Features

Chat panel

The chat panel is your primary interface for conversing with Autohand. It provides a rich, context-aware conversation experience.

Context awareness

Autohand automatically includes relevant context in your conversations:

• Current file - The file open in your editor
• Selection - Any highlighted code
• Project structure - Your workspace layout
• AGENTS.md - Project-specific instructions
• Recent changes - Git diff context

Code references

Reference specific code in your messages:

• @filename - Include a specific file
• @folder - Include a directory
• @selection - Reference current selection
• @git - Include recent git changes

Response actions

When Autohand proposes code changes, you can:

• Accept - Apply all changes to your files
• Accept partial - Apply specific changes only
• Edit - Modify the proposed code before applying
• Reject - Discard the proposed changes
• Copy - Copy code to clipboard

Inline suggestions

Get AI-powered code completions as you type, trained on your codebase patterns.

How it works

As you type, Autohand analyzes:

• Your current file and cursor position
• Surrounding code context
• Project conventions from AGENTS.md
• Common patterns in your codebase

Accepting suggestions

Configuration

Customize inline suggestions in VS Code settings:

{
  "autohand.autoSuggest": true,
  "autohand.suggestionDelay": 300,
  "autohand.maxSuggestionLength": 500
}

Multi-file editing

Autohand can analyze and modify multiple files in a single operation. This is essential for refactoring, adding features that span components, or fixing bugs that affect several files.

How it works

1. Describe the change you want to make
2. Autohand analyzes affected files across your project
3. Changes are proposed as a unified diff
4. Review and accept changes file by file or all at once

Example prompts

Rename the User class to Account and update all imports

Add error handling to all API endpoints

Convert these class components to functional components with hooks

Change review

The multi-file diff view shows:

• List of affected files with change counts
• Side-by-side or inline diff for each file
• Accept/reject controls per file
• Syntax highlighting in diffs

Git integration

Built-in git support for reviewing changes, creating commits, and managing your version control workflow.

Commit generation

Use the /commit command or ask Autohand to commit your changes:

Commit these changes with a descriptive message

Autohand will:

• Analyze staged changes
• Generate a meaningful commit message
• Follow your project's commit conventions

Change review

Ask Autohand to review your changes before committing:

Review my changes and identify any issues

Branch management

Autohand can help with branch operations:

• Create feature branches
• Merge branches
• Resolve conflicts
• Cherry-pick commits

Code actions

Quick actions for common coding tasks, accessible from the context menu or keyboard shortcuts.

Available actions

Context menu

Right-click on selected code to access Autohand actions:

• Autohand: Explain Selection
• Autohand: Fix Selection
• Autohand: Refactor Selection
• Autohand: Add to Chat

Slash commands

Quick commands for common operations. Type / in the chat to see available commands.

Session commands

• /new - Start a new conversation
• /sessions - List recent sessions
• /resume - Resume a previous session

Project commands

• /init - Generate AGENTS.md for your project
• /add-dir - Add directory to context
• /commit - Create a git commit

Configuration commands

• /model - Change AI model
• /automode - Toggle autonomous mode
• /permissions - Manage tool permissions

See the Slash Commands Reference for the complete list.

Auto mode

Enable autonomous operation for complex tasks. Autohand will work through the problem, making decisions and iterating until complete.

Enable auto mode

• Use the /automode command
• Or enable in settings: autohand.autoMode: true

How it works

1. Describe your task or goal
2. Autohand creates a plan
3. Executes each step autonomously
4. Verifies results and iterates if needed
5. Reports completion with summary

Safety controls

• Configurable iteration limits
• Permission prompts for destructive operations
• Checkpoint system for reverting changes
• Progress visibility in the chat panel

Skills

Extend Autohand with specialized capabilities through the skills system.

Available skills

• Frontend - React, Vue, CSS patterns
• Backend - API design, database queries
• DevOps - CI/CD, infrastructure
• Testing - Unit tests, integration tests
• Documentation - READMEs, API docs

Using skills

Skills are automatically activated based on context, or you can explicitly request them:

Using the frontend skill, create a responsive navigation component

Custom skills

Create project-specific skills by adding skill definitions to your AGENTS.md file. See the Skills documentation for details.

Settings reference

Complete list of VS Code settings for Autohand Code.

Troubleshooting

Extension not activating

• Ensure VS Code version is 1.85 or later
• Check the Extensions view for error messages
• Try disabling and re-enabling the extension
• Check Output panel (View > Output > Autohand)

Authentication issues

• Run "Autohand: Sign Out" then sign in again
• Check your API key in settings if using key auth
• Verify your account status at autohand.ai

Slow responses

• Reduce contextFiles setting
• Use more specific file references
• Check your network connection

Getting help

If you encounter issues:

• Use /feedback to report bugs
• Check the GitHub issues
• Join our Discord community