VS Code extension
Finding your way around
The panel, the composer, and what every control on it does.
The panel is built to stay out of your way: a conversation, a message box at the bottom, and a row of small controls under it. This page walks through each part.
The header
- Chat title. Click it to open your history. The history lists your chats under Today, Yesterday and Earlier, with a search box and a project filter at the top. Hover a chat to delete it; a chat with a run still in progress cannot be deleted until the run ends.
- New chat (+). Starts a fresh chat. The previous one stays in your history.
- Your initials. Hover or click for the account menu: your name, email and plan, plus Billing and Support links that open the website, and Sign out.
Starting a chat
A new chat shows four cards: From scratch, Existing project, Debug and Optimize. Pick one, and a few example requests appear under them that you can click to fill in the message box. You can change your mind at any time before sending.
If Debug or Optimize shows a lock, that feature is not open to your account yet; it is the same on the website.
The composer
| What it does | |
|---|---|
| 1 | The output language and target device, and for a new chat the project it is filed under. Click either part to change it. |
| 2 | The message box. It grows as you type. Enter sends, Shift+Enter adds a new line. While a run is going, the send button turns into a stop button. |
| 3 | Attach code from the editor, the task, Agent or Plan mode, and the tools menu. |
| 4 | The model, reasoning effort, and your usage ring. |
The controls, one by one
| Control | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Paperclip | Add selection from editor adds the code you have selected, or the whole active file if nothing is selected, as context for your next message. You can add up to ten pieces. |
| Task | On a new chat: From scratch, Existing project, Debug or Optimize. Inside a chat: Build, Debug or Optimize for the next message. |
| Agent / Plan | Agent runs tools and verifies on its own. Plan asks you a few questions first. See Agent mode and Plan mode. Hidden where only Agent mode applies. |
| Tools | Search, the IP core library, your knowledge base and the verification options. They take effect on Plan mode builds; see Tools overview. |
| Model | Fast, Balanced or Powerful. See Choosing models. |
| Reasoning effort | How long the model may think before it answers. See Reasoning effort. |
| Usage ring | How much of the credit your next run draws on is used. It turns amber when you are running low and red when it is spent. Hover it for both balances and a link to add credit. |
The panel remembers your choices of mode, tools, model, effort, language and device, so each new chat starts the way you left the last one.
Each chat also keeps its own draft: what you have typed, code added from the editor, the chosen project, an attached waveform and the Debug or Optimize form. Switch to another chat and back, and it is all still there; nothing from one chat goes out with another's message. A draft clears once it is sent.
While a run is going
The turn shows a short progress strip, a line saying what the run is doing right now, and a timer. You can keep working in the editor, switch to another sidebar view, or close the panel; the run carries on and its files still appear when it finishes. If you close VS Code, the run finishes on our side and the panel picks it back up the next time you open it.
To stop a run, press the stop button in the message box or run SiliCode: Stop Generation. The turn is marked as stopped, and you are only charged for what it used; see When a run stops early.
Usage and credit
When your credit is low or has run out, a short notice appears above the message box with a link to add credit or change plan on the website. Buying happens there; the panel updates on its own once a run finishes. See Credit and top-ups.