VS Code Extension

Recommended

Install from VS Code Marketplace

Operator Terminals brings the Operator multi-agent orchestration experience directly into VS Code with integrated terminal management and ticket tracking. Its VS Code session controller supports macOS, Linux, and Windows (no WSL required). Select the vscode controller for IDE terminals; tmux, cmux, and Zellij manage their own terminal environments.

Features

• Sidebar Integration: View Queue, In Progress, and Completed tickets directly in VS Code
• Styled Terminals: Color-coded terminals by ticket type
  • FEAT (cyan, sparkle icon)
  • FIX (red, wrench icon)
  • TASK (green, tasklist icon)
  • SPIKE (magenta, beaker icon)
  • INV (yellow, search icon)
• Activity Tracking: Monitors shell execution to detect idle/running states
• Webhook Server: Local HTTP server for Operator communication

Installation

From Marketplace (Recommended)

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X)
3. Search for “Operator Terminals”
4. Click Install

Or install directly: VS Code Marketplace

Manual Installation

1. Download the .vsix file from GitHub releases
2. In VS Code, go to Extensions
3. Click the “…” menu
4. Select “Install from VSIX…”

Configuration

Setting	Default	Description
operator.webhookPort	7009	Port for webhook server
operator.autoStart	true	Start server on VS Code launch
operator.terminalPrefix	op-	Prefix for managed terminal names
operator.ticketsDir	.tickets	Path to tickets directory
operator.apiUrl	http://localhost:7008	Operator REST API URL

Commands

Access via Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P):

Command	Description
Operator: Start Webhook Server	Start the webhook server
Operator: Stop Webhook Server	Stop the webhook server
Operator: Show Server Status	Display server status
Operator: Launch Ticket	Launch a ticket in a new terminal
Operator: Launch Ticket (with options)	Launch with agent/mode selection
Operator: Download Operator	Download the Operator CLI
Operator: Connect MCP Server	Register Operator as an MCP server for this editor, workspace .mcp.json, and optionally Copilot Global

MCP Integration

The sidebar launches and watches tickets. MCP is the other direction: an agent in the Copilot harness or Copilot CLI asks Operator about that same queue.

Operator: Connect MCP Server writes:

1. Workspace mcp.servers (.vscode/mcp.json) so the editor’s own MCP list still sees Operator. Stdio when the daemon advertises it, otherwise SSE.
2. Workspace-root .mcp.json with mcpServers.operator (command, args, cwd) when the descriptor includes stdio. VS Code 1.140 Agent Host and Copilot CLI read this file directly.
3. An optional Also write Copilot Global action that merges the same mcpServers.operator block into $COPILOT_HOME/mcp-config.json, or ~/.copilot/mcp-config.json when COPILOT_HOME is unset. That file is machine-wide, so the next Copilot session in any folder can see the queue.

Default MCP tools are read-only: health, status, issue types, collections, skills, and operator_list_tickets. Create, launch, and review require [mcp].expose_ticket_write_tools = true on the daemon.

Cluster daemons with [mcp].stdio_advertised = false stay on SSE in .vscode/mcp.json. Portable files are skipped so a local operator mcp is not pointed at a different process.

.mcp.json holds an absolute machine-local binary path. Do not commit it.

The Status MCP row lists which of those files contain operator.

Sidebar Views

The extension adds an Operator sidebar with four views:

1. Status: Server status and connection info
2. In Progress: Currently running agent sessions
3. Queue: Pending tickets waiting to be launched
4. Completed: Recently completed tickets (collapsed by default)

API Endpoints

The extension exposes a local HTTP API for Operator communication:

Endpoint	Method	Description
GET /health	GET	Server health check
POST /terminal/create	POST	Create a new terminal
POST /terminal/:name/send	POST	Send command to terminal
POST /terminal/:name/show	POST	Reveal terminal (keep focus)
POST /terminal/:name/focus	POST	Focus terminal (take focus)
DELETE /terminal/:name/kill	DELETE	Dispose terminal
GET /terminal/:name/exists	GET	Check if terminal exists
GET /terminal/:name/activity	GET	Get idle/running state
GET /terminal/list	GET	List all managed terminals

Requirements

• VS Code 1.140.0 or later
• Operator CLI (for full functionality)

Troubleshooting

Server won’t start

Check if another process is using the configured port:

lsof -i :7009

Try a different port in settings: operator.webhookPort.

Terminals not appearing in sidebar

1. Ensure the webhook server is running (check Status view)
2. Verify operator.ticketsDir points to your tickets directory
3. Refresh the views using the refresh button