Feat/vscode auxiliary sidebar support

[buaoyezz]

TLDR

Adds support for displaying Qwen Code extension in VS Code's auxiliary sidebar, allowing users to place the chat interface in the secondary sidebar for better workspace layout customization.

Dive Deeper

This PR implements a sidebar webview provider that integrates with the existing Qwen Code architecture. Key changes include:

• New SidebarWebviewProvider class: Implements vscode.WebviewViewProvider interface to display chat in sidebar
• View container registration: Added configuration in package.json to register Qwen Code in the Activity Bar
• Full feature parity: Sidebar view supports all existing features including authentication, message streaming, permission requests, and mode switching
• SVG icon: Added high-quality SVG icon for better display in the Activity Bar
• Windows compatibility fix: Fixed prepare-package.js script to work on Windows by replacing ls command with platform-specific alternatives

The implementation reuses existing QwenAgentManager and MessageHandler components, ensuring consistency with the panel-based chat experience.

Reviewer Test Plan

1. Install the extension from VSIX or build from source
2. Look for the Qwen Code icon in the Activity Bar (left sidebar)
3. Click the icon to open the chat interface in the sidebar
4. Test basic chat functionality:
   • Send a message and verify response
   • Check authentication flow works
   • Test permission requests appear correctly
5. Right-click on the Qwen Code view and select "Move to Secondary Side Bar"
6. Verify the view can be moved between primary and secondary sidebars
7. Test that the view retains state when switching visibility

Example prompts to test:

• "Hello, can you help me with coding?"
• "Read the current file and explain what it does"
• Test file operations to verify permission system works

Testing Matrix

	??	??	??
npm run	?	?	?
npx	?	?	?
Docker	?	?	?
Podman	?	-	-
Seatbelt	?	-	-

Tested on Windows 11 with VS Code 1.95+. The extension builds, installs, and functions correctly with the sidebar view.

Linked issues / bugs

Fixes #1390.

[0b11111110]

👍 Support for this PR

[0b11111110]

I've created a related issue documenting this problem: #2097

[0b11111110]

@buaoyezz Could you please attach a pre-built .vsix file to this PR? This would allow users without Node.js/npm to test the sidebar feature easily. Many users would like to test this but don't have the full development environment set up. A VSIX attachment would make it much more accessible!

[0b11111110]

Related Issues

[0b11111110]

UPDATE: Connecting related issues for better tracking:

[0b11111110]

LINKS: Closes #1390 | Related #1870 (sidebar) | #1972 (icon) | #2097 (small screens)

[buaoyezz]

@buaoyezz Could you please attach a pre-built .vsix file to this PR? This would allow users without Node.js/npm to test the sidebar feature easily. Many users would like to test this but don't have the full development environment set up. A VSIX attachment would make it much more accessible!

Well, that would work, but my hard drive died the other day and the new one just arrived, and I need to be late to do that.

[buaoyezz]

@buaoyezz Could you please attach a pre-built .vsix file to this PR? This would allow users without Node.js/npm to test the sidebar feature easily. Many users would like to test this but don't have the full development environment set up. A VSIX attachment would make it much more accessible!

The upload to GitHub failed, so I uploaded it to Google Drive
Download .vsix HERE

[yiliang114]

@buaoyezz Hi, thank you so much for such a rich contribution. You're so enthusiastic — I really want to just merge it right away. However, it looks like there are a few places that differ slightly from Claude Code, and some code changes don't seem necessary for this PR (meaning they could be left out of this submission). I'm going to review the code first, and then let me think about how we can collaborate to get this resolved together. (might need to submit another PR, or I could pull your branch directly, make some modifications, and add you as a collaborator — let me figure out which approach would be more convenient.)

[buaoyezz]

@buaoyezz Hi, thank you so much for such a rich contribution. You're so enthusiastic — I really want to just merge it right away. However, it looks like there are a few places that differ slightly from Claude Code, and some code changes don't seem necessary for this PR (meaning they could be left out of this submission). I'm going to review the code first, and then let me think about how we can collaborate to get this resolved together. (might need to submit another PR, or I could pull your branch directly, make some modifications, and add you as a collaborator — let me figure out which approach would be more convenient.)

Thanks a lot , i think so
I think the easiest path would be for me to first align with your review comments. If you could point out the places that should match Claude Code more closely, and also which changes feel out of scope for this PR, I can make a strict follow-up revision based on that.
If it turns out some changes are better split out, I'm also happy to move those into a separate PR.😊