# Claude Code VS Code extension 31 Hacker News commenters recommended Claude Code VS Code extension and 43 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 13 months. **Verdict:** Brings Claude Code into VS Code for reviewing and editing code in a GUI. Main caveat: a lookalike extension on the Cursor marketplace reportedly contained malware. ## Why people recommend it - Works well inside VS Code's GUI (4 comments): "I find the ability to look at multiple things at once is works much better in some kind of.. GUI editing tool" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47501756)) "Claude Code in VSCode works exactly like this. Click to expand file search results, command output, etc." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47046506)) "Work through UI, navigating, reviewing and editing repo files easily." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47500595)) - Capable, strong agent integration (4 comments): "it seems to be the most capable coding assistant of the limited set of tools I've tried" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49700858)) "by far the best agent integration into a codebase that I know of" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45970416)) "basically "solves programming" for me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49136177)) - Preferred over terminal and rivals (4 comments): "I recently switched from the CC terminal to the CC VS Code extension, and I like it better." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47498233)) "I'd rather just use the Claude plugin in VS Code over Cursor's agentic coding sidebar." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49136098)) "the Claude Code extension for vscode is way better than codex extension" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46869256)) - Plan mode and review of changes (3 comments): "the plan mode in Claude's VS Code extension has supported select and annotate directly since at the very least early 2026" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49851028)) "For me I need to compare the code generated before committing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48246118)) "it is nice to be able to get a second opinion" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47617578)) ## What people warn about - Security concerns over lookalike extension (8 comments): "Their Claude Code extension on Visual Studio Code and Cursor has malware in it, which creates a remote access Trojan to desktops." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50303014)) "I would have loved to know that this was for CURSOR and not VISUAL STUDIO CODE before I spent 2 hours resetting all my API keys" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50312280)) "the line in the cursor disclosure about the extension not being developed by anthropic is more confusing than clarifying" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50303033)) - Frequent bugs and slow fixes (7 comments): "The VS Code extension needs love. I'm sure you guys are aware but it feels like it is neglected." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48788952)) "There's been an issue with the VS code extension that makes it pretty much impossible to use" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47883541)) "I have had issues with slash commands not registering and hooks not working in the plugin." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47665445)) - Limited, not suited for beginners (2 comments): "I think the VS Code integration with Claude is pretty great, but just the /rename issue shows that it is limited" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48298177)) "I use Claude within VS Code (as per many others) but I certainly wouldn't recommend that for a beginner." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49166393)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [GitHub Copilot](https://hackerapproved.com/p/github-copilot.md): 571 recommend - [oh-my-pi](https://hackerapproved.com/p/oh-my-pi.md): 104 recommend - [Grok Build CLI](https://hackerapproved.com/p/grok-build.md): 66 recommend - [DeepSeek Harness](https://hackerapproved.com/p/deepseek-harness.md): 63 recommend - [Antigravity CLI](https://hackerapproved.com/p/antigravity-cli.md): 31 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Claude Code VS Code extension", https://hackerapproved.com/p/claude-code-vs-code-extension/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).