VS Code Extension — Troubleshooting

"InsightWorker CLI not found"

The extension shells out to insightworker (the CLI binary). On install it tries to auto-install via npm. If that fails:

npm install -g @verticalserve/insightworker
which insightworker  # confirm it's on PATH

Then in VS Code settings, set insightworker.cliPath to the absolute path if it's not on PATH (e.g. /usr/local/bin/insightworker).

Chat panel opened on the left, not the right

The extension uses an undocumented internal command to dock to the right. On some VS Code versions / forks (Cursor, Windsurf, etc.) this can fail silently.

Manual fix: right-click the panel header → Move View → Right.

To make this stick: with the panel on the right, right-click in the panel → Reset Location then Move View → Right again — VS Code remembers the last location.

"Bedrock credentials not found / expired"

You're using Bedrock with AWS SSO and your session expired (12-hour default). Run:

aws sso login --profile <your-profile>

Then fully restart VS Code (Cmd+Q, reopen). The extension caches AWS credentials at extension activation; reload-window isn't enough — the host process needs a fresh env.

See authentication/aws-sso.md for the full error path.

Chat shows "thinking" forever, no response

Most common causes:

1. No internet on the host — try curl https://api.openai.com/v1/models (or your provider's URL)
2. Stuck on a tool call you forgot to approve — check for an approval prompt in a different VS Code window or behind another panel
3. Provider rate-limit, retrying silently — open the InsightWorker output channel (View → Output → InsightWorker) to see retry attempts

If the output channel shows nothing, restart the extension: Cmd+Shift+P → Reload Window.

"Working" spinner stuck after task finishes

Known cosmetic bug — the spinner state can desync if the agent emits a final response without a clean stop event. Reload Window clears it. We're tracking this.

Tool calls go through but don't show diff

If the agent edits a file but no diff appears: the file may be open in another editor pane that isn't visible. VS Code's diff viewer attaches to the active editor. Click the file in the explorer first, then re-trigger.

Editor panel shows "no workspace"

The editor panel needs a folder open in VS Code (not just a single file). Open a folder via File → Open Folder… before invoking InsightWorker.

Token / cost counter wrong

The status bar token counter aggregates session-level use. After a multi-day session it may drift. Reload window resets it.

Extension not loading on Cursor / Windsurf

The extension uses VS Code 1.85+ APIs. Cursor/Windsurf/other forks lag the upstream API. If you see "extension activation failed", check the fork's version of vscode-engine and report which fork + version.

Logs

See also

• overview.md — install + use
• troubleshooting/bedrock-credentials.md — full AWS error coverage
• troubleshooting/max-iterations.md — agent loops

Source: docs/vscode-extension/troubleshooting.md in the public repo. Open a PR with corrections.