VS Code Panel

Overview

When the CLI session driver runs inside VS Code, output is displayed in the AI Cockpit panel — a WebviewPanel that provides the full TUI experience within VS Code without requiring a separate terminal window.

The AI Cockpit panel uses xterm.js for terminal rendering, giving it the same ANSI color and formatting support as a real terminal emulator.

Features

• Full xterm.js rendering: ANSI color codes, cursor control, and Unicode all work correctly
• Source-tagged output with color coding: each output source ([RTT#0], [UART:label], [GDB]) has its own color
• Toolbar buttons: quick access to common actions — pause, continue, reset, stop session
• Configuration selector dropdown: switch configurations without editing launch.json
• Session status indicator: shows the current state (running, halted, disconnected)
• GDB command input line: type GDB commands at the bottom of the panel
• Find: Ctrl+F (Cmd+F on macOS) searches the output of the tab you are on, with match case, whole word, and regular expression options. Enter and Shift+Enter step through matches, as do F3 and Shift+F3; Escape closes the bar. Every tab has its own search, and the bar sits inside the output area so the tabs stay reachable while it is open

Accessing the Panel

The AI Cockpit panel opens automatically when you start a CLI session from within VS Code. It appears in the panel area alongside Terminal, Output, and Problems.

You can also open it from the Command Palette:

mcu-debug: Open AI Cockpit

Or by clicking the mcu-debug icon in the VS Code Activity Bar.

Hybrid Mode with AI

The AI Cockpit panel is designed for hybrid AI+human debugging:

1. The panel shows the live debug stream
2. You work with your AI assistant in the Claude Code / Copilot chat panel
3. The AI sends commands via mcu-debug attach (in terminal mode)
4. Both you and the AI see all output

The panel has a USER-REQUEST button that prefixes your message with the USER-REQUEST: tag that AI tools recognize as physical-world context.

Panel vs Terminal

	AI Cockpit Panel	VS Code Terminal
Color support	Full xterm.js	Full
Toolbar	Yes	No
Status indicator	Yes	No
Config selector	Yes	No
Find	Yes	Yes
Integrated with AI	Yes	Manual
Scrollback	Unlimited	Unlimited