vscode-gitlens

Use for one-off / single-question inspection of the running GitLens extension — examining UI state, reading logs, checking feature flags, dispatching a command, or asking "what does the live DOM look like right now". Reference for `vscode-inspector` MCP primitives. For iterative debug-and-fix loops on UI bugs (sweep → fix → re-verify), use `/live-exercise` instead.

Use whenever any UI-bearing work touches a running instance — building or fixing a feature, ship-gating, auditing, OR debugging visible bugs (flaky behavior, intermittent rendering, "sometimes does X" reports, hover/focus/animation glitches, layout overflow). Adaptive depth from tactical fix-loop to ship-gate audit. Not for pure-logic diff review.

Use to audit a component, file, or directory for WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility compliance. Detects ARIA anti-patterns, missing semantics, keyboard gaps, and color-only information. Safety-first — refuses to emit fixes that would create a new accessibility bug. Scope is always explicit; do not use for page-level flow or cross-program planning.

Use to audit a page, view, or composed flow for WCAG 2.1 AA compliance at the composition level - landmarks, heading hierarchy, tab order across components, focus handoff on modal open/close, live-region conflicts. Scope is page/view, NOT component internals. Safety-first - refuses to emit fixes that would create a new a11y bug. For single-component audits use /a11y-audit; for cross-program planning use /a11y-remediate.

Use to produce a leader-facing remediation proposal from one or more /a11y-audit outputs plus team and product context. Translates audit findings into sprint plans, staffing asks, customer-facing language, compliance rollups, and critical-path analysis. Refuses to fabricate numbers, owners, or commitments beyond the inputs it has.

Add new icons to the GitLens GL Icons font

Use when reviewing or stress-testing a proposed technical approach, implementation plan, or architecture decision. Triggers when asked to review a plan, play devil's advocate, poke holes, or validate an approach before implementation begins.

Create GitHub issues from uncommitted changes or commits

Use when formulating the best technical approach for a task — before writing implementation plans or code. Triggers on architecture decisions, complex features, refactors, or when the user asks how to approach something. Investigates current codebase, questions existing patterns, researches alternatives, and presents approaches with trade-offs.

Use to gate a change set before merge — delegates bug-hunting to the built-in code-review skill, then layers goals.md alignment, cross-platform/consumer completeness, and validation-gap analysis into a merge verdict. For standards/checklist compliance use /review.

Investigate bugs — single-issue deep root cause analysis or batch parallel investigation from a report or issue list

Use when you want to iterate on a feature interactively with the user watching a running instance — pair-programming rhythm for UI-heavy work, redesigns, copy tightening, layout exploration, or any "let me just show you what I want" session. Not for systematic audit (/live-exercise) or perf-tuning (/live-perf).

Use when you want to measure and improve the performance of a feature in the running extension, hunt regressions, or perf-tune before shipping. Standalone for perf-tuning an existing feature; also invoked by /live-exercise Phase 7. Not for static code review without measurement.

Use when touching any CSS — new files, edits, audits, refactors, `<style>` blocks, CSS-in-JS, Tailwind config, design-token files, or reviewing CSS a teammate wrote. Applies to vanilla CSS, shadow DOM internals, web-component consumers, VS Code webviews, and framework-scoped styles. Skip only for files with no styles at all (e.g. `.py`/`.go`/`.rs` without embedded CSS).

Code review against GitLens standards with optional impact completeness audit

Update GitHub issues from triage, investigation, or prioritization reports — adds labels, posts comments, sets milestones, and closes issues with safety checks

Use when reviewing a change set for user experience quality — traces user flows instead of code paths, validates that the implementation delivers the right experience against the goals doc's UX spec

Use when starting feature work that needs isolation from current workspace or before executing implementation plans - creates isolated git worktrees following GitLens conventions

Generate unit or E2E test files for existing code

Scope a unit of work into a goals document — defines what and why, not how. Bridge between triage output and dev planning. Produces .work/dev/{identifier}/goals.md for /deep-planning to consume.

Prioritize triaged/investigated issues — recommends shortlist, backlog, won't fix, or community contribution with priority signals and draft communications

Triage GitHub issues using an evidence pack — evaluates issues and produces a structured report with verdicts, confidence levels, and recommended actions

Create new webviews with IPC protocol, Lit app, and registration

Audit commits for issues and CHANGELOG entries

Create well-formatted git commits following GitLens conventions

Create new VS Code commands with all required boilerplate