PatchPilot turns raw diffs—whether hand-written, auto-generated by AI, or copied from code reviews—into perfectly-applied patches inside VS Code, even when line numbers have drifted or files have shifted. Stop hunting for the right hunk, start trusting your patches.
| 🧠 AI-grade fuzzy matching | Applies unified diffs even when context lines move, whitespace changes, or the file has been refactored. |
| ⬆️ Saves tokens | Paste diffs instead of whole files when working with ChatGPT / Copilot—maximises the LLM context window. |
| 🛡️ Preview & confirm | Side-by-side diff preview before anything touches your working tree. |
| 🔀 Seamless Git flow | Optional auto-stage; honours your branch & commit settings; never clobbers un-committed work. |
| 🔒 Offline-friendly | All matching happens locally—no code or diff contents leave your machine. |
ext install patchpilot.patch-pilotVS Code Extension Marketplace
- Open VS Code.
- Open Extensions (
Ctrl+Shift+X). - Search PatchPilot.
- Click Install.
-
Copy a unified diff.
-
Ctrl+Shift+P→PatchPilot: Paste Diff→ Preview → Apply. -
Create a git branch
-
Ctrl+Shift+P→PatchPilot: Create Branch for Patch→ Preview → Apply.
- Select diff text.
- Right-click →
PatchPilot: Apply Selected Diff→ Preview → Apply.
To optimize your workflow with AI assistants (like Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini) and PatchPilot, provide the following instructions to your AI at the beginning of your coding session. This ensures the AI focuses on generating efficient diffs that PatchPilot can readily apply, saving context window tokens and streamlining your development process.
--- PatchPilot AI Code Generation Instructions ---
**CONTEXT:** I am using a VS Code extension called PatchPilot. Your primary task when I request code changes is to provide ONLY the modifications in the standard **unified diff format**. Do NOT output the complete modified file(s).
**CORE RULES FOR ALL CODE RESPONSES:**
1. **OUTPUT FORMAT:** MUST be **unified diff**.
* Example:
```diff
diff --git a/path/to/file.ext b/path/to/file.ext
--- a/path/to/file.ext
+++ b/path/to/file.ext
@@ -old_start,old_lines +new_start,new_lines @@
context line (unchanged)
-line to remove
+line to add
another context line
```
2. **FILE PATHS:** MUST use correct **relative paths** from the project root in all header lines (`diff --git`, `---`, `+++`).
* Example: `src/components/Button.tsx`, NOT `Button.tsx` or `/abs/path/to/Button.tsx`.
3. **CONTEXT LINES:** MUST include **at least 3 lines** of unchanged context before and after each changed block within a hunk (`@@ ... @@`). Lines starting with a space are context lines.
4. **MULTI-FILE CHANGES:** MUST be combined into a **single diff output block**. Each file's changes must be separated by the standard `diff --git ...` header sequence for that file.
5. **NEW FILES:** MUST use `/dev/null` as the source file in headers.
* Example:
```diff
diff --git a/dev/null b/path/to/new_file.ext
--- /dev/null
+++ b/path/to/new_file.ext
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+new line 1
+new line 2
+new line 3
+new line 4
+new line 5
```
6. **IGNORE MINOR FORMATTING:** You do **not** need to worry about:
* Line Endings: PatchPilot normalizes LF/CRLF automatically.
* Leading Spaces: PatchPilot adds missing leading spaces on context lines automatically.
* Focus on generating the *correct code change logic* within the diff structure.
**PERSISTENCE:** Please adhere to these rules **consistently** for all subsequent code modification requests in this session without needing further reminders. Respond ONLY with the diff block unless I specifically ask for something else.
✅ This ensures every AI response seamlessly integrates with PatchPilot.
- Fixes missing spaces in context.
- Handles CRLF/LF line endings automatically.
- Adds missing diff headers when needed.
- Cleans file paths with hidden characters.
- Strict Mode → Exact match.
- Shifted Mode → Finds nearby lines.
- Greedy Mode → Match based on added/removed lines.
- Auto-stage patches.
- Create temporary branches instantly. Can use randomized name or custom one.
| Setting | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
patchPilot.autoStage |
boolean | false |
Auto-stage patched files |
patchPilot.fuzzFactor |
enum (0-3) | 2 |
Controls fuzzy matching aggression |
patchPilot.mtimeCheck |
boolean | true |
Check file modification times |
patchPilot.enableTelemetry |
boolean | false |
Send minimal anonymous telemetry |
- Launch PatchPilot:
Ctrl+Alt+P/Cmd+Alt+P - Preview Patch:
Ctrl+Enter/Cmd+Enter
| Command-palette entry | Default key | Description |
|---|---|---|
| PatchPilot : Paste Diff | — | Paste a unified diff and open the preview editor. |
| PatchPilot : Apply Patch | — | Apply the most recently pasted diff without preview. |
| PatchPilot : Parse Patch | — | Display a quick summary (files, hunks, add/del stats). |
| PatchPilot : Create Branch | — | Create and switch to a patchpilot/YYYY-MM-DD branch. |
| PatchPilot : Apply Selected Diff | — | Apply only the lines you highlight in the diff editor. |
No default keybindings are set—assign your own in Preferences › Keyboard Shortcuts.
// Apply a patch (with optional options)
const results = await vscode.commands.executeCommand('patchPilot.applyPatch', patchText, { preview: true });
// Parse a patch without applying
const fileInfo = await vscode.commands.executeCommand('patchPilot.parsePatch', patchText);
// Create a Git branch
const branchName = await vscode.commands.executeCommand('patchPilot.createBranch', 'optional-name');- View the PatchPilot Output panel.
- Increase
patchPilot.fuzzFactor. - Ensure the file exists and matches.
git config --global --add safe.directory /your/project/path- Ensure the unified diff headers (
diff --git,---,+++) use LF ( - PatchPilot normalizes content line endings automatically, but header CRLFs can occasionally impact file matching.
- Minimal telemetry by default.
- No file contents or sensitive info collected.
- Full opt-out via settings.
MIT License.
📜 Changelog
See CHANGELOG.md or the GitHub Releases page for a version-by-version breakdown.
Found a bug or have an idea? Open an issue or PR on GitHub—and check the Contributing Guidelines guide for local-dev tips (yarn watch, test suite, lint rules, etc.). Questions & discussion welcome in the project’s Discussions tab!
- Issue Tracker: Report bugs or request features
- Discussions: Ask questions and share ideas
- Contributing Guidelines: Learn how to contribute to PatchPilot
git clone https://github.com/dsj7419/patch-pilot.git
cd patch-pilot
yarn install
yarn compile
# Press F5 in VS Code to run Extension Development HostPatchPilot includes optimized strategies that significantly speed up processing for larger or more complex patches compared to standard approaches:
| Strategy | Avg Speedup |
|---|---|
| Greedy | 43.84× faster |
| Shifted | 1.27× faster |
| Strict | 0.99× comparable |
| Chained | 0.76× comparable |
| Overall | 10.77× faster |
Benchmarks reflect average speedup using PatchPilot's adaptive strategy selection.
- 100KB files: 3.22× faster
- 1MB files: 18.31× faster
- 2MB files (960+ hunks): 53ms vs 6095ms
- Built on top of
diff. - Powered by
simple-gitfor Git operations. - Inspired by everyday AI development challenges.