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VS Code Extension

The AI-Hydro VS Code extension is the primary interface for interacting with the platform. It embeds a full AI agent with direct access to the MCP tool server.

Interface Overview

The extension adds a sidebar panel to VS Code with:

  • Chat interface — where you talk to the agent
  • Tool call log — shows each MCP tool call as it happens, with parameters and results
  • File diff viewer — when the agent writes or modifies files
  • Terminal integration — for standalone Python scripts the agent writes and executes

Auto-Registration

On first activation, the extension automatically:

  1. Detects aihydro-mcp on your PATH (or python -m ai_hydro.mcp as fallback)
  2. Writes the server entry to aihydro_mcp_settings.json
  3. Starts the MCP server process

No manual JSON editing required.

Settings file location: 

~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/aihydro.ai-hydro/settings/
└── aihydro_mcp_settings.json

Supported AI Providers

Configure your provider and API key in the extension settings panel:

Provider Models Notes
Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4.6, Opus 4.6 Recommended starting point
OpenAI GPT-5.4, GPT-5.4 mini, o3-pro
Google Gemini Gemini 3.1 Pro, 2.5 Flash
AWS Bedrock Claude on Bedrock Enterprise / VPC deployments
Azure OpenAI GPT models via Azure
Ollama / LM Studio Local models No API key needed
OpenRouter Any supported model Single API key for all providers

Recommended model

Claude Sonnet 4.6 offers the best balance of speed, reasoning quality, and cost for hydrological research workflows. Use Opus 4.6 for complex multi-step analyses.

Context Rules

AI-Hydro uses .aihydrorules files to inject persistent context into every conversation. These are placed in your workspace root or home directory.

The most important auto-generated file is .aihydrorules/research.md — written by sync_research_context — which injects your current session state, project context, and researcher profile into every conversation automatically.

.aihydrorules/research.md (auto-generated)
# AI-Hydro Research Context

## Active Sessions
- Gauge 01031500: watershed ✓, streamflow ✓, signatures ✓, model ✓

## Active Project
- New England Basins (4 gauges)

## Researcher Profile
- Mohammad Galib — Computational Hydrology, Purdue
- Focus: baseflow generation in fractured rock basins

Keyboard Shortcuts

Action Mac Windows/Linux
Open AI-Hydro panel Cmd+Shift+A Ctrl+Shift+A
New conversation Cmd+L Ctrl+L
Cancel running task Escape Escape

Ignoring Files

Create a .aihydroignore file in your workspace to prevent the agent from reading sensitive files:

.aihydroignore
.env
credentials/
private_data/
*.key

MCP Server Status

If the server is not responding, check:

# Test server health
aihydro-mcp --diagnose

# Restart manually
pkill -f "aihydro-mcp"
aihydro-mcp

Or reload the VS Code window: Cmd+Shift+P → Developer: Reload Window.