file + selection from the editor and auto-attaches them as context; it also opens files Claude edits.
ThemeService maps the current VS theme to the chat UI's colors.

The agent itself is the real Claude Code CLI, so it uses your existing login, your CLAUDE.md, your MCP servers, hooks, and settings — exactly like running claude in a terminal.

Prerequisites

This extension is a thin UI over the real Claude Code CLI — it shells out to your locally installed claude and inherits its install, login, plan, CLAUDE.md, MCP servers, and settings. It does not bundle or install the CLI, and it can't sign you in for you. The three things you must provide are the CLI, a login, and a paid plan.

Visual Studio 2026 (18.x), 2022 (17.x), 2019 (16.x), or 2017 (15.7+) — Community, Professional, or Enterprise.

Node.js and the Claude Code CLI installed and on PATH:

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
claude --version

Logged in once — run claude in any terminal and complete login (/login) so the CLI has credentials.
A paid Claude plan or API credits — Claude Code requires a Pro/Max subscription or billed API access. A free Anthropic account can't run it; turns will fail with an auth/entitlement error until the account has Claude Code access.
WebView2 Runtime — already present on Windows 11 and with Visual Studio; otherwise install the Evergreen runtime.

First run — the panel guides you

When you open View ▸ Claude Code, the panel checks readiness and shows a banner if something's missing, so you're never left at a raw error:

"Claude CLI not found" → if npm is present, an Install CLI button runs npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code in a visible terminal (consented, never silent); otherwise a Get Node.js link. Then click Re-check — a VS restart may be needed so the new claude is on VS's PATH. (The extension never installs the CLI silently.)
"Not signed in to Claude" → an Open terminal to log in button launches claude in a console at your folder; run /login there. The login happens outside the IDE, so the panel watches for it and clears the banner on its own once the credentials land — there's an I've logged in — re-check button too, but you shouldn't need it.
Failed turns that look like auth/credit problems surface the same log in action and a note that Claude Code needs a paid plan.

Install

From a release VSIX (recommended)

Download the VSIX for your Visual Studio from the Releases page:
- ClaudeCode.VisualStudio-vs2022-2026.vsix — VS 2022 / 2026 (amd64)
- ClaudeCode.VisualStudio-vs2019.vsix — VS 2019 (16.x, x86)
- ClaudeCode.VisualStudio-vs2017.vsix — VS 2017 15.7+ (15.x, x86)
Double-click the .vsix and let the VSIX Installer add it. (The VSIX is community-built and unsigned, so VS shows a "publisher not verified" prompt — click Install.)
Restart Visual Studio.
Open the panel: View ▸ Claude Code (also under View ▸ Other Windows ▸ Claude Code).

Build it yourself

This repo builds with the MSBuild that ships in VS — the Visual Studio extension development workload is not required (the Microsoft.VSSDK.BuildTools NuGet package supplies the targets).

# from the repo root
$msb = "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\18\Professional\MSBuild\Current\Bin\MSBuild.exe"  # or your 2022 path
& $msb -t:Restore .\ClaudeCode.sln
& $msb -t:Build -p:Configuration=Release .\ClaudeCode.sln
# -> src\ClaudeCode.VisualStudio\bin\Release\ClaudeCode.VisualStudio-vs2022-2026.vsix
#    src\ClaudeCode.VisualStudio.Vs2019\bin\Release\ClaudeCode.VisualStudio-vs2019.vsix
#    src\ClaudeCode.VisualStudio.Vs2017\bin\Release\ClaudeCode.VisualStudio-vs2017.vsix
#    (all also copied to dist\ by the post-build step)

Or just open ClaudeCode.sln in Visual Studio and press F5 — that launches the VS experimental instance with the extension loaded for debugging.

Usage

Open your solution, then View ▸ Claude Code.
Type a request and press Enter (Shift+Enter for a newline). Claude works in your solution's folder.
Select code before sending — the selection, active file, open editors, and the VS Error List (Problems) are attached as context automatically.
Paste an image into the input to attach it; type @ to reference a file by name.
Stop (■) interrupts the current turn; /new (or the slash palette) starts a fresh session.
Up/Down in the composer browses your previously-sent inputs (shell-style). When the debugger pauses, a banner offers "Ask Claude about this," and the paused call stack / locals / exception are attached to your next message.

