Thanks for contributing! To keep the project healthy and maintainable, please follow these guidelines:

1. Fork the repo and create a branch from main.
2. Keep changes focused and small.

Table of Contents

• Coding
  • The UI: Typescript code (src/)
  • Python scripts (src/scripts)
• Manual testing in VS Code (debug)
• Testing
• Note on Codecarbon

Coding

• Initial word: The extension is built with TypeScript (src/), and helper scripts are in Python (src/scripts/). They run the codecarbon library to track emissions. As you will see, part of the complexity of this setup comes from coordinating between the TypeScript extension and the Python scripts.

The UI: Typescript code (src/)

• Follow existing style and keep functions/modules simple.
• Install Node and npm, then build the extension:

npm install
npm run build

• Run lint before opening a PR:

npm run lint

Python scripts (src/scripts)

• Keep script output stable: tracker.py emits METRICS:<json> lines consumed by the extension.
• Validate Python changes with:

npm run test:python

• The extension needs to handle if the user has Python installed and if codecarbon is available. If it does not, please open an issue to track this improvement.
• Quick manual check (optional):

your_python_interpreter src/scripts/tracker.py start

• For example, me I use uv:

uv run src/scripts/tracker.py start

Manual testing in VS Code (debug)

1. In VS Code, open this repo.
2. Start the Run Extension launch configuration. For that go to Run > Start Debugging or run F5. This will open a new version of VS Code with the Codecarbon extension loaded.
3. See if your changes work as expected in the new VS Code window. Check the extension's output and behavior.

Testing

Run the tests with:

npm test

You can also run tests by layer:

npm run test:smoke
npm run test:python
npm run test:ts

Note on Codecarbon

This VSCode extension relies on codecarbon to track emissions. Check the codecarbon repo for more details on how it works and how to contribute to it as well.