GeoAI Assistance Extension

GeoAI Assistance Extension is a Visual Studio Code extension that delivers an integrated AI chat interface specifically designed for Geospatial tasks, operating entirely on your local machine. Leveraging the Ollama API and a custom system prompt, this extension offers expert guidance on geospatial data analysis and processing — including vector and raster data, web GIS, and more, while allowing you to fully control and customize your experience within the VS Code environment.

Features

• Geospatial Chat: Ask questions related to geospatial data analysis, satellite technology, machine learning, deep learning and more.
• AI Model: The Geospatial Chat leverages a custom AI system prompt to provide detailed and technical responses. DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen-1.5B model is used for this project through Ollama API. DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen-1.5B is the DeepSeek's first-generation of reasoning models with Distillation method, which is comparable to OpenAI-o1 models.
• Interactive Webview UI: A modern chat interface with a messages area, an input box, a Send button for quick interactions, an Edit button for editing the recent prompt, and a Retry button to resend the prompt again.
• Real-Time Streaming: Uses streaming responses from the Ollama chat API to display assistant output as it’s generated.
• Development Focused: The AI responses with code examples, explanation, best practices, and notes tailored for specific Geospatial tasks the user is looking for.

Requirements

Before using GeoAI Assistance Extension, ensure you have the following installed:

• Ollama. After installing check the Ollama server at http://localhost:11434.
• After installing Ollama pull DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen-1.5B model by this command from your terminal ollama run deepseek-r1:1.5b. NOTE: You are free to choose any LLM reasoning models based on your machine setups and your custom requirements. In this case, make sure you pulled that model with Ollama API.
• Node.js and npm to install dependencies for the extension.
• Visual Studio Code with Extension Development Host support.
• Git for version management.

Tech Stacks

• TypeScript: TypeScript is used for extension code, ensuring type safety and modern JavaScript features.
• NodeJS: NodeJS is used for building and running the backend logic of the extension.
• Webpack: Webpack is used as the module bundler to compile and bundle the extension's code.
• ESLint: ESLint is used for maintaining code quality and enforcing consistent coding standards.
• Mocha: Mocha is used as the testing framework for writing and running unit tests.
• VS Code API: The extension leverages the VS Code API to integrate seamlessly with the Visual Studio Code environment.
• Ollama API: The extension integrates with the Ollama API to provide AI-powered geospatial assistance using the DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen-1.5B model.
• HTML/CSS/JavaScript: Used to create the interactive webview UI for the chat interface.

Installation

1. Clone the repository.
2. Run npm install in the project folder.
3. Build the extension on your local machine (if necessary, verify and modify your webpack or compile configuration).

Running the Extension

1. Open the project in Visual Studio Code.
2. From VS Code Run and Debug tab Press Run Extension (A green Run button) OR Press F5 to launch the extension in a new Extension Development Host window.
3. Open the Command Palette by pressing Ctrl+Shift+P and execute the command geoai-assistance-ext.GeoAI to open the chat webview.
4. Interact with the chat panel by typing your questions and reading the assistant’s response.

Extension Settings

Currently, GeoAI Assistance Extension does not expose additional configuration options through VS Code settings. Future updates may include customizable settings. As the main goal of this project is to have an GeoAI Assistance Extension entirely on user local machine, so in future update, it will try to include customizable settings for different development environment, e.g., Unix, Windows, macOS.

Known Issues

• Ollama server: Ensure that the Ollama server is running when using the extension. If the connection fails, the extension will prompt an error. You can check your Ollama server at http://localhost:11434.
• Responsive UI: The extension's chat interface appearance may vary on different screen sizes. Contributions to improve UI responsiveness are welcome. Although it has been tested with mobile size screen :-).
• The Memory Issue: The memory issue is common on machine with minimum GPU while many tasks sharing memory. As an example Error: Error: llama runner process has terminated: cudaMalloc failed: out of memory is a common error when limited memory occur due to multiple tasks running on a machine with NVIDIA Geoforce GTX 2GB memory.

Release Notes

0.0.1

• Initial release of GeoAI Assistance Extension.
• Basic functionality to ask geospatial related questions via a chat interface.
• Integrated Ollama chat API for real-time streaming responses.
• Using DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen-1.5B, a light weight reasoning model with Distillation method. This light weight model make sure that the GeoAI Assistance Extension can be build and run any machine with minimum GPU and CUDA.
• UI improvements in the chat panel, including modernized button design and responsive messaging area.
• Minor bug fixes and enhancements based on initial feedback.
• The model must need more training, however, it is just the first steps of millions in the future :-).
• The extension need obvious improvement and continuous development, so contribution is highly appreciated!

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Extension Guidelines

Make sure to review the VS Code Extension Guidelines for best practices and to keep your extension up-to-date with community standards.

Working with Markdown in VS Code

• Split the editor: Use Ctrl+\ (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+\ (macOS).
• Toggle Preview: Use Shift+Ctrl+V (Windows/Linux) or Shift+Cmd+V (macOS).
• IntelliSense for Markdown: Use Ctrl+Space to see Markdown snippets.

For More Information

• Visual Studio Code Markdown Support
• Markdown Syntax Reference

Enjoy using GeoAI Assistance Extension on your local machine! Your active contribution will keep alive this Opensource project :)