Your composer choices (model, effort, permission mode, "show thinking") are persisted per working directory and restored next time you open the panel.

Toolbar & composer

Control	What it does
Model ▾	Pick the model and the reasoning effort for that model (effort slider lives on this screen).
Context	Context-window usage breakdown + IDE context (working dir, active file, `CLAUDE.md`, MCP servers once a session is running).
Usage	Account, plan, and session cost / token / rate-limit readout.
＋	Attach an image, add a file to context, or add a web URL.
/	Slash-command palette (see below).
◌ ring	Context-remaining ring; click to compact the conversation now.
⚡ pill	Permission mode + "show thinking" toggle.
Send / ■	Send the turn / interrupt the running turn.

Models & effort

Model	Notes	Effort levels
Default	Latest Opus with 1M context — most capable for complex work	Off · Low · Medium · High · Extra high · Max · Ultracode
Fable	Anthropic's newest, strongest coding model	Off · Low · Medium · High · Extra high · Max · Ultracode
Sonnet	Best for everyday tasks	Off · Low · Medium · High · Max
Haiku	Fastest for quick answers	Off · Low · Medium · High
Custom model…	Type any model id or alias (e.g. `claude-opus-4-7[1m]`, dated snapshots, `[1m]` variants); availability depends on your CLI/account	inherits the Default range

The four built-in entries send aliases (opus[1m], fable, sonnet, haiku), not pinned model ids, so each one follows the newest model in its family as soon as your Claude Code CLI supports it — no extension update required. The picker shows the id the CLI actually resolved next to the selected entry once a session has started.

Effort maps to extended-thinking token budget; Ultracode adds multi-agent workflows on top of the highest thinking level.

Slash commands

Type / in the composer to open the palette. Built-in commands:

Command	Action
`/context`	Show context-window usage
`/usage`	Show session usage & cost
`/model`	Open the model + effort picker
`/mcp`	Show configured MCP servers with live health (`claude mcp list`)
`/compact`	Compact the conversation
`/clear`	Clear the chat
`/new`	Start a new session

The palette also lists everything your installed CLI exposes — its own built-in commands, your skills, and your project/user .claude/commands/ — pulled live on session start, so the exact set depends on your CLI version and setup. Selecting one inserts it into the input. (MCP prompt commands, mcp__*, are hidden as noise.)

Permission modes

Pick the mode from the ⚡ pill. Default is Ask before edits.

Mode	Behavior
Ask before edits (default)	Claude asks for approval before each edit.
Edit automatically (`acceptEdits`)	Claude applies file edits without asking.
Plan mode (`plan`)	Read-only planning; Claude proposes a plan before changing files.
Auto mode (`bypassPermissions`)	Full autonomy — Claude runs any tool without prompting. Use with care.

Showing, hiding & disabling

Show or hide the panel — View ▸ Claude Code (also under View ▸ Other Windows). The Tools ▸ Claude Code menu item is checkable and reflects whether the panel is open, so toggling it opens or closes the window. The panel docks next to Solution Explorer.
Disable, enable, or remove the extension — Extensions ▸ Manage Extensions ▸ Installed → "Claude Code for Visual Studio", then Disable, Enable, or Uninstall, and restart Visual Studio. Disabling stops it from loading without uninstalling; the underlying claude CLI is unaffected either way.

