VSCarbon

Encourage low-carbon coding habits with real-time electricity grid data! VSCarbon shows you when the electricity grid has lower carbon intensity, helping you time energy-intensive tasks.

Make your coding greener, one commit at a time! 🌱

Features

✅ Real-time Carbon Intensity: Status bar displays current carbon intensity from the UK electricity grid
✅ Location-based Data: Enter your UK outward postcode or country code for users outside UK for local carbon intensity data
✅ Visual Indicators: Emoji changes based on carbon levels (😸 for low, 😿 for high)
✅ Commit Tracker: Track sustainable git commits locally
✅ Dashboard: Click status bar to see detailed grid mix and commit stats
🔄 Auto-refresh: Updates every 30 minutes to keep data current

Installation

Option 1: Install from .vsix (Try it now!)

1. Download the latest version from Releases
2. In VS Code: Go to Extension -> More actions -> Install from VSIX, or Ctrl+Shift+P → "Extensions: Install from VSIX..."
3. Select the downloaded .vsix file

Option 2: VS Code Marketplace (Coming soon!)

Getting Started

For UK users

1. Open Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P)
2. Run VSCarbon: Set Postcode/Country Code and enter your UK OUTWARD postcode (e.g., SW1A, M1, AL10)
3. Run VSCarbon: Show Carbon to start monitoring
4. Check the status bar for current carbon intensity, click on it for dashboard showing electricity mix and sustainable commit stats

For users outside UK

1. Register your Electricity Maps API key. Free tier allows only 1 country so please choose carefully
2. Run VSCarbon: Configure API Key command to input your key
3. Run VSCarbon: Set Postcode/Country Code and enter country code (e.g., AT, DE, ES)
4. Run VSCarbon: Show Carbon to start monitoring
5. Check the status bar for current carbon intensity, click on it for dashboard showing electricity mix and sustainable commit stats

Commands

• VSCarbon: Configure API Key - Input Electricity Maps API key for users outside UK
• VSCarbon: Set Postcode/Country Code - Configure your location
• VSCarbon: Show Carbon - Start monitoring carbon intensity
• VSCarbon: Reset Commit Stats - Clear commit stats

Known Issues

• Currently supports UK regional data and country-level data for the other countries
• Requires internet connection for updating data

Data Source

• UK data is provided by Carbon Intensity API - National Grid ESO
• Electricity Maps for the other countries

Changelog

v1.0.0

• Expanded country coverage beyond the UK (country list here) thanks to Electricity Maps API

v0.2.1 (Bug Fix)

• 🐛 Fixed commit tracking accuracy: Commit tracker now only counts actual git commit commands, not file changes or staging
• 🔧 Improved detection method: Switched from VS Code Git API monitoring to Git log file watching for more reliable commit detection
• ✨ Enhanced test function: Better error messages and validation in commit tracking test

v0.2.0

• ✨ Added commit tracking functionality
• 📊 Commit statistics dashboard
• 🌱 Sustainable commit notifications

v1.0.0

• Expanded country coverage beyond the UK (country list here) thanks to Electricity Maps API

Contributing

This project was created as part of Branch magazine's exploration of everyday green coding practices.

We welcome contributions! Please see our Contributing Guide for details on how to get started, development setup, and contribution guidelines.

Feedback is welcome via Google Forms