Your Claude Max, working harder: completions, transforms, commits, speed reading, and session monitoring.
Claude Code is incredible for complex, multi-file refactoring and agentic workflows. But sometimes you just want a quick inline completion while typing, or to transform a snippet of code without spinning up a full conversation. And you shouldn't have to pay for yet another subscription to get that.
If you're already paying for Claude Max, Sidekick lets you use those tokens for inline completions, code transforms, AI commit messages, speed reading with AI explanations, and real-time session monitoring—no extra cost, no separate account.
Claude Code and other AI agents have transformed how we build software. But some of us are still control freaks who want to see, review, and understand everything that our overly-enthusiastic robot assistant does with our code. We also enjoy writing actual code ourselves sometimes. And since agents love to be verbose, we need to ingest their output faster (hence RSVP speed reading).
Sidekick gives you visibility into what Claude is doing, quick AI assistance for the small stuff, and tools to read faster—all without leaving VS Code.
Get more value from your Claude Max subscription. You're paying $100-200/month for Claude Max, but likely have unused capacity in your 5-hour usage windows. Sidekick puts those tokens to work:
- Monitor your Claude Code sessions - Real-time dashboard showing token usage, costs, activity timeline, and what Claude is doing in your codebase
- No additional cost - Uses your existing Claude Code CLI authentication
- Complements Claude Code CLI - CLI excels at agentic multi-file tasks; Sidekick handles quick inline completions and transforms
- Replace paid alternatives - Skip the $10-19/month GitHub Copilot subscription; use tokens you're already paying for
- Lightweight token usage - Haiku-powered completions are fast and consume minimal quota, leaving room for your CLI workflows
The extension uses the Anthropic SDK directly to call Claude. If you have a Claude Max subscription, it leverages the Claude Code CLI authentication - no API keys needed.
- Max subscription: Uses
@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdkvia Claude Code CLI auth - API key: Uses
@anthropic-ai/sdkwith your Anthropic API key
- Claude Max subscription (Recommended) OR Anthropic API key
- Claude Code CLI installed and authenticated (for Max subscription mode)
Why Max subscription is recommended: Inline completions fire frequently as you type. With an API key, these per-token costs add up quickly. With Max ($100-200/month), you're already paying for the tokens—Sidekick just helps you use your unused capacity. No surprise bills.
-
Install and authenticate Claude Code CLI:
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code claude auth
-
Install the extension:
- VS Code: Install from the VS Code Marketplace
- Cursor/VSCodium: Install from Open VSX or see Installing in VS Code Forks
-
Start coding - completions appear automatically as you type
Monitor your Claude Code sessions in real-time with a comprehensive analytics dashboard. Click the Session Monitor icon in the activity bar to access all monitoring features.
- Session Analytics Dashboard - Track token usage, costs, and activity in real-time
- Token usage with explanatory tooltips and quota projections showing estimated usage at reset
- Context window gauge showing input/output usage vs. limits
- Activity timeline with user prompts, tool calls, and errors
- Session selector to switch between active sessions
- Tool analytics showing what operations Claude is performing
- Session Summary with AI narrative generation and progress feedback
- Organized Session tab with three collapsible groups: Session Activity, Performance & Cost, Tasks & Recovery
- Mind Map Visualization - Interactive D3.js graph showing session structure
- Visualizes conversation flow and file relationships
- Real-time updates as the session progresses
- Kanban Board - TaskCreate/TaskUpdate tasks grouped by status
- Collapsible columns with hidden-task summaries
- Real-time updates as tasks move through the workflow
- Latest Files Touched - Tree view of files modified during sessions
- Subagents Tree - Monitor spawned Task agents during complex operations
- Status Bar Metrics - Quick session status in the VS Code status bar
- CLAUDE.md Suggestions - AI-powered analysis of your session patterns
- Detects recovery patterns (when Claude gets stuck and how it recovers)
- Generates best practices based on actual usage
- Collapsible suggestions panel with progress indicators
The monitor automatically discovers Claude Code sessions and updates in real-time as Claude works. Perfect for understanding token usage and keeping an eye on costs.
Get intelligent code suggestions as you type. Uses Haiku by default for fast, lightweight completions that won't drain your quota.
Select code, press Ctrl+Shift+M, and describe how to transform it. Uses Opus by default for high-quality refactoring.
Ask questions about code or request changes without leaving your editor. Press Ctrl+I (Cmd+I on Mac) to open the quick input.
- Context-aware - uses selected code or cursor context
- Ask questions - "What does this function do?" or "Is this thread-safe?"
- Request changes - "Add error handling" or "Convert to async/await"
- Diff preview - review proposed changes before accepting
- Uses Sonnet by default for balanced quality
Automatically generate JSDoc/docstrings for functions, classes, and methods. Place your cursor in a function and press Ctrl+Shift+D (Cmd+Shift+D on Mac).
