Promptitude IDE Extension

Automatically sync GitHub Copilot prompts from multiple Git repositories to your local VS Code environment.

🎯 Overview

The Promptitude Extension automatically synchronizes the latest GitHub Copilot prompts, instructions, and templates from one or more Git repositories to your local VS Code user prompts directory. This ensures you always have access to the most up-to-date, peer-reviewed prompts across all your projects from multiple sources.

✨ Features

• 🔄 Automatic Sync: Configurable sync frequency (daily by default)
• 📦 Multiple Repositories: Support for syncing from multiple Git repositories simultaneously
• 🌍 Cross-Platform: Works on macOS, Windows, and Linux
• ⚙️ Configurable: Customizable sync frequency and target directory
• 🔐 Secure: Uses your existing GitHub authentication from VS Code and secure PAT storage for Azure DevOps
• 🌐 Multi-Provider: Supports both GitHub and Azure DevOps repositories
• 📦 Read-Only: Safe pull-only synchronization (no risk of overwriting repositories)
• 🎨 User-Friendly: Simple setup with minimal configuration required
• 📊 Status Indicators: Clear feedback on sync status and last update time
• 🛡️ Error Handling: Graceful handling of repository conflicts and partial failures

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• VS Code 1.70.0 or higher
• GitHub authentication configured in VS Code (for GitHub repositories)
• Azure DevOps Personal Access Token (for Azure DevOps repositories)
• Access to a git repository with prompts and configuration files

Installation

1. Download the latest promptitude-extension.vsix file from the releases
2. Open VS Code
3. Press Ctrl+Shift+P (or Cmd+Shift+P on macOS) to open the command palette
4. Type "Extensions: Install from VSIX" and select it
5. Browse and select the downloaded .vsix file
6. Restart VS Code when prompted

First-Time Setup

1. Open VS Code Settings (Ctrl+, or Cmd+,)
2. Search for "Promptitude"
3. Configure your preferences (optional - defaults work for most users)
4. The extension will automatically perform an initial sync

⚙️ Configuration

Extension Settings

Setting	Description	Default	Type
promptitude.enabled	Enable/disable automatic syncing	true	boolean
promptitude.frequency	Sync frequency	"daily"	string
promptitude.customPath	Custom prompts directory path	""	string
promptitude.repositories	Repositories with optional branch (use url or `url	branch`)	[]
promptitude.syncOnStartup	Sync when VS Code starts	true	boolean
promptitude.showNotifications	Show sync status notifications	true	boolean
promptitude.syncChatmode	Sync chatmode prompts	true	boolean
promptitude.syncInstructions	Sync instructions prompts	false	boolean
promptitude.syncPrompt	Sync prompt files	true	boolean

Sync Frequency Options

• "startup" - Only sync when VS Code starts
• "hourly" - Sync every hour
• "daily" - Sync once per day (default)
• "weekly" - Sync once per week
• "manual" - Only sync when manually triggered

Default Prompts Directory Paths

The extension automatically detects the correct prompts directory for your operating system:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/prompts
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Code\User\prompts
• Linux: ~/.config/Code/User/prompts

You can override this by setting a custom path in promptitude.customPath.

The extension will adapt this path automatically to function with non-default VS Code profiles.

Multiple Repository Configuration

The extension supports syncing from multiple Git repositories simultaneously. This is useful for organizations that maintain prompt collections across multiple repositories or for users who want to combine prompts from different sources.

Setting up Multiple Repositories (with optional per-repo branch)

1. Using VS Code Settings UI:

   • Open Settings (Ctrl+, or Cmd+,)
   • Search for "promptitude.repositories"
   • Click "Add Item" to add each repository using one of the following formats:
     • https://github.com/your-org/prompts (defaults to branch main)
     • https://github.com/your-org/prompts|develop (explicit branch)
     • https://dev.azure.com/org/project/_git/repo (Azure DevOps modern format)
     • https://org.visualstudio.com/project/_git/repo (Azure DevOps legacy format)

2. Using JSON Configuration:

    {
       "promptitude.repositories": [
          "https://github.com/your-org/prompts",
          "https://github.com/your-org/prompts|develop",
          "https://github.com/another-org/shared-prompts|release"
       ]
    }

Error Handling

When syncing multiple repositories:

• Partial Success: If some repositories sync successfully while others fail, the extension shows a partial success notification with details
• Complete Failure: If all repositories fail, an error notification is shown
• Individual Errors: Repository-specific errors are logged and reported separately

🎮 Usage

Automatic Sync

Once configured, the extension works automatically based on your sync frequency setting. You'll see notifications (if enabled) when sync operations complete.

