oddessentials · Oct 21, 2026 · Oct 21, 2026 · Oct 21, 2026 · Oct 21, 2026 · Oct 21, 2026
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
@@ -1,71 +1,128 @@
 # Agent Guild for VS Code
 
-Watch your AI coding agents come alive in a 3D world, in a VS Code tab. Claude Code, Codex CLI, Antigravity CLI, Grok Build, Docker Agent and your own shell each get a hall, and every session is a character at work.
+Run Claude Code, Codex CLI, Antigravity CLI, Grok Build and Docker Agent side by side in real terminals, and watch every session come alive as a character in a 3D world, in a VS Code tab or right beside your code. Each tool runs on your own account, just as it does in any terminal.
 
 ![Six real agent sessions in the Guild Yard: the characters walk to their halls and start working, then Claude Code's terminal opens with its three helper agents](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/oddessentials/agent-guild-vscode/main/media/yard.gif)
 
-## The Yard
+## Get started
+
+1. Install this extension.
+2. Click **Agent Guild** in the status bar, or open **Agent Guild** in the Explorer.
+3. If Agent Guild isn't installed yet, choose **Install**. It runs `npm install -g @oddessentials/agent-guild` in a terminal and connects when it finishes.
+
+Press **New** on a tool's card to start a session, and sign in to the tool there the first time.
+
+## Your coding agents, side by side
+
+- Real terminals that keep running when you close the tab or VS Code. The tab comes back the next time VS Code starts.
+- Rate-limit meters for Claude Code and Codex CLI, so you know how much headroom is left.
+- Each session's helper agents and model, live on its card.
+- Two sessions at once with **Split**, and earlier conversations back with **Resume**.
+
+| | Install from its card | Helper agents | Rate-limit meter | Resume | Several accounts | Model benchmarks |
+| --- | :-: | :-: | :-: | :-: | :-: | :-: |
+| Claude Code | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
+| Codex CLI | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
+| Antigravity CLI | Shows the command | | | ✓ | | ✓ |
+| Grok Build | ✓ | With **Agent reporting** | | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
+| Docker Agent | ✓ | ✓ | | ✓ | | |
+
+The **Shell** card runs your own shell, plus tmux (macOS and Linux) and herdr sessions that keep running when Agent Guild stops. Helper agents need a recent version of each tool: [setup per tool](https://github.com/oddessentials/agent-guild/blob/main/docs/agent-reporting.md).
+
+## Watch them work: the Yard
 
 - Every session is a character. It works at its tool's hall while its terminal is busy, and walks off to rest when it goes quiet. There is nothing to set up.
-- Helper agents appear beside their character: Claude Code's, Codex CLI's and Docker Agent's on their own, Grok Build's once you turn on **Agent reporting** on its card.
-- Halls glow while their sessions work, and the roster lists every tool and session.
+- Helper agents gather beside their character, and halls glow while their sessions work.
 - Double-click a character to open its real terminal.
 - Six worlds: The Guild Yard, Operations Campus, Orbital Station, The Living Grove, Goblinville Works and Gnomeland Village.
 
 ![The same six sessions in each of the six worlds](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/oddessentials/agent-guild-vscode/main/media/worlds.jpg)
 
-To open it, run **Agent Guild: Open the Yard** from the Command Palette. **Agent Guild: Open** then keeps opening the Yard, until you choose **Cards** under **Settings → View** in the tab. Pick a world under **Settings → Skin**.
-
-[Try the Yard in your browser](https://oddessentials.github.io/agent-guild/?view=yard) (simulated, nothing installed), or watch the trailer:
+Run **Agent Guild: Open the Yard**, and pick a world under **Settings → Skin**. [Try the Yard in your browser](https://oddessentials.github.io/agent-guild/?view=yard) (simulated, nothing installed), or watch the trailer:
 
 [![Agent Guild: The Yard Update trailer on YouTube](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Zttp-vs_6z0/maxresdefault.jpg)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zttp-vs_6z0)
 
-## The tab
+## The Yard beside your code
+
+Keep your agents in view while you work. Open **Agent Guild** in the Explorer, or drag it to the bottom panel.
+
+![VS Code with the Agent Guild view in the Explorer showing the Guild Yard beside a TypeScript file, with Claude Code, Codex CLI, Antigravity CLI, Grok Build and Shell sessions at their halls (demo sessions)](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/oddessentials/agent-guild-vscode/main/media/view.png)
+
+_Shown with demo sessions._
+
+- It shows the Yard in the world and theme you chose in the tab.
+- Double-click a character to open its terminal in the Agent Guild tab.
+- It draws nothing while it's collapsed or hidden.
+
+## The Agent Guild tab
 
-- **Agent Guild: Open** in the Command Palette, or **Agent Guild** in the status bar.
-- If no session manager is running, one starts. If one is running, the tab connects to it.
+- Opens from the status bar or **Agent Guild: Open**, and starts Agent Guild if it isn't running.
 - The same sessions stay open in your browser at the same time.
-- Closing the tab or VS Code leaves your sessions running. The tab comes back the next time VS Code starts.
 - Links open in your default browser.
 
 ![Agent Guild opening from the status bar, then a Shell session starting from its card](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/oddessentials/agent-guild-vscode/main/media/demo.gif)
 
-## Everything else Agent Guild does
+## More in Agent Guild
 
-Agent Guild runs your coding tools side by side, in real terminals that keep running when the page closes.
-
-- One card per tool: install and update it, start sessions, and see its helper agents and the model in use.
-- Two terminals side by side with **Split**.
-- Rate-limit meters for Claude Code and Codex CLI.
-- Resume a tool's earlier sessions, and see what it remembers and which instruction files it reads.
-- Several accounts per tool, and model grades and benchmarks.
-- GitHub issues, pull requests and workflow runs for the working folder.
-- tmux and herdr sessions that keep running when the manager stops.
+- See what Claude Code, Codex CLI and Grok Build remember, and which instruction files your tools read in the working folder.
+- Grades and benchmarks for your tools' models.
+- GitHub issues, pull requests, workflow runs and branches for your working folder, once you sign in to GitHub.
 
 ![A Claude Code session's terminal, with its helper agents in the header](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/oddessentials/agent-guild-vscode/main/media/terminal.png)
 
 ![Claude Code's earlier sessions, each with a Resume button](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/oddessentials/agent-guild-vscode/main/media/history.png)
 
 ![Claude Code's models with their coding, intelligence and agentic benchmarks](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/oddessentials/agent-guild-vscode/main/media/models.png)
 
+## Commands
+
+| Command | What it does |
+| --- | --- |
+| **Agent Guild: Open**, or **Agent Guild** in the status bar | Opens the tab, in the view you last chose |
+| **Agent Guild: Open the Yard** | Opens the tab straight into the Yard |
+| **Agent Guild** in the Explorer | The Yard beside your code |
+
+There are no settings to configure.
+
 ## Requirements
 
-- Node.js 22 or newer.
-- Agent Guild 1.2.0 or newer: `npm install -g @oddessentials/agent-guild`. If it is missing, the tab offers **Install**, which runs that command in a terminal. If it is older, the tab says so and opens it in your browser, where **Update** is. **Agent Guild: Open the Yard** needs 1.3.0 or newer; with 1.2, choose **Settings → View → Yard** in the tab.
 - VS Code 1.85 or newer, or an editor built on it.
-- For the Yard: WebGL, and a one-time 255 MB download of its art the first time it opens. Everything else keeps working meanwhile, and after that it works offline. Without WebGL, the tab offers **Show Cards**.
+- Node.js 22 or newer.
+- Agent Guild, installed with `npm install -g @oddessentials/agent-guild` or **Install** in the tab.
+- For the Yard: WebGL, and a one-time download of about 255 MB of art the first time it opens. After that it works offline.
 
-The extension has no settings.
+| Feature | Agent Guild |
+| --- | --- |
+| The tab | 1.2.0 or newer |
+| **Agent Guild: Open the Yard** | 1.3.0 or newer |
+| The Yard beside your code | 1.5.0 or newer |
+
+With an older Agent Guild, the tab or the view says which update it needs.
 
 From 1.0.0 the version follows semantic versioning: a new major version only when the extension stops supporting a VS Code, Agent Guild or Node.js version listed here.
 
+## Troubleshooting
+
+| You see | What to do |
+| --- | --- |
+| Agent Guild is not installed | Choose **Install**. The tab connects when it finishes. |
+| Agent Guild is not running | Choose **Open Agent Guild**, which starts it or offers **Install**. |
+| Agent Guild needs Node.js | Install Node.js 22 or newer, then choose **Try again**. |
+| Agent Guild did not start | Run `agent-guild doctor` in a terminal to see why. |
+| Agent Guild needs an update | Choose **Open in browser**, then **Update** there. |
+| Agent Guild stopped responding | Choose **Retry** once it's running again, or **Open Agent Guild** to start it. |
+
 ## Known limits
 
-- While the Agent Guild tab has keyboard focus, VS Code's own shortcuts, such as the Command Palette, go to the page. Click outside the tab to use them.
-- Dictate is not offered in the tab. Use it from the browser.
-- In a remote window (SSH, WSL, a container), the tab shows the Agent Guild on your own computer, not on the remote one.
+- While the Agent Guild tab or view has keyboard focus, VS Code's own shortcuts, such as the Command Palette, go to the page. Click outside it to use them.
+- **Dictate** works in the browser, not in VS Code.
+- In a remote window (SSH, WSL, a container), the tab and the view show the Agent Guild on your own computer, not on the remote one.
 - vscode.dev and other editors in a browser are not supported.
 
+## Privacy
+
+The extension talks only to the Agent Guild on your own computer, and collects no telemetry. Neither does Agent Guild: [its privacy section](https://github.com/oddessentials/agent-guild#privacy) lists what it fetches, such as version checks and usage meters, and none of it carries your code or prompts.
+
 ## Agent Guild: World
 
 [Agent Guild: World](https://agentguild.oddessentials.ai/), coming soon to Steam, shows the same sessions as a crew at work in a living 3D world, on Windows, macOS and Linux. It runs on Agent Guild, which stays free.
@@ -84,4 +141,6 @@ Pull requests are squash-merged, and their titles are Conventional Commits. Merg
 
 ## License
 
-[PolyForm Shield 1.0.0](LICENSE), as Agent Guild.
+Free to use, and source-available under [PolyForm Shield 1.0.0](LICENSE), like Agent Guild.
+
+Claude Code, Codex, Antigravity, Grok and Docker are trademarks of Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, xAI and Docker. Agent Guild is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.
diff --git a/media/view.png b/media/view.png
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
@@ -57,17 +57,30 @@
     "agent visualization",
     "animated characters",
     "subagents",
-    "three.js"
+    "three.js",
+    "companion",
+    "sidebar"
   ],
   "extensionKind": [
     "ui"
   ],
   "main": "src/extension.js",
   "activationEvents": [
     "onStartupFinished",
-    "onWebviewPanel:agentGuild.page"
+    "onWebviewPanel:agentGuild.page",
+    "onView:agentGuild.yard"
   ],
   "contributes": {
+    "views": {
+      "explorer": [
+        {
+          "type": "webview",
+          "id": "agentGuild.yard",
+          "name": "Agent Guild",
+          "visibility": "collapsed"
+        }
+      ]
+    },
     "commands": [
       {
         "command": "agentGuild.open",

diff --git a/src/extension.js b/src/extension.js
@@ -1,12 +1,19 @@
-// Agent Guild in an editor tab. The session manager owns the sessions; closing the tab or VS Code leaves them running.
+// Agent Guild in an editor tab, and its Yard in a small view. The session manager owns the sessions; closing either or VS Code leaves them running.
 
 const vscode = require('vscode');
 const { Panel, VIEW_TYPE } = require('./panel');
+const { YardView, VIEW_ID } = require('./yard');
 
 function activate(context) {
-  const ready = new vscode.EventEmitter();
-  const open = () => Panel.open(ready);
-  const openYard = () => Panel.open(ready, 'yard');
+  const events = {
+    ready: new vscode.EventEmitter(),
+    viewReady: new vscode.EventEmitter(),
+    look: new vscode.EventEmitter(),
+    connected: new vscode.EventEmitter(),
+  };
+  const open = () => Panel.open(events);
+  const openYard = () => Panel.open(events, 'yard');
+  const yard = new YardView(context.globalState, events);
 
   const button = vscode.window.createStatusBarItem(vscode.StatusBarAlignment.Left, 100);
   button.text = '$(organization) Agent Guild';
@@ -15,16 +22,17 @@ function activate(context) {
   button.show();
 
   context.subscriptions.push(
-    ready,
+    ...Object.values(events),
     button,
     vscode.commands.registerCommand('agentGuild.open', open),
     vscode.commands.registerCommand('agentGuild.openYard', openYard),
     vscode.window.registerWebviewPanelSerializer(VIEW_TYPE, {
-      deserializeWebviewPanel: async (panel) => Panel.revive(panel, ready),
+      deserializeWebviewPanel: async (panel) => Panel.revive(panel, events),
     }),
+    vscode.window.registerWebviewViewProvider(VIEW_ID, yard),
   );
-  // For the extension's own tests: open the tab and hear when the page reached its manager.
-  return { open, openYard, onReady: ready.event };
+  // For the extension's own tests: open the tab and the view, and hear when their pages reached the manager.
+  return { open, openYard, yard, onReady: events.ready.event, onViewReady: events.viewReady.event };
 }
 
 module.exports = { activate, deactivate() {} };
diff --git a/src/manager.js b/src/manager.js
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ const { spawn } = require('child_process');
 const MIN_VERSION = '1.2.0';
 /** The first manager whose page opens the view VS Code asks for. */
 const YARD_VERSION = '1.3.0';
+/** The first manager whose page can fill a small view with the Yard. */
+const VIEW_VERSION = '1.5.0';
 const PACKAGE = '@oddessentials/agent-guild';
 
 /** The manager's per-user data folder, by the same rules as agent-guild's src/manager/config.mjs. */
@@ -109,6 +111,29 @@ function pageSrc({ url, token, version }, view) {
   return `${url}/#${hash}`;
 }
 
+/** The page's address in the small view, in the tab's last look. */
+function compactSrc({ url, token }, look) {
+  const hash = new URLSearchParams({ token, layout: 'compact' });
+  if (look) {
+    hash.set('skin', look.skin);
+    hash.set('theme', look.theme);
+  }
+  return `${url}/#${hash}`;
+}
+
+/** The skin and theme a page reported, or null. */
+function readLook(value) {
+  const skin = value?.skin;
+  const theme = value?.theme;
+  if (typeof skin !== 'string' || !/^[a-z][a-z0-9-]{0,31}$/.test(skin) || (theme !== 'light' && theme !== 'dark')) return null;
+  return { skin, theme };
+}
+
+/** A session id from a page, or null. */
+function sessionId(value) {
+  return typeof value === 'string' && /^[A-Za-z0-9_-]{1,128}$/.test(value) ? value : null;
+}
+
 /** The absolute http(s) URL `href` names, or null. */
 function webUrl(href) {
   try {
@@ -119,4 +144,6 @@ function webUrl(href) {
   }
 }
 
-module.exports = { MIN_VERSION, YARD_VERSION, PACKAGE, dataDir, readManager, health, newEnough, locate, startFailure, pageSrc, webUrl };
+module.exports = {
+  MIN_VERSION, YARD_VERSION, VIEW_VERSION, PACKAGE, dataDir, readManager, health, newEnough, locate, startFailure, pageSrc, compactSrc, readLook, sessionId, webUrl,
+};