VS Code Extension

Use this guide when you want Dawn itself inside VS Code. The extension gives you a first-party Dawn chat surface in the editor — not a coding agent, but the full knowledge of your Dawn agents and connected sources, right where you write code.

Install from VS Code Marketplace →

Why use the extension

Dawn is not a coding agent — it does not compete with Copilot or Cursor for code generation. What it does is bring the knowledge behind your Dawn agents directly into the editor. Your Jira tickets, Confluence wikis, Notion docs, repositories, and everything else you have connected are all available through the Dawn sidebar without leaving VS Code.

Instead of configuring separate MCPs so your editor can talk to your ticketing system, your wiki, and your repositories individually, you open the Dawn sidebar and ask an agent that already has access to all of them.

Keep Dawn in the same place where you already read and edit code.
Run private Dawn threads without turning every conversation into a shared workspace thread.
Switch workspaces and agents directly in the VS Code sidebar.
Let Dawn work against the current trusted workspace instead of leaving the editor to explain files or search code.

Install the Dawn extension from the VS Code Marketplace.
Open the Dawn sidebar.
Choose Authenticate.
Sign in with your Dawn account in the browser, or use a Dawn API credential if your workspace uses API credentials.
Return to VS Code after the browser sign-in completes.

The packaged extension is the first-party Dawn client. You do not need to configure MCP just to use Dawn in VS Code.

Start working

Select the workspace you want to use.
Select the agent you want to talk to.
Start a new thread from the sidebar.
Send your prompt directly from the editor.
Return to earlier threads from the recent chat list when you want to continue work.

Threads in the extension are private to you. Use shared channels or shared Dawn Web chat when the rest of the workspace should see the conversation.

Use current workspace context

Local workspace access is complementary to connected sources, not a replacement. Dawn can read your local files and search your connected repositories, wikis, and ticket systems in the same conversation.

When the VS Code workspace is trusted, Dawn can use workspace-aware tools against the codebase you already have open.
That is what enables file reads and code search directly from the extension workflow.
If the workspace is not trusted, expect the extension to lose that local codebase path and rely on other available Dawn sources instead.

What the extension is good for

The extension is most useful when you need answers that draw on knowledge outside your codebase — tickets, documentation, connected sources — while you are actively working in code.

Explaining code you already have open.
Searching the current workspace before you edit.
Running several private threads against the same workspace and agent setup.
Downloading generated files and attachments without leaving VS Code.