Feature parity

Capability	Status
Chat with streaming responses (markdown, code blocks)	✅
Full agent loop: Read / Edit / Write / Bash / Grep / Glob etc.	✅ (real CLI)
Multi-turn conversation in one session	✅
Live token streaming + thinking (toggle)	✅
Tool-call cards (collapsible, with results)	✅
Cost / token / duration usage readout	✅
Uses your login, `CLAUDE.md`, MCP servers, hooks, settings	✅ (inherited from CLI)
Active-file + selection auto-context; `@`-file mentions	✅
Open editors + VS Error List (Problems) auto-context	✅
Live debugger/runtime context (pause banner, call stack, locals, exceptions)	✅
Sent-input history (Up/Down in composer)	✅
In-panel CLI install / update / login guidance	✅
Opens files Claude edits in the editor	✅
Model picker (Default / Fable / Sonnet / Haiku + custom id) + per-model reasoning effort	✅
Permission-mode picker	✅
Slash-command palette (built-ins + your CLI commands)	✅
MCP server status — `/mcp` screen (live health) + Context panel	✅
Image paste	✅
Interrupt / new session / `--resume` continuity	✅
Composer options persisted per working directory	✅
VS theme matching (light/dark/blue)	✅
Works in VS 2026, 2022, 2019 and 2017	✅ (2022/2026 manifest `[17.0,19.0)`; separate VS 2019 and VS 2017 VSIX flavors)
Interactive per-tool permission cards (allow/deny)	✅ in Ask before edits mode — an in-process SDK MCP permission server answers the CLI's `--permission-prompt-tool` so each tool call raises an allow/deny card
Diff view of edits	✅ inline red/green diff card per edit in the chat, plus an "Open diff" button for the full native VS Before/After window

Project layout

ClaudeCode.sln
.githooks/
  pre-commit                          syncs the README version badge to the manifest
  pre-push                            auto-tags v<version> from the manifest on push
.github/workflows/
  release.yml                         on v* tag: builds the VSIX, publishes a Release + asset
dist/
  ClaudeCode.VisualStudio-vs2022-2026.vsix   latest built VSIX for VS 2022/2026
  ClaudeCode.VisualStudio-vs2019.vsix        latest built VSIX for VS 2019
  ClaudeCode.VisualStudio-vs2017.vsix        latest built VSIX for VS 2017
src/ClaudeCode.VisualStudio/
  ClaudeCode.VisualStudio.csproj      classic VSIX project (net4.8), NuGet-only build
  source.extension.vsixmanifest       targets VS [17.0, 19.0)
  ClaudeCodePackage.cs                 AsyncPackage; registers tool window + commands
  VSCommandTable.vsct                  View ▸ Claude Code (and View ▸ Other Windows)
  Commands/OpenChatCommand.cs
  ToolWindows/
    ClaudeChatToolWindow.cs            tool window pane
    ClaudeChatControl.cs               orchestrates WebView + session + IDE services
  WebView/
    WebViewHost.cs                     WebView2 lifecycle + JSON message bridge
    WebMessage.cs                      envelope (System.Text.Json)
  Services/
    ClaudeCliLocator.cs                finds claude.exe / claude.cmd
    ClaudeSession.cs                   spawns CLI; parses stream-json; raises events
    ClaudeMessages.cs                  DTOs
    IdeContextService.cs               selection / open files / open file (DTE)
    ThemeService.cs                    VS theme -> CSS variables
    AccountService.cs                  account + usage/limits (OAuth endpoints)
    McpService.cs                      runs `claude mcp list` for the /mcp screen
    SessionStore.cs                    persists transcript + composer options per cwd
    InputValidation.cs                 allow-lists for model/mode/effort from the UI
  media/                               chat UI (index.html, app.js, style.css, markdown.js)
src/ClaudeCode.VisualStudio.Vs2019/
  ClaudeCode.VisualStudio.Vs2019.csproj  VS 2019 flavor: same sources (linked) built against
                                         SDK 16 / Toolkit.16 / net472; targets VS [16.0, 17.0)
  source.extension.vsixmanifest          VS 2019 manifest (x86, no ProductArchitecture)
src/ClaudeCode.VisualStudio.Vs2017/
  ClaudeCode.VisualStudio.Vs2017.csproj  VS 2017 flavor: same sources (linked) built against
                                         SDK 15.9 / Toolkit.15 / net472; targets VS [15.0, 16.0)
  source.extension.vsixmanifest          VS 2017 manifest (x86, no ProductArchitecture)
  (AssemblyResolver.cs lives in src/ClaudeCode.VisualStudio/ and is shared #if VS2017 || VS2019:
   it serves the packed System.Text.Json 9 closure that VS 2017/2019 lack in-box)

Releases

Releases are automated:

Bump Version in src/ClaudeCode.VisualStudio/source.extension.vsixmanifest, src/ClaudeCode.VisualStudio.Vs2019/source.extension.vsixmanifest, and src/ClaudeCode.VisualStudio.Vs2017/source.extension.vsixmanifest (and the matching strings in ClaudeCodePackage.cs / ClaudeChatControl.cs).
Commit and git push.
- The pre-commit hook syncs the README version badge.
- The pre-push hook creates and pushes the annotated tag v<version>.
- The release.yml GitHub Action fires on the new tag: it builds the VSIX in CI and publishes a GitHub Release with the .vsix attached.

