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Visual Studio Code Integration

Technical guide to governing development environments in Visual Studio Code and GitHub Copilot with RAPID OS v3.

1. What it is and how it fits with RAPID OS​

Visual Studio Code is the widely adopted standard code editor, offering integrated terminals, debugging panels, and AI extensions such as GitHub Copilot Chat.

Fit with RAPID OS: The developer works in VS Code, using the integrated terminal to run rapid commands and Copilot Chat to assist with writing code. RAPID OS guarantees that every change has a traceable contract and verifiable test evidence.

2. Configuration in RAPID OS​

RAPID OS includes the built-in vscode profile:

rapid harness show vscode

Canonical output:

  • context.consume: supported
  • repository.read: supported
  • workspace.current: supported
  • Execution and write capabilities: configurable depending on the local extensions installed.

3. Configuration in VS Code​

  1. Open the repository in VS Code.
  2. Open the integrated terminal (Ctrl+\`` or Cmd+``).
  3. Make sure the Python virtual environment is selected in the status bar.

Main workflow: shortcuts​

The recommended way to work with VS Code and Copilot is with the /rapid-<mode> shortcuts. The 9 shortcuts, the loop they follow, human approval, and common errors are in the shortcuts guide.

Install​

rapid init --shortcuts                                # when initializing the project
rapid shortcuts install --harness vscode              # in an already initialized project

It generates .github/prompts/rapid-*.prompt.md (the 9 shortcuts as prompt files; documentation). After updating Rapid OS, run rapid shortcuts install again.

First step: /rapid-init (onboarding)​

The entry point of a project is /rapid-init: it drives the onboarding (rapid setup next), asks you for the stack of each component, the architecture, the services, and the documents, and reviews the drafts with you before closing. After that you use /rapid-feature and the other modes. See First project.

--global does not exist for VS Code: there is no documented user folder for prompt files for this use, so rapid shortcuts install --global --harness vscode fails with RAPID1413 and writes nothing. Install /rapid-init in each project with rapid shortcuts install --harness vscode.

The shortcuts and hooks run rapid from the agent's shell: if it is not on the PATH, rapid init and rapid doctor warn with RAPID1414 (a warning, not an error). See the shortcuts guide.

Invoke​

In the Chat view, type / followed by the name (or use the Chat: Run Prompt command):

/rapid-feature añadir exportación CSV al informe mensual
  • /rapid-approve does not approve: it gives you the command to run in the integrated terminal. rapid approve requires an interactive terminal of your own and fails with RAPID1310 if an agent launches it.
  • VS Code also reads skills from .claude/skills/ and .agents/skills/. If you use VS Code together with Claude Code, Codex, or Antigravity, see how to combine harnesses before adding vscode to the installation.

Advanced mode (v3 commands)​

The v3 commands (rapid spec, rapid run, rapid evidence, rapid eval…) remain available for CI, debugging, and auditing, and you do not need to run them by hand in day-to-day work either. Section 4 keeps the complete manual workflow.

4. Workflow in VS Code​

  1. Run creation: In the integrated terminal:
rapid run create --spec <spec-id> --harness vscode
  1. Verify the Baseline: Run the initial tests, saving the authentic log as an artifact (base.log), record the baseline evidence (as in evidence_baseline.json), and acknowledge gate.baseline before activating the run:
python -m unittest discover -s tests -t . > base.log 2>&1
rapid evidence add --run <run-id> --input evidence_baseline.json
rapid run gate <run-id> gate.baseline acknowledged
rapid run status <run-id> active
rapid run task <run-id> T001 in_progress

  1. Assistance with Copilot Chat: In Copilot Chat, use #file:.rapid-os/runs/<run-id>/contract.json to focus the model on the task's objectives and constraints.

  2. Running Tests: Run the test suite from the terminal or through VS Code's testing panel.

  3. Recording Evidence: Use the RAPID OS CLI in the terminal to record progress (see details and schemas in the Under the Hood lab):

rapid evidence add --run <run-id> --input evidence_files.json
rapid evidence add --run <run-id> --input evidence_test_result.json
rapid evidence add --run <run-id> --input evidence_workspace.json
rapid evidence add --run <run-id> --input evidence_review.json
rapid run gate <run-id> gate.tests acknowledged
rapid run gate <run-id> gate.final-verification acknowledged
rapid run task <run-id> T001 done
rapid run status <run-id> finished
  1. Final Evaluation:
rapid eval run --run <run-id> --write --require-pass