What you get #

• A single action — Quality Clouds: Livecheck — that reviews the file you’re editing, unsaved changes included.
• Findings shown natively in VS Code: severity, impact area, the line, a plain-language description, and full fix guidance you can read without leaving the editor.
• A Fix with AI action on each finding that hands the issue to your editor’s AI chat (for example, Copilot), plus a plain Show fix guidance fallback if you don’t have an AI chat installed.
• It’s free — the extension works on a Free account.

The extension is a VS Code-native front end for the same Livecheck capability described in Livecheck; there’s no separate engine to learn.

Install the extension #

You’ll find both install paths in the product under Organisation Settings → IDE Setup, in the Install the Visual Studio Code plugin card.

• VS Code Marketplace — for standard Visual Studio Code.
• Open VSX Registry — for VS Code forks and compatible editors such as VSCodium.

Click the button for your editor to open the listing, then install as you would any extension.

Sign in — it’s the same as creating an account #

The first time you run a check while signed out, the extension starts the sign-in flow, then runs the check you asked for. Signing in is the same as signing up: if you don’t have an account yet, one is created for you on the Free tier — no API keys, tokens, or secrets to enter anywhere.

Your session appears in VS Code’s normal Accounts menu, with sign-in and sign-out actions. Sessions are long-lived and refresh quietly in the background; if one ever expires, you get a single clear prompt to sign in again. Cancel the sign-in and the extension simply stays signed out — you can retry any time.

Check a file #

1. Open the file you want to review.
2. Run Quality Clouds: Livecheck — from the editor’s title bar button, the Command Palette, or the editor right-click menu.
3. Read the results in the Problems panel and as inline squiggles. Hover a squiggle for the full fix guidance and examples; click the rule code to open its page in the portal.

Editing the file clears its results so nothing goes stale; run the check again to refresh. For what each outcome means and the rules behind it, see Livecheck.

Fix an issue with AI #

On any finding, choose Fix with AI. The extension composes a fix request — the code, the location, the rule, and the good/bad examples — and hands it to your editor’s AI chat. You review the suggestion and apply it; the extension never edits your code for you. If no AI chat is available, choose Show fix guidance and apply the change by hand.

When you fix an issue Livecheck caught, it’s recorded as a prevented issue — caught before it ever landed. See Livecheck — Fixing an issue.

Prefer to set it up by hand? #

You don’t need the extension to use Norma from VS Code — you can also add the MCP server directly. The server URL and the exact VS Code configuration are in the Norma MCP server repository; see MCP and local AI editors for the Norma-side context.

Limits & notes #

• Works on Free and Pro, with no gating.
• One file per check, up to 1 MB, up to 50 findings shown per check.
• Rate limits are shared with Livecheck across all your editors: 30 checks per minute per user and 5,000 per day per organization — separate from your scan quota.
• You’re only checked against rules your plan includes. The extension shows which rulesets each check evaluated, along with your organisation and tier.
• Fix with AI needs a compatible AI chat (such as Copilot) in your editor; without one it falls back to readable guidance.
• Your code isn’t stored. File contents and names are never saved or logged.

Frequently asked questions #

Do I need the extension, or is the MCP setup enough?
Either works. The extension gives you a native VS Code button and Problems-panel integration; the MCP setup lets any AI assistant in VS Code run checks for you. You can use both.

Does the extension change my code?
No. It shows findings and fix guidance and can pass an issue to your AI chat, but you always review and apply the change yourself.

Which editors can install it?
Standard VS Code from the Marketplace, and VS Code forks (like VSCodium) from Open VSX.

Related #

• Livecheck — the checks the extension runs, the outcomes, and the limits.
• MCP and local AI editors — connect any MCP editor, including the manual VS Code setup.
• Norma MCP server on GitHub — canonical server URL and per-editor configuration.
• Tiers and quotas — what your plan includes.