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Commands & Shortcuts Overview

Caret integrates directly into VSCode's interface, letting you access AI assistance without disrupting your workflow. These integrations appear as commands in context menus, keyboard shortcuts, and quick fixes throughout the editor.

Editor Integration Overview

What are Editor Integrations?​

Editor integrations are commands and shortcuts that let you use Caret right where you're working. Instead of switching to the Caret panel first, you can select code, right-click, and immediately send it to Caret for help. These integrations appear in different places throughout VSCode:

  • In the editor context menu (right-click menu) - "Add to Caret"
  • In the terminal context menu - "Add to Caret"
  • In the Source Control view - "Generate Commit Message"
  • As keyboard shortcuts - Various Caret commands
  • As Quick Fix options (lightbulb menu) - "Fix with Caret", "Explain with Caret", "Improve with Caret"

Available Editor Integrations​

Caret offers several editor integrations, each designed to enhance different aspects of your development workflow:

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Right-click on code to add it to Caret, or use the lightbulb menu to fix errors, explain code, or improve it. Caret sees the complete code context, including imports and surrounding functions.

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Add terminal output to Caret with a right-click or use @terminal mentions. Perfect for debugging build errors, test failures, or runtime issues.

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Generate commit messages, explain diffs, or analyze changes with Caret's Git integration. Caret understands your version control context.

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Speed up your workflow with keyboard shortcuts for common Caret actions. Quickly add code to chat, fix errors, or improve your code.

How They Work​

When you use these commands, Caret:

  • Captures the relevant context (selected code, file path, terminal output, etc.)
  • Focuses the Caret interface
  • Creates a conversation with the captured context
  • In some cases, automatically generates a suggested prompt

Behind the scenes, these commands use VSCode's extension API to register commands, access editor state, and control VSCode's interface.