Contributing

January 31, 2026 · View on GitHub

Development Setup

Prerequisites

  • Node.js 18+
  • npm

Build from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/braintrustdata/cursor-extension.git
cd cursor-extension

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build the extension
npm run build

Running in Development

  1. Open this folder in Cursor
  2. Press F5 to launch the Extension Development Host
  3. A new Cursor window will open with the extension loaded

Setting the Environment Variable for Development

The extension reads BRAINTRUST_API_KEY from the process environment at runtime. You must set this variable before launching Cursor so the extension host process inherits it.

macOS / Linux

# Set the environment variable and launch Cursor
export BRAINTRUST_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"
cursor .

# Or in a single line
BRAINTRUST_API_KEY="your-api-key-here" cursor .

For persistent configuration, add to your shell profile (~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, etc.):

export BRAINTRUST_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

Then restart your terminal and Cursor.

Windows (PowerShell)

# Set for current session
$env:BRAINTRUST_API_KEY = "your-api-key-here"

# Launch Cursor
cursor .

For persistent configuration:

# Set permanently for user
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("BRAINTRUST_API_KEY", "your-api-key-here", "User")

Then restart PowerShell and Cursor.

Windows (Command Prompt)

# Set for current session
set BRAINTRUST_API_KEY=your-api-key-here

# Launch Cursor
cursor .

For persistent configuration, use System Properties > Environment Variables.

Installing a Local Build

  1. Build the extension: npm run build
  2. Package it: npx vsce package (produces a .vsix file)
  3. In Cursor, open Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P)
  4. Run Extensions: Install from VSIX...
  5. Select the generated .vsix file

Project Structure

cursor-extension/
├── package.json        # Extension manifest
├── tsconfig.json       # TypeScript configuration
├── src/
│   └── extension.ts    # Main extension code
├── out/                # Compiled output (git-ignored)
└── README.md

Scripts

  • npm run build — Compile TypeScript
  • npm run watch — Compile in watch mode
  • npm run lint — Run ESLint (requires eslint to be installed)
  • npm run package — Create a .vsix package
  • npm run publish:openvsx — Publish to OpenVSX (for Cursor)
  • npm run publish:vscode — Publish to VS Code Marketplace

Publishing

Cursor uses OpenVSX, not the VS Code Marketplace. You need to publish to OpenVSX for extensions to appear in Cursor.

First-time setup (OpenVSX)

  1. Sign in at https://open-vsx.org with GitHub
  2. Get an access token from https://open-vsx.org/user-settings/tokens
  3. Create the namespace (one-time): 
    npx ovsx create-namespace braintrustdata -p <your-token>

Publishing a release

  1. Update the version in package.json
  2. Build and publish to OpenVSX: 
    npm run build
npx ovsx publish -p <your-token>

Or to package without publishing (for testing):

npm run package
# creates braintrust-x.x.x.vsix