Extension commands, settings and limits

The DataMind Oda extension adds commands, keybindings and settings to VS Code. This page is the reference for all of them, and for the messages you may meet when something cannot run. Every command appears in the Command Palette under DataMind Oda. Open the palette and type DataMind Oda to list them. To install the extension first, see Oda in VS Code.

Chat commands

• New Chat: opens a new chat in its own tab; the tab reads New Chat while the chat is blank. A second new chat can wait a moment while the first is set up, so two tabs never take the same blank chat.
• Open in Editor Tab: opens the chat in a full tab in the editor area.
• Settings: opens Oda's settings in their own Oda Settings tab. Settings in the VS Code panel covers what is inside.

Editor and terminal commands

• Add Selection to Chat: sends the lines you have selected to the chat as a reference to their file and line range.
• Add Terminal Output to Chat: opens the picker of the terminal's recent commands, covered in The terminal output picker below.

Account and recovery commands

• Sign In and Sign Out: start or end the extension's sign-in. The steps and the messages are in Sign in to Oda in VS Code.
• Import from the Desktop App: brings chats, memories, skills, hooks and MCP servers over from the DataMind Oda desktop app. It only adds; it never replaces. Sign in to Oda in VS Code covers the prompts and the summary.
• Restart Background Service: restarts the background service Oda runs on. Use it when Oda stops answering; the failure notice offers the same restart.

Change review commands

• Accept Proposed Change and Reject Proposed Change: decide a whole proposed change.
• Reject with Instructions…: reject it and tell Oda what to do instead.
• Allow Edits for This Chat: for a chat in Read Only access, lets Oda apply edits in that chat.
• Accept this change and Reject this change: decide one changed block in the review's comment threads.
• Accept Change at Cursor and Reject Change at Cursor: decide the change at the cursor in the editor.
• The diff, the threads and the exact messages are in Reviewing proposed changes.

Commit message commands

• Generate Commit Message with Oda: writes a commit message into the Source Control commit box from your staged changes. While it writes, the button becomes Stop Generating Commit Message.
• Full detail, including how to stop it, is in Commit messages with Oda.

Suggestion commands

• Toggle Inline Suggestions and Toggle Next-Edit Suggestions: switch the two suggestion features on or off. Both start off. Turning inline suggestions on checks your DataMind server first, and next-edit suggestions need inline suggestions on.
• Accept Next-Edit Suggestion and Dismiss Next-Edit Suggestion: accept or dismiss the suggestion on screen; the same as Tab and Escape below.

Keybindings

• Ctrl+Alt+O: sends the editor selection to the chat, the same as Add Selection to Chat.
• Tab: accepts the next-edit suggestion on screen. When Oda offers a jump, the first press moves to the change and the next press accepts it.
• Escape: dismisses the next-edit suggestion.
• Tab and Escape act only while a next-edit suggestion is showing.

Settings the extension adds

Oda adds these settings to VS Code's own settings. Change them in VS Code's Settings or in your settings.json.

• Autosave (datamind-oda.autosave, on by default): saves a file with unsaved changes before Oda's file tools read or change it.
• Lock editor groups (datamind-oda.lockEditorGroups, on by default): keeps Oda's tabs in their own locked editor group, so files and diffs open in a group of code instead of among the chat tabs. Unlock a group from its … menu when you need to.
• Inline suggestions (datamind-oda.inlineSuggestions.enabled, off by default): ghost-text suggestions while you type.
• Next-edit suggestions (datamind-oda.nextEdits.enabled, off by default): an edit offered at the cursor after you edit, while inline suggestions are on.
• Two further settings point the extension at a custom runtime and its own data folder; a standard setup never needs them.

The terminal output picker

Add Terminal Output to Chat opens a picker of the recent commands run in your terminal.

• Oda keeps the last ten commands. Each entry shows the command and its exit code, or running or unknown exit while the command is still unfinished. The most recent command is already ticked.
• Commands are listed newest first; the ones you pick are added to the chat in the order they ran, as a block that reads Terminal <name> (exit code <n>): with the command and its output.
• Long output is cut: one command's output is capped at 20,000 characters, and when you pick several commands, the cap covers the whole block. A cut is marked with … (earlier output omitted).

Past chats

Past chats opens from the extension's header as a popover that lists this window's chats, grouped by when you last used them: Today, Yesterday, Last 7 days and Older.

• Choose a chat to open it; Rename and Archive act on a chat from the same popover.
• A long chat title is shortened in its tab, ending in an ellipsis.

Messages you may meet

• DataMind Oda is still starting; try again in a moment. Oda's background service was not ready. Try again in a moment; if it never becomes ready, restart it with DataMind Oda: Restart Background Service.
• Open a file to send its selection to DataMind Oda. Add Selection to Chat ran with no file open. Open the file, select the lines you want and run the command again.
• Open a terminal to add its output to DataMind Oda. No terminal was open to read from. Open a terminal, run a command and try again.
• DataMind Oda has no command output from this terminal yet. It reads commands run after the extension started, in a terminal with shell integration. Run the command after the extension has started, in a terminal with shell integration.
• Messages from the rest of Oda are in Troubleshooting.
• More messages, including the failures that stop Oda, are in Fix problems with the Oda extension.

Questions, answered

Where do I find every command the extension adds?

Open the Command Palette and type DataMind Oda. Every command appears under that name; this page lists them all.

What does Ctrl+Alt+O do?

It sends your current editor selection to the chat, the same as Add Selection to Chat.

What does "DataMind Oda is still starting" mean?

Oda's background service has not finished starting. Wait a moment and try again; if it does not come back, run DataMind Oda: Restart Background Service.

Are the suggestion features on by default?

No. Inline suggestions and next-edit suggestions both start off. Turn them on with Toggle Inline Suggestions and Toggle Next-Edit Suggestions, or in VS Code's settings.

Why does a file open in a different editor group from the chat?

The Lock editor groups setting keeps Oda's tabs in their own locked group, so files and diffs open in a group of code instead. You can unlock a group from its … menu, or turn the setting off.

Why can't I add my terminal output to the chat?

Oda reads only commands that ran after the extension started, in a terminal with shell integration. Open a terminal, run the command and choose Add Terminal Output to Chat again.

How many terminal commands can I pick from?

The last ten commands of a terminal, newest first. The most recent is already ticked. Output is cut at 20,000 characters with the cut marked … (earlier output omitted); when you pick several commands, the cap covers the whole block.

How are the chats in Past chats grouped?

By age: Today, Yesterday, Last 7 days and Older. Each chat offers Rename and Archive.

Does the extension share settings with the desktop app?

No. The extension signs in on its own and keeps its own settings and chats, separate from the DataMind Oda desktop app. Sign in to Oda in VS Code covers the sign-in.