User Manual
Todd of AIDLC is a meta-agent orchestrator for VS Code: one sidebar for Copilot, Claude, Cursor, Devin, and Kiro, with shared file context and Spec-Driven Development (SDD).
In the app:
Ctrl+Shift+P→ Todd of AIDLC: Open User Manual (dedicated editor tab).
- Download
toddspect-vscode-*.vsixfrom Releases. -
Ctrl+Shift+P→ Extensions: Install from VSIX... - Developer: Reload Window
- Click the Todd of AIDLC icon (fox) in the Activity Bar.
On first configuration, the welcome screen summarizes what you get in one place:
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Unified chat | Copilot, Claude, Devin, Cursor, and Kiro in the same panel |
| Shared context | Right-click → Add to Todd of AIDLC Context |
| Specs (SDD) | Skills, Tools, and Workflows in .toddspect/specs/
|
| MCP | External tool servers |
Click Get started → to configure agents, or Skip and configure later. The setup wizard ends with the User Manual step before you finish.
By default Todd of AIDLC attaches: manual context chips, open editor tabs, and the workspace folder (see settings toddspect.context.includeOpenEditors and toddspect.context.includeWorkspaceRoot).
- Explorer or editor → right-click → Add to Todd of AIDLC Context
- The same context is sent to whichever provider you pick next
- + New chat / Clear context / Clear Chat & Context
Providers: Auto, Copilot, Claude, Cursor, Devin, Kiro.
Modes: Ask | Agent | Spec+Agent.
| Mode | Copilot | Cursor |
|---|---|---|
| Ask | Chat | Cursor Cloud (remote) |
| Agent | Local read/write in workspace | Local tools (same as Copilot Agent; needs Copilot token) |
| Spec+Agent | Local + specs | Local + specs |
Copilot Agent uses local tools via the Copilot API (read_file, write_file, …). Cursor Agent (with a Cursor API key) uses the Cursor SDK to edit files in your open workspace — no Copilot quota. Cursor Cloud (Ask or agentExecution: cloud) is remote and does not edit local files. See cursor-agent.md.
For GitHub CLI: configure gh auth login; Agent mode can call run_gh.
Open Todd of AIDLC: Open Configuration → Agents tab. Each card shows the provider name, a short description, and Not configured until you add credentials.
Use Configure on each agent, paste the API key or token, then Test Connection. Tokens are stored in VS Code Secret Storage (never in plain-text settings).
| Agent | Typical use |
|---|---|
| GitHub Copilot | Code review and generation via GitHub |
| Claude Code | Large context and complex reasoning |
| Devin | Autonomous engineering tasks |
| Cursor AI | SDK local (Agent) or Cloud API (api.cursor.com) |
| Kiro (AI-DLC) | Kiro CLI + steering rules in .kiro/steering/
|
In configuration, open the API Servers tab:
- Built-in agents — default endpoints for Copilot, Devin, and Cursor (read-only rows).
- Custom API servers — add OpenAI-compatible backends with + Add API server (name, base URL, optional model).
| Tab | Purpose |
|---|---|
| MCP | Connect Model Context Protocol servers (stdio or HTTP) |
| Workspace | Default workspace path, default agent, prompt optimization (see below) |
| Spending | Token and request usage per provider |
Enabled by default. Todd of AIDLC optimizes every outgoing prompt before routing:
- Efficiency — trims history (24 messages), dedupes repeated user lines, caps context files (12 000 chars), merges duplicate system text
- Quality — injects a response contract (goal first, minimal diffs, mode-specific rules for Ask / Agent / Spec+Agent)
Works on all providers. Tune via toddspect.promptOptimization.* or the checkbox in Workspace.
See Prompt Optimization and use Spending to compare estimated tokens over time.
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
Todd of AIDLC: Open User Manual |
This guide (dedicated tab) |
Todd of AIDLC: Open Configuration |
Agents, MCP, workspace, spending |
Todd of AIDLC: Initialize Workspace |
Create .toddspect/
|
Todd of AIDLC: Check getGoat |
Agent diagnostics |
Repository: github.com/nbsjunior/todd