To validate the CI build without cutting a release, run the release workflow manually from the Actions tab (workflow_dispatch builds and uploads the VSIX as an artifact, but does not publish a Release).

Troubleshooting

"claude exited (code …)" / nothing happens — make sure claude --version works in a terminal and you've logged in (claude then /login). The extension uses whatever claude resolves to on PATH. You can override the path with the CLAUDE_CODE_VS_CLI environment variable.
Panel is blank — install/repair the WebView2 Evergreen Runtime.
Tools never run — switch the permission mode away from plan; use Edit automatically or Auto mode.
Wrong working directory — Claude runs in your solution's directory; open a solution first (otherwise it falls back to your user profile folder).
An MCP server shows "Failed to connect" — the CLI launches as a child of Visual Studio and inherits VS's environment as it was when VS started. If a server's .mcp.json uses an env var (e.g. a token), set it, then fully restart Visual Studio so the claude child picks up the new value. The /mcp screen reflects the same status claude mcp list reports in a terminal.
Context shows no MCP servers — that panel only lists servers once a chat session is running (after your first message); use /mcp to query them on demand before then.

Privacy

No telemetry. This extension runs no servers of its own and sends nothing to the extension author — there is no analytics endpoint and no author backend. Two network paths exist, both authenticated with your own Claude credentials: the claude CLI sends your prompts/code to Anthropic (exactly as it does in a terminal), and the extension calls api.anthropic.com directly to show your account & usage. Chat transcripts are stored locally only and encrypted at rest with Windows DPAPI. Full details in PRIVACY.md.

License / disclaimer

This is an unofficial community integration. "Claude" and "Claude Code" are products of Anthropic. You must have a valid Claude Code subscription/credentials to use it.

Maintainers

Publishing this extension to the Visual Studio Marketplace (publisher setup, Azure DevOps PAT, signing, trademark/naming compliance) is documented separately in marketplace/PUBLISHING.md.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
.githooks		.githooks
.github		.github
docs		docs
marketplace		marketplace
scripts		scripts
src		src
tests/ClaudeCode.VisualStudio.Tests		tests/ClaudeCode.VisualStudio.Tests
.gitattributes		.gitattributes
.gitignore		.gitignore
.mcp.json		.mcp.json
CHANGELOG.md		CHANGELOG.md
CONTRIBUTING.md		CONTRIBUTING.md
ClaudeCode.sln		ClaudeCode.sln
LICENSE		LICENSE
NOTICE		NOTICE
PRIVACY.md		PRIVACY.md
README.md		README.md
SECURITY.md		SECURITY.md

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Claude Code for Visual Studio

Screenshots

Debug-aware: reads your running code to find the root cause

Inline diffs, slash commands, and full composer control

How it works

Prerequisites

First run — the panel guides you

Install

From a release VSIX (recommended)

Build it yourself

Usage

Toolbar & composer

Models & effort

Slash commands

Permission modes

Showing, hiding & disabling

Feature parity

Project layout

Releases

Troubleshooting

Privacy

License / disclaimer

Maintainers

About

Releases

Packages

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Claude Code for Visual Studio

Screenshots

Debug-aware: reads your running code to find the root cause

Inline diffs, slash commands, and full composer control

How it works

Prerequisites

First run — the panel guides you

Install

From a release VSIX (recommended)

Build it yourself

Usage

Toolbar & composer

Models & effort

Slash commands

Permission modes

Showing, hiding & disabling

Feature parity

Project layout

Releases

Troubleshooting

Privacy

License / disclaimer

Maintainers

About

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Resources

Contributing

Security policy

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