Status Bar

The extension adds a status bar item showing:

• Sync status (✅ synced, 🔄 syncing, ❌ error)
• Last sync time
• Click to manually trigger sync

📁 Synced Content

The extension syncs all prompt files from the repository subdirectories into a flattened structure:

chatmodes/*.md       → User/prompts/
instructions/*.md   → User/prompts/
prompts/*.md         → User/prompts/

🔧 Troubleshooting

Access these commands through the VS Code Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P):

General Commands

Command	Description
Promptitude: Sync Now	Manually trigger an immediate sync of all configured repositories
Promptitude: Show Status	Display extension status, configuration, and authentication information
Promptitude: Open Prompts Folder	Open the local prompts directory in your system file explorer

Azure DevOps Authentication Management

Command	Description
Promptitude: Add Azure DevOps Personal Access Token	Add or update a Personal Access Token (PAT) used to access Azure DevOps repositories
Promptitude: Remove Azure DevOps Personal Access Token(s)	Remove one or all stored PATs
Promptitude: Clear Azure DevOps Authentication Cache	Clear cached organization authentication; forces re-authentication on next sync

Common Issues

Sync Fails with Authentication Error

Problem: Extension can't access the GitHub repository

Solutions:

1. Ensure you're signed into GitHub in VS Code (View > Command Palette > GitHub: Sign In)
2. Verify you have access to the repository
3. Check your internet connection

Azure DevOps Authentication Issues

Problem: Extension can't access Azure DevOps repository (400/401/403 errors)

Solutions:

1. Ensure your Personal Access Token (PAT) has the correct permissions:
   • Minimum required: Code (read) permission
   • For organization repositories: ensure PAT has access to the specific organization/project
2. Verify the repository URL format is correct:
   • Modern: https://dev.azure.com/org/project/_git/repo
   • Legacy: https://org.visualstudio.com/project/_git/repo
3. Check that the PAT hasn't expired
4. Use the "Promptitude: Add Azure DevOps Personal Access Token" command to re-enter your PAT

Prompts Directory Not Found

Problem: Extension can't find or create the prompts directory

Solutions:

1. Ensure VS Code has write permissions to the user directory
2. Manually create the prompts directory if it doesn't exist
3. Set a custom path in extension settings

Sync Takes Too Long

Problem: Sync operation seems stuck

Solutions:

1. Check your internet connection
2. Try manual sync to see detailed error messages
3. Restart VS Code and try again

Debug Mode

Enable debug logging:

1. Open VS Code Settings
2. Search for "promptitude.debug"
3. Enable debug mode
4. Check the "Promptitude" output channel for detailed logs

🔒 Security & Privacy

• Read-Only Access: The extension only pulls content from the repository
• No Data Collection: No usage data or personal information is collected
• GitHub Authentication: Uses VS Code's built-in GitHub authentication
• Azure DevOps Authentication: Securely stores Personal Access Tokens using VS Code's SecretStorage
• Local Storage: All prompts are stored locally on your machine
• No Network Requests: Only communicates with GitHub/Azure DevOps for repository access

🛠️ Development

Building from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone <url>

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build the extension
npm run compile

# Package the extension
npm run package

Project Structure

tools/vscode-extension/
├── src/
│   ├── extension.ts          # Main extension entry point
│   ├── syncManager.ts        # Sync logic and GitHub integration
│   ├── configManager.ts      # Configuration management
│   ├── statusBarManager.ts   # Status bar integration
│   └── utils/
│       ├── fileSystem.ts     # File system operations
│       ├── github.ts         # GitHub API wrapper
│       └── notifications.ts  # User notifications
├── package.json              # Extension manifest
├── tsconfig.json            # TypeScript configuration
├── webpack.config.js        # Build configuration
└── README.md               # This file

Scripts

• npm run compile - Build the extension
• npm run watch - Build in watch mode
• npm run package - Create VSIX package
• npm run test - Run tests
• npm run lint - Run ESLint

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions to improve the extension! Please see our Contribution Guide for details.

Reporting Issues

1. Check existing issues in the repository
2. Create a new issue with:
   • Extension version
   • VS Code version
   • Operating system
   • Detailed description of the problem
   • Steps to reproduce

Feature Requests

1. Open an issue with the "enhancement" label
2. Describe the desired functionality
3. Explain the use case and benefits

📋 Changelog

For the complete release history, detailed changes, and migration notes, please refer to the project's changelog:

See CHANGELOG.md

📄 License

Apache 2.0

📞 Support

For support and questions:

• Check the troubleshooting section above
• Report an issue.

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