6 best ChatGPT extensions for VS Code

Key findings

• Install the ChatGPT extension for VS Code to access artificial intelligence assistance in your programming environment. It covers various coding needs such as unit testing, debugging, documentation, code explanation and code generation.
• Various extensions such as EasyCode, CodeGPT and Code GPT offer ChatGPT functionality with different features and model options. Some of them require an OpenAI API key and offer code indexing and customization capabilities.
• Genie AI and ChatGPT Helper are other extensions that provide a user-friendly interface and features such as customizable accurate temperatures and prompt saving. The ChatGPT VS Code Plugin by Jay Barnes allows you to use ChatGPT for free, but requires a ChatGPT web session token.

ChatGPT can help you solve many programming problems with its web chat. But jumping in and out of VS Code can be distracting. Remember that every second counts when you are in the programming area.

The good news is that you can ask ChatGPT anything from VS Code using the ChatGPT extension. ChatGPT covers a myriad of coding-related needs, including unit testing, debugging, documentation, code explanation, and code generation.

Here are the handiest ChatGPT extensions you can install for VS Code today.

1. ChatGPT - EasyCode

EasyCode's ChatGPT extension is an easily accessible way to get artificial intelligence help with different language models. It supports ChatGPT-3.5 and ChatGPT-4 with the ability to easily switch between them. The extension also supports Claude AI, an alternative to ChatGPT. If your OpenAI account includes premium features from GPT-4, you can also add your API key for advanced use.

Although the developer recommends that you register or log in after installation, you can use ChatGPT without an account. For help, you can ask ChatGPT questions about parts of your code or let it scan your entire codebase for broader applications.

The EasyCode ChatGPT extension also has a continue option if a previous prompt requires further explanation. In addition to in-line code autocompletion, it has built-in one-click generated prompts for creating answers on the go.

2. CodeGPT by Tim Kmecl

Tim Kmsel's CodeGPT extension uses ChatGPT-3 models. Therefore, it can be less resource-intensive than other extensions that use GPT-3.5 and GPT-4. It has built-in prompts that generate one-click responses. You can also write your own hints in the chat window if you have a more specific request.

Although there are many GPT-3 models available - including ChatGPT, text-curie-001, text-davinci-003, code-davinci-002, and code-cushman-002 - text-davinci-003 is the only model that works with the extension by default. You can revise the model selection and set the extension's settings to text-davinci-003 if the extension gives an error.

Another valuable feature is code indexing, which allows you to highlight code and ask for help in complex situations. This extension requires an OpenAI API key, which you set in the settings menu after installation. However, the extension may not work if you have exhausted your free OpenAI credit.

3. GPT code

Code GPT offers a wider range of artificial intelligence services for VS Code. While the default selection of artificial intelligence models is from ChatGPT-3.5 and ChatGPT-4 from OpenAI, it also provides alternatives to ChatGPT including Cohere, AI21, Google's Bard, Anthropic, and others.

The Code GPT extension requires your OpenAI API key, which you can install using VS Code command palette shortcuts (CMD+Shift+P for Mac or Ctrl+Shift+P for Windows). However, make sure you have enough free credit or premium plan to take advantage of this VS Code AI service. A valuable feature of Code GPT is its ability to take cues from code comments and paste the generated code into a usable code file (in the target programming language).

It has built-in and custom tooltips. A small drawback is that it allows no more than 800 tokens in a single query, so it supports less text than some other providers.

4. ChatGPT Helper

The ChatGPT Helper VS Code extension is a simple AI helper that you can add to VS Code if you need to quickly solve programming problems. This extension is easy to use and is only designed to accept a limited number of built-in hints.

The ChatGPT Helper extension supports GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 with the ability to switch between them. It requires an OpenAI API key, which the extension prompts you to enter immediately after sending the first request after installation.

However, unlike other ChatGPT extensions, it doesn't have a chat function. But you can send custom and built-in prompts through the VS Code command palette. Responses are written to separate text files, allowing you to save responses to prompts for later use.

5. ChatGPT - Genie AI

Genie AI's ChatGPT extension features a more aesthetically pleasing design and embedded prompts in a clearer interface. It supports GPT-3, GPT-3.5, and GPT-4. Like many other ChatGPT extensions mentioned earlier, it also requires an OpenAI API key.

It allows you to select different accuracy temperatures according to your requirements; you can choose between accurate, balanced or creative responses. In addition to the built-in clickable prompts, you can engage ChatGPT via the Genei AI VS Code extension's dedicated prompt field to send more specific queries.

When using the extension, you don't have to manually copy and paste the code it generates. Genie AI automatically writes responses to the appropriate code files that you can use directly in your application. You can also save conversations locally and resume them later.

6. ChatGPT VS Code Plugin by Jay Barnes

If you want to use ChatGPT for free, the ChatGPT VS Code extension from Jay Barnes comes in handy. It works on a different level and requires a ChatGPT web session token and a user agent rather than an OpenAI API key. It is therefore invariably free, as it extends the ability to interact with ChatGPT from the web.

Although it allows you to use ChatGPT in VS Code for free, it is difficult to set up and may crash periodically. In addition, you will have to reset access tokens periodically because they expire with the ChatGPT web session.

Like other ChatGPT extensions, it has built-in prompts and accepts custom ones via the chat menu. Overall, this extension wouldn't make our list of the best ChatGPT extensions for VS Code. But it is free and may come in handy when you run out of your free credit. However, be careful not to have your session hijacked.

Productive use of ChatGPT in VS Code

ChatGPT and other generative AI models have found valuable applications in our daily lives. Whether we adopt them or not, they will remain. These AI tools are useful rather than dangerous if used productively.

Using these ChatGPT programming extensions does not guarantee success. You will still need a combination of these artificial intelligence tools with human input and some web search skills to solve programming problems. You can see how to use ChatGPT in VS Code to get a practical understanding of how these extensions work.