- Supports TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, and more
- Generates parameter descriptions, return types, and examples
- Uses Haiku by default for fast generation
Get AI-powered explanations for selected code. Select code and press Ctrl+Shift+E (Cmd+Shift+E on Mac).
- Five complexity levels: ELI5, Curious Amateur, Imposter Syndrome, Senior, PhD Mode
- Rich webview panel with markdown rendering
- Regenerate with custom instructions for different perspectives
- Read in RSVP - speed read explanations with one click
- Uses Sonnet by default for quality explanations
Understand and fix errors with AI assistance. Click the lightbulb on any diagnostic or use the context menu.
- Explain Error - understand what went wrong and why
- Fix Error - get a suggested fix applied directly to your code
- Five complexity levels for explanations
- Uses Sonnet by default for accurate analysis
Generate intelligent commit messages from your staged changes with a single click. Click the sparkle button in the Source Control toolbar to analyze your diff and create a contextual commit message.
- Conventional Commits or simple description format
- Regenerate with guidance - refine the message with instructions like "focus on the bug fix" or "make it shorter"
- Default guidance - configure consistent commit style for your team
- Uses Sonnet by default for high-quality messages
Review your changes before committing. Click the eye icon in the Source Control toolbar to get AI feedback on your staged changes.
- Bug detection - catches potential issues before they're committed
- Security concerns - highlights potential vulnerabilities
- Code smells - identifies maintainability issues
- Inline decorations - issues shown directly in the editor
- Uses Sonnet by default for thorough analysis
Generate pull request descriptions automatically. Click the PR icon in the Source Control toolbar.
- Analyzes all commits on your branch vs the base branch
- Generates summary - high-level overview of changes
- Lists changes - detailed breakdown by area
- Test plan - suggested testing checklist
- Copies to clipboard - ready to paste into GitHub/GitLab
- Uses Sonnet by default for comprehensive descriptions
Speed read selected text with AI-powered explanations. RSVP (Rapid Serial Visual Presentation) displays words one at a time at a fixed focal point, eliminating eye movement and enabling reading speeds of 2-3x normal. Select text, press Ctrl+Shift+R, and read faster with ORP (Optimal Recognition Point) highlighting.
- Word-by-word display with ORP highlighting for reduced eye movement
- Adjustable speed from 100-900 WPM
- AI explanations at five complexity levels: ELI5, Curious Amateur, Imposter Syndrome, Senior, PhD Mode
- Dual modes - toggle between RSVP and full-text view, switch between original and explanation
- Keyboard controls - Space (play/pause), arrows (navigate/speed), R (restart), F (full-text)
- Uses Sonnet by default for intelligent explanations
Click "Sidekick" in the status bar to access logs, test connection, configure settings, and more.
| Feature | Default Model | Token Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Inline completions | Haiku | Minimal - fast and cheap |
| Generate documentation | Haiku | Minimal - fast generation |
| Code transforms | Opus | Higher - worth it for quality |
| Quick Ask | Sonnet | Moderate - balanced quality |
| Explain Code | Sonnet | Moderate - on-demand only |
| Error explanations | Sonnet | Moderate - on-demand only |
| Commit messages | Sonnet | Moderate - balanced quality and speed |
| Pre-commit review | Sonnet | Moderate - thorough analysis |
| PR descriptions | Sonnet | Moderate - one-time generation |
| RSVP explanations | Sonnet | Moderate - on-demand only |
This design lets you use inline completions freely throughout the day while preserving quota for heavier CLI workflows, transforms, and commit messages.
Each VS Code window runs its own extension instance with independent caches. This means:
- No shared cache - Completions cached in one window aren't available in another
- Independent requests - Opening the same file in two windows may trigger duplicate API calls
- Shared authentication - All windows use the same Claude Code CLI auth or API key
This is standard VS Code extension behavior. For most workflows it's transparent, but be aware that many simultaneous windows could increase token usage.
The extension works in Cursor, VSCodium, and other VS Code forks.
Install directly from Open VSX - the open marketplace used by Cursor, VSCodium, and other VS Code forks.
- Download the latest
.vsixfile from Releases - In your editor: Extensions →
...menu → "Install from VSIX..." - Select the downloaded file
git clone https://github.com/cesarandreslopez/sidekick-for-claude-max.git
cd sidekick-for-claude-max/sidekick-vscode
npm install
npm run packageThen install the generated .vsix file as above.
Cursor has its own AI features that may conflict with Sidekick completions. To use Sidekick in Cursor:
- Disable Cursor's built-in completions in Cursor Settings if you prefer Sidekick's
- Or use both side-by-side (Sidekick uses your Claude Max tokens, Cursor uses its own)
Contributions are welcome! Whether it's bug fixes, new features, or documentation improvements—all help is appreciated.
See CONTRIBUTING.md for setup instructions and guidelines.
MIT