VS Code Extension

The ThinkForge VS Code extension connects your editor to ThinkForge's project memory and development workflow tools, giving AI assistants in VS Code access to your knowledge base.

What it does

The extension provides two main capabilities:

  • MCP configuration — automatically sets up the connection between VS Code (and Copilot) and ThinkForge's MCP server, so AI assistants in your editor can search your project memory
  • Phased development workflow — a structured build workflow where ThinkForge provides phase specifications, validates your implementation, and tracks progress

Setup

  1. Install the ThinkForge extension from the VS Code marketplace.
  2. Make sure ThinkForge Desktop is running with a project open.
  3. The extension creates a .thinkforge folder in your workspace for configuration and phase data.
  4. MCP configuration is written automatically so VS Code Copilot and compatible AI tools can reach ThinkForge.

MCP memory access

Once configured, AI assistants in VS Code (such as Copilot) gain access to ThinkForge's SK Memory tools:

  • Search your project memory by meaning or keywords
  • Retrieve specific documents or content chunks
  • Save artifacts (notes, code, documentation) back into project memory
  • List and search by tags
  • Search across all your ThinkForge projects

This means your AI coding assistant can reference your research notes, design documents, and past conversations stored in ThinkForge while helping you code.

Phased development workflow

For structured development projects, the extension supports a phased build process:

  • Get next phase — retrieve the current development phase specification from your project's .thinkforge/phases folder
  • Validate component — check your implementation against the phase specification
  • Mark complete — mark a component as done and advance to the next phase (requires successful validation first)

These commands are available from the VS Code command palette and the ThinkForge activity bar panel.

Status bar

The extension adds a status bar item showing the current connection state and active phase, so you always know whether ThinkForge is connected and what development phase you are working on.

Also works with Cursor and Windsurf. ThinkForge can auto-configure MCP for multiple editors. See MCP for the full list of supported editors and setup details.

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