Every feature, explained

Snapshots that happen before you even think about them

StateSense watches your workspace continuously using VS Code's file system watcher. When meaningful changes happen — 500+ lines modified, 3+ files changed at once, a file created or deleted, or rapid edits from an AI tool — a snapshot is automatically created in the background. You never have to remember to save a checkpoint.

The smart debounce system groups related changes into a single snapshot instead of creating thousands. And a 10-second idle window ensures even fast AI-generated changes are caught as one coherent snapshot.

See exactly what changed — using VS Code's own diff editor

When you preview a snapshot, StateSense opens VS Code's native diff editor for each changed file. You see the previous state on the left and the snapshot state on the right — the exact same UI you already use for git diffs. No learning curve.

StateSense only compares what actually changed in that snapshot, not everything since the dawn of time. This **incremental diff** approach means previews are fast and focused.

Review before you restore — nothing changes until you confirm

The Restore Preview panel shows you every file that will be affected — grouped into Modified, Created, and Deleted — before a single byte changes on disk. You can click any file to open a diff comparing your current workspace to the snapshot version.

Only when you hit Confirm does the restore happen. Hit Cancel and your workspace is completely untouched. This is the most important safety feature — because restoring the wrong state is just as bad as having no safety net at all.

Take your entire workspace back in time

StateSense reconstructs the full workspace state by replaying all incremental snapshots up to and including your chosen one. This means every file that was ever tracked is correctly restored — including files created or deleted since that snapshot.

Files that were introduced after the target snapshot are carefully reverted to their git HEAD state rather than deleted, so you never lose unrelated work.

One protected checkpoint that survives manual clears

Pin any snapshot and it becomes your protected checkpoint. When you manually run Clear Snapshots, the pinned snapshot and its entire chain are kept — StateSense needs those incremental diffs to reconstruct the pinned state correctly.

Only one snapshot can be pinned at a time. Pinning a new one automatically releases the previous pin.

Auto-clean after commits and branch switches

StateSense watches for git events using VS Code's built-in git extension. After a commit, your snapshots are automatically cleared because the commit is now your new checkpoint in git — snapshots before it are redundant. After a branch switch, the same logic applies.

Snapshots are scoped to your current working context. After a commit or branch switch, the slate is cleared so your history stays relevant.

Your code never leaves your machine

Snapshots are stored in VS Code's global storage folder using compressed JSON files. Nothing is uploaded anywhere. There is no account, no server, no API call. StateSense works completely offline.

Storage is efficient: snapshots are gzip-compressed and only store changed files (incremental), so a typical development session adds only a few KB to your storage footprint.

Organise your timeline with meaningful names

Give any snapshot a custom name to help you find it later. Instead of seeing '14:32 Auto Snapshot', you can see '14:32 Before auth refactor'. Names are stored alongside the snapshot and shown in the sidebar and